Active Research

Analyze any topic, domain, or paper and generate a beautiful HTML report using Actionbook Browser — featuring SPA-aware navigation, network idle detection, batch operations, and intelligent page analysis.

Enhanced Browser Capabilities

wait-idle

wait-fn

snapshot --filter interactive --max-tokens N

--auto-dismiss-dialogs

--block-images

--no-animations

console --level error

batch

info <selector>

snapshot --diff

--stealth

fingerprint rotate

storage set

browser fetch <url>

--lite

--rewrite-urls

--wait-hint

--session-tag

Usage

/active-research <topic>
/active-research <topic> --output ./reports/my-report.json

Or simply tell Claude: "Research XXX and generate a report"

Parameters

topic

--output

./output/<topic-slug>.json

Topic Detection

arxiv:XXXX.XXXXX

doi:10.XXX/...

Architecture

┌──────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────┐
│  Claude   │────▶│  Actionbook  │────▶│  Web Pages   │────▶│ Extract  │
│  Code     │     │   Browser    │     │  (multiple)  │     │ Content  │
└──────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └─────┬────┘
      │           │ wait-idle    │     │ SPA / dynamic │           │
      │           │ batch ops    │     │ protected     │           │
      │           │ --stealth    │     │ mobile-only   │           │
      │           │ snapshot     │     └───────────────┘           │
      │           └──────────────┘                                 │
      │          ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐            │
      ├─────────▶│  Actionbook  │     │ arXiv Adv.   │            │
      │          │  search/get  │────▶│ Search Form  │───────────▶│
      │          │  (selectors) │     │ (40+ fields) │            │
      │          └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘            │
      │                                                            │
┌──────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐            │
│  Open in │◀────│   json-ui    │◀────│  Write JSON  │◀───────────┘
│  Browser │     │   render     │     │  Report      │  Synthesize
└──────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘

MUST USE Actionbook CLI

Always use

actionbook browser

• NEVER use

  curl

  ,

  wget

  ,

  httpie

  , or any HTTP CLI tool via bash
• NEVER use

  python -c "import requests"

  or any scripting-language HTTP library via bash
• NEVER use WebFetch or WebSearch tools
• ONLY use

  actionbook browser

  and

  actionbook search

  /

  actionbook get

  commands

If you need web content, the PREFERRED path is:

actionbook browser fetch <url> --format text --json

actionbook browser open <url>

actionbook browser wait-idle

actionbook browser text

Browser Flags — Research Defaults

CRITICAL: Always use these flags when opening the browser for research.

# PREFERRED: One-shot fetch (I1) — handles open+wait+extract+close automatically
actionbook --block-images --rewrite-urls browser fetch "<url>" --format text --json

# For interactive multi-step workflows, use explicit open:
actionbook --block-images --auto-dismiss-dialogs --no-animations --rewrite-urls browser open "<url>"

--block-images

--auto-dismiss-dialogs

--no-animations

--rewrite-urls

--wait-hint <hint>

instant

fast

normal

slow

heavy

--session-tag <tag>

--lite

For sites with anti-bot protection, add

--stealth

actionbook --block-images --auto-dismiss-dialogs --no-animations --stealth --rewrite-urls browser open "<url>"

Navigation Pattern — ALWAYS Follow

Option A: One-shot fetch (PREFERRED for read-only page extraction):

# Single command: navigate → wait (domain-aware) → extract → close
actionbook --block-images --rewrite-urls browser fetch "<url>" --format text --json
# For static pages (Wikipedia, docs, blogs), add --lite to skip browser entirely:
actionbook --rewrite-urls browser fetch "<url>" --format text --lite --json
# For accessibility tree:
actionbook --block-images --rewrite-urls browser fetch "<url>" --format snapshot --max-tokens 2000 --json

Option B: Interactive multi-step pattern (for forms, clicks, multi-page flows):

# Step 1: Navigate
actionbook browser open "<url>"          # or: goto, click a link

# Step 2: Wait for load (MANDATORY in v2)
actionbook browser wait-idle             # Wait for fetch/XHR to settle

# Step 3: Extract content
actionbook browser text [selector]       # Extract text
# OR
actionbook browser snapshot --filter interactive --max-tokens 500  # Understand page structure

Why

wait-idle

• SPAs (React, Vue, Next.js) load content via fetch/XHR after initial HTML
• Without waiting,

  text

  returns empty or incomplete content

• wait-idle

  monitors all pending network requests, waits until quiet for 500ms

For pages that load content dynamically after network settles:

actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser wait-fn "document.querySelector('.results')"    # Wait for specific element
actionbook browser text ".results"

Complete Workflow

REMINDER: Every web access in this workflow MUST use

actionbook browser

commands. Using

curl

,

wget

,

python requests

, or any other HTTP tool is strictly forbidden. The bash tool should ONLY be used for

actionbook

CLI commands and local file operations (json-ui render,

open

).

