Web Search Skill

Search the web and retrieve content from URLs for current information.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• You need real-time information (news, prices, events)
• Looking up API documentation or SDK guides
• Accessing current technical information beyond training data
• Verifying facts from authoritative sources

When NOT to Use

• Replit-specific features (use the replit-docs skill)
• Image/media downloads (use media-generation skill)
• Code search within the project (use grep/glob tools)

Available Functions

webSearch(query)

Search the web for current information.

Parameters:

• query

  (str, required): Natural language search query phrased as a complete question

Returns: Dict with

searchAnswer

and

resultPages

(list of title/url dicts)

Example:

const results = await webSearch({ query: "OpenAI API rate limits 2026" });
console.log(results.searchAnswer);
for (const page of results.resultPages) {
    console.log(`${page.title}: ${page.url}`);
}

webFetch(url)

Fetch and extract content from a URL as markdown.

Parameters:

• url

  (str, required): Full HTTPS URL to fetch

Returns: Dict with

markdown

key containing page content

Example:

const content = await webFetch({ url: "https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/rate-limits" });
console.log(content.markdown.slice(0, 1000));

Best Practices

1. Use natural language queries: Write queries as complete questions with context
2. Chain search and fetch: Search first, then fetch specific pages for details
3. Be specific: Include dates, versions, or other specifics in queries
4. Verify with fetch: Don't rely only on search snippets for critical information

Example Workflow

// Find information about a topic
const searchResults = await webSearch({ query: "FastAPI dependency injection tutorial 2026" });

// Get full content from the most relevant result
if (searchResults.resultPages.length > 0) {
    const bestUrl = searchResults.resultPages[0].url;
    const fullContent = await webFetch({ url: bestUrl });
    console.log(fullContent.markdown);
}

Limitations

• Cannot access social media platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, YouTube)
• Cannot download media files (images, videos, audio)
• Paywalled or authenticated content may be inaccessible

Copyright

• Respect copyright for media content from websites
• You can reference or link to public content
• Do not copy media files (images, videos, audio) directly from websites
• Use the media-generation skill for images and videos instead