Step 1: Plan Search Strategy

Based on the topic, generate 5-8 search queries from different angles:

• Core definition / overview
• Latest developments / news
• Technical details / implementation
• Comparisons / alternatives
• Expert opinions / analysis
• Use cases / applications

Search order — ALWAYS query Actionbook API first, then search:

Step 2: Query Actionbook API for Selectors (ALWAYS DO THIS FIRST)

BEFORE browsing any URL, query Actionbook's indexed selectors.

# Search for indexed actions by domain
actionbook search "<keywords>" -d "<domain>"

# Get detailed selectors for a specific page
actionbook get "<domain>:/<path>:<area>"

Pre-indexed sites useful for research:

arxiv.org:/search/advanced:default

ar5iv.labs.arxiv.org:/html/{paper_id}:default

h1.ltx_title_document

div.ltx_authors

div.ltx_abstract

section.ltx_section

scholar.google.com:/:default

#gs_hdr_tsi

#gs_hdr_tsb

arxiv.org:/:default

For any URL you plan to visit, run

actionbook search "<keywords>" -d "<domain>"

Step 3: arXiv Search (URL-First, Form as Backup)

LESSON LEARNED: arXiv form submission via browser automation is unreliable. Use URL-based search as the PRIMARY method.

Option A: URL-based search (PRIMARY — most reliable):

# Simple keyword search
actionbook --block-images --auto-dismiss-dialogs --no-animations browser open "https://arxiv.org/search/?query=large+language+model+agent&searchtype=all"
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser text "#main-container"

# Advanced URL search with filters
# searchtype: all, title, author, abstract
# start: result offset (0, 50, 100, ...)
actionbook browser open "https://arxiv.org/search/?query=Rust+machine+learning&searchtype=all&start=0"
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser text "#main-container"

Search strategy: Start broad, then narrow:

1. First search: broad terms (e.g.,

   "Rust" "machine learning"

   ) — aim for 50+ results
2. If too few results (< 10): broaden further, remove date/category filters
3. If too many results (> 200): add more specific terms, use

   searchtype=title

4. Try 2-3 different query angles (e.g., framework names, use cases, benchmarks)

Option B: Form interaction via batch (BACKUP — use if URL search is insufficient):

# Open arXiv with research flags
actionbook --block-images --auto-dismiss-dialogs --no-animations browser open "https://arxiv.org/search/advanced"
actionbook browser wait-idle

# Use batch for form — fewer round-trips, more reliable
cat <<'EOF' | actionbook browser batch --delay 150
{
  "actions": [
    {"kind": "click", "selector": "#terms-0-field"},
    {"kind": "click", "selector": "option[value='title']"},
    {"kind": "type", "selector": "#terms-0-term", "text": "large language model agent"},
    {"kind": "click", "selector": "#classification-computer_science"},
    {"kind": "click", "selector": "#date-filter_by-3"},
    {"kind": "type", "selector": "#date-from_date", "text": "2025-01-01"},
    {"kind": "type", "selector": "#date-to_date", "text": "2026-02-23"},
    {"kind": "click", "selector": "button:has-text('Search'):nth(2)"}
  ],
  "stopOnError": true
}
EOF
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser text "#main-container"

# If batch form submission fails (page shows form again instead of results):
# → Fall back to Option A URL-based search immediately
# → Do NOT retry the form — it wastes time

arXiv search capabilities (from indexed selectors — for Option B):

#terms-0-field

#terms-0-term

button "Add another term +"

#classification-computer_science

#classification-physics

#classification-mathematics

#date-filter_by-1

#date-filter_by-2

#date-year

#date-filter_by-3

#date-from_date

#date-to_date

#abstracts-0

Step 4: Supplement with Google / Bing Search

# Search via Google (with wait-idle for SPA results)
actionbook browser open "https://www.google.com/search?q=<encoded_query>"
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser text "#search"

# Or search via Bing
actionbook browser open "https://www.bing.com/search?q=<encoded_query>"
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser text "#b_results"

Parse search results to extract URLs. For each discovered URL, query Actionbook API to check if indexed.

CRITICAL: URL Handling Rules (Learned from Production Use)

1. NEVER manually construct URLs from search snippets. Many Google snippet URLs are truncated or reformatted. Instead:

   • Use

     actionbook browser snapshot --filter interactive

     to find actual link elements
   • Click the link directly:

     actionbook browser click "a[href*='domain.com']"

   • Or extract href from snapshot refs

2. Expect 20-30% of URLs to be dead. In practice, ~5 out of 20 URLs return 404. Handle this:

   actionbook browser open "<url>"
   actionbook browser wait-idle
   # Check if the page is a 404 or error page
   actionbook browser wait-fn "!document.title.includes('404') && !document.title.includes('Not Found')" --timeout 3000
   # If timeout → page is dead, skip immediately. Do NOT retry.
   

3. Salvage info from Google snippets. If a URL is dead but the Google snippet had useful info:

   • The snippet text you already extracted IS valid data
   • Use it in the report with a note that the source is no longer available
   • Search for the same content on alternative sites (archive.org, cached versions)

4. Use 4+ diverse search queries. Don't rely on one search angle:

   • Query 1: Core topic overview (e.g., "Rust AI ecosystem 2026")
   • Query 2: Specific frameworks/tools (e.g., "Candle vs Burn Rust ML framework")
   • Query 3: Use cases/benchmarks (e.g., "Rust LLM inference performance benchmark")
   • Query 4: Recent news/developments (e.g., "Rust machine learning latest 2026")
   • Query 5: Community/ecosystem (e.g., "Rust AI agent framework comparison")

Step 5: Deep Read Sources

PREFERRED: Use

browser fetch

# Quick text extraction (most common)
actionbook --block-images --rewrite-urls browser fetch "<url>" --format text --json

# Static pages (Wikipedia, docs, blogs) — skip browser entirely
actionbook --rewrite-urls browser fetch "<url>" --format text --lite --json

# Page structure analysis
actionbook --block-images --rewrite-urls browser fetch "<url>" --format snapshot --max-tokens 2000 --json

# With token budget for LLM context management
actionbook --block-images --rewrite-urls browser fetch "<url>" --format text --max-tokens 4000 --json

For interactive workflows (forms, clicks), fall back to multi-step:

actionbook browser open "<url>"
actionbook browser wait-idle                    # MANDATORY: wait for network
actionbook browser text                         # Full page text (fallback)
actionbook browser text "<selector>"            # Use Actionbook selector if indexed

If page content seems incomplete, debug:

# Check for JS errors that might block rendering
actionbook browser console --level error

# Check if a specific element exists
actionbook browser wait-fn "document.querySelector('.content')" --timeout 5000

# Inspect element properties
actionbook browser info ".content"

For arXiv papers, try sources in this order:

# 1. arXiv abstract (most reliable) — use fetch
actionbook --block-images browser fetch "https://arxiv.org/abs/<arxiv_id>" --format text --json

# 2. HuggingFace papers page
actionbook --block-images browser fetch "https://huggingface.co/papers/<arxiv_id>" --format text --json

# 3. ar5iv HTML (structured, but fails on new papers) — use --lite for static HTML
actionbook browser fetch "https://ar5iv.org/html/<arxiv_id>" --format text --lite --json
# NOTE: if content too short, ar5iv didn't render. Fall back.

# 4. GitHub repo (from search results) — use fetch
actionbook --block-images browser fetch "<github_repo_url>" --format text --json

For protected sites (Cloudflare, bot detection) — use interactive mode with stealth:

actionbook --stealth --block-images --auto-dismiss-dialogs --rewrite-urls browser open "<protected_url>"
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser text

For mobile-only content:

actionbook browser emulate iphone-14
actionbook browser open "<url>"
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser text

For Google Scholar (indexed by Actionbook):

actionbook browser open "https://scholar.google.com"
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser click "#gs_hdr_tsi"
actionbook browser type "#gs_hdr_tsi" "<query>"
actionbook browser click "#gs_hdr_tsb"
actionbook browser wait-idle
actionbook browser text "#gs_res"

For unindexed sites, use snapshot to discover structure:

actionbook --block-images browser fetch "<url>" --format snapshot --max-tokens 800 --json

Step 6: Synthesize Findings

Organize collected information into a coherent report:

1. Overview / Executive Summary
2. Key Findings
3. Detailed Analysis
4. Supporting Data / Evidence
5. Implications / Significance
6. Sources

Step 7: Generate json-ui JSON Report

Write a JSON file following the

@actionbookdev/json-ui

Output path:

./output/<topic-slug>.json

--output

Step 8: Render HTML

CRITICAL: You MUST try ALL fallback methods before giving up. Do NOT stop at the first failure.

IMPORTANT: Always use ABSOLUTE paths for JSON_FILE and HTML_FILE.

Try each method one by one until one succeeds:

# Method 1: Monorepo absolute path (most reliable if inside actionbook project)
node "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/packages/json-ui/dist/cli.js" render /absolute/path/to/report.json -o /absolute/path/to/report.html

# Method 2: Global install (if user ran: cd packages/json-ui && npm link)
json-ui render /absolute/path/to/report.json -o /absolute/path/to/report.html

# Method 3: npx (if published to npm)
npx @actionbookdev/json-ui render /absolute/path/to/report.json -o /absolute/path/to/report.html

NEVER give up silently. If all methods fail, tell the user:

1. The JSON report is saved at

   <path>

2. To enable HTML rendering, run:

   cd <actionbook-repo>/packages/json-ui && npm link

Step 9: Open in Browser

# macOS
open <report.html>

# Linux
xdg-open <report.html>

Step 10: Close Browser

Always close the browser when done:

actionbook browser close

Error Recovery Patterns

Intelligent error recovery using advanced browser capabilities:

Pattern: Page Load Failure

# 1. Open page
actionbook browser open "<url>"
actionbook browser wait-idle --timeout 15000

# 2. Check for JS errors
actionbook browser console --level error
# If errors found → page is broken, skip to next source

# 3. Check if content rendered
actionbook browser wait-fn "document.body.innerText.length > 100" --timeout 5000
# If timeout → content didn't render, try fallback

Pattern: Selector Not Found

# 1. Use snapshot to discover actual page structure
actionbook browser snapshot --filter interactive --max-tokens 800

# 2. Or inspect a specific area
actionbook browser info "<parent_selector>"
# Returns: suggested selectors, visibility, tag info

# 3. Adjust selector and retry

Pattern: Anti-Bot Detection

# 1. If initial load returns CAPTCHA or access denied:
actionbook browser close

# 2. Reopen with stealth
actionbook --stealth --no-animations --auto-dismiss-dialogs browser open "<url>"
actionbook browser wait-idle

# 3. If still blocked, rotate fingerprint
actionbook browser fingerprint rotate --os windows
actionbook browser open "<url>"
actionbook browser wait-idle

Pattern: SPA Content Not Loading

# 1. Wait for network
actionbook browser wait-idle --idle-time 1000 --timeout 15000

# 2. Wait for specific element
actionbook browser wait-fn "document.querySelector('.results')" --timeout 10000

# 3. If still empty, check console
actionbook browser console --level error

# 4. Try clicking a loading trigger
actionbook browser snapshot --filter interactive --max-tokens 300
# Look for "Load More", "Show Results", etc.

Full Error Handling Reference

actionbook browser status

console --level error

wait-idle --timeout 15000

console --level error

wait-fn "!document.title.includes('404')"

arxiv.org/search/?query=...&searchtype=all

wait-fn "document.body.innerText.length > 5000"

snapshot --filter interactive

wait-idle

wait-fn

--auto-dismiss-dialogs

--stealth

fingerprint rotate

--block-images

--block-media

--no-animations

suffix

value

npx json-ui

IMPORTANT: Always run

actionbook browser close

Feature Usage Checklist

Before finalizing research, verify you used these capabilities:

browser fetch

--lite

fetch

--rewrite-urls

--wait-hint

fetch

--session-tag

wait-idle

open

goto

click

--block-images

--auto-dismiss-dialogs

--no-animations

wait-fn

console --level error

batch

snapshot --filter interactive

info <selector>

--stealth

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Using manual

  open → wait-idle → text → close

  when

  browser fetch

  does it in one command
• Not using

  --lite

  for static pages (Wikipedia, docs, blogs) — wastes 5-10s on browser startup
• Not using

  --rewrite-urls

  — x.com and reddit.com have aggressive anti-bot that blocks scraping
• Forgetting

  wait-idle

  after navigation in interactive mode (content appears empty)
• Not using

  batch

  for form interactions (slow, unreliable)
• Retrying a dead URL instead of skipping it
• Constructing URLs manually from search snippets instead of clicking links
• Using only one search query angle (always use 4+ diverse queries)
• Not checking for 404 pages before extracting content

json-ui Report Template

IMPORTANT: Always include BrandHeader and BrandFooter.

{
  "type": "Report",
  "props": { "theme": "auto" },
  "children": [
    {
      "type": "BrandHeader",
      "props": {
        "badge": "Deep Research Report",
        "poweredBy": "Actionbook"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "Section",
      "props": { "title": "Overview", "icon": "paper" },
      "children": [
        {
          "type": "Prose",
          "props": {
            "content": "Overview of the topic..."
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "Section",
      "props": { "title": "Key Findings", "icon": "star" },
      "children": [
        {
          "type": "ContributionList",
          "props": {
            "items": [
              {
                "badge": "Finding",
                "title": "...",
                "description": "..."
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "Section",
      "props": { "title": "Detailed Analysis", "icon": "bulb" },
      "children": [
        {
          "type": "Prose",
          "props": { "content": "..." }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "Section",
      "props": { "title": "Key Metrics", "icon": "chart" },
      "children": [
        {
          "type": "MetricsGrid",
          "props": { "metrics": [], "cols": 3 }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "Section",
      "props": { "title": "Sources", "icon": "link" },
      "children": [
        {
          "type": "LinkGroup",
          "props": { "links": [] }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "BrandFooter",
      "props": {
        "timestamp": "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ",
        "attribution": "Powered by Actionbook",
        "disclaimer": "This report was generated by AI using web sources. Verify critical information independently."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Paper Report Template (for arXiv papers)

When analyzing academic papers, use a richer template with:

• PaperHeader

  (title, arxivId, date, categories)

• AuthorList

  (authors with affiliations)

• Abstract

  (with keyword highlights)

• ContributionList

  (key contributions)

• MethodOverview

  (step-by-step method)

• ResultsTable

  (experimental results)

• Formula

  (key equations, LaTeX)

• Figure

  (paper figures from ar5iv)

Available json-ui Components

BrandHeader

badge

poweredBy

PaperHeader

title

arxivId

date

categories

AuthorList

authors: [{name, affiliation}]

maxVisible

Section

title

icon

Prose

content

code

Abstract

text

highlights: ["keyword"]

ContributionList

items: [{badge, title, description}]

MethodOverview

steps: [{step, title, description}]

MetricsGrid

metrics: [{label, value, trend, suffix}]

cols

ResultsTable

columns

rows

highlights: [{row, col}]

Table

columns: [{key, label}]

rows

striped

compact

Callout

type

title

content

Highlight

type

text

source

KeyPoint

icon

title

description

variant

CodeBlock

code

language

title

showLineNumbers

Formula

latex

block

label

Figure

images: [{src, alt, width}]

label

caption

Image

src

alt

caption

width

DefinitionList

items: [{term, definition}]

LinkGroup

links: [{href, label, icon}]

Grid

cols

Card

padding

shadow

TagList

tags: [{label, color, href}]

BrandFooter

timestamp

attribution

disclaimer

json-ui Known Pitfalls

MetricsGrid.suffix

text.replace is not a function

suffix

MetricsGrid.value

value

"58.5"

58.5

BrandHeader

BrandFooter

Table

[object Object]

Text Fields

All text fields should use plain English strings.

{ "title": "Key Findings" }

Note:

MetricsGrid

value

suffix

Table

Academic Paper Support

arXiv Papers

ar5iv.org HTML (preferred for reading, but often incomplete for papers < 3 months old):

h1.ltx_title_document

div.ltx_abstract

div.ltx_authors

div.ltx_abstract

article

section.ltx_section

article

figure.ltx_figure

table.ltx_tabular

Recommended approach: Use

wait-idle

wait-fn

actionbook browser open "https://ar5iv.org/html/<arxiv_id>"
actionbook browser wait-idle --timeout 15000
actionbook browser wait-fn "document.body.innerText.length > 5000" --timeout 10000
# If wait-fn times out → content didn't render, fall back to other sources

Recommended Source Priority

arxiv.org/abs/<id>

huggingface.co/papers/<id>

ar5iv.org/html/<id>

Other Academic Sources

• Google Scholar (

  scholar.google.com

  ) — Actionbook indexed
• Semantic Scholar (

  semanticscholar.org

  )
• Papers With Code (

  paperswithcode.com

  )
• Conference proceedings sites

Quality Guidelines

1. Breadth: Research from at least 3-5 diverse sources
2. Depth: Read full articles, not just snippets
3. Accuracy: Cross-reference facts across sources
4. Structure: Use appropriate json-ui components for each content type
5. Attribution: Always include source links in the report
6. Freshness: Prefer recent sources when relevance is equal