Parallel Web Search

--- name: parallel-web-search description: "DEFAULT for all research and web queries. Use for any lookup, research, investigation, or question needing current info. Fast and cost-effective. Only use parallel-deep-research if user explicitly requests 'deep' or 'exhaustive' research." user-invocable: true argument-hint: context: fork agent: parallel:parallel-subagent compatibility: Requires parallel-cli and internet access. allowed-tools: Bash(parallel-cli:*) metadata: author: parallel --- # Web Search Search the web for: $ARGUMENTS ## Command Choose a short, descriptive filename based on the query (e.g., `ai-chip-news`, `react-vs-vue`). Use lowercase with hyphens, no spaces. Substitute it into the command **inline** — `$FILENAME` and `` below are placeholders, not shell variables; do not copy them verbatim. ```bash parallel-cli search "$ARGUMENTS" -q "" -q "" --json --max-results 10 --excerpt-max-chars-total 27000 -o "/tmp/$FILENAME.json" ``` Concrete example for a query about React 19: ```bash parallel-cli search "latest React 19 features and adoption" -q "React 19" -q "concurrent rendering" --json --max-results 10 --excerpt-max-chars-total 27000 -o "/tmp/react-19-features.json" ``` The first argument is the **objective** — a natural language description of what you're looking for. It replaces multiple keyword searches with a single call for broad or complex queries. Add `-q` flags for specific keyword queries to supplement the objective. The `-o` flag saves the full results to a JSON file for follow-up questions. Options if needed: - `--after-date YYYY-MM-DD` for time-sensitive queries - `--include-domains domain1.com,domain2.com` to limit to specific sources - `--exclude-domains domain.com` to filter out noisy sources - `--mode turbo` for simple fact lookups where speed and cost matter most (p50 ~200ms, lowest cost). English and Japanese queries only - `--mode fast` for high-quality search within a ~1s latency budget - `--mode advanced` for harder questions (multi-step, agentic search). Default `basic` is right for almost everything; escalate to `advanced` only when basic results are insufficient, and drop to `turbo` for high-volume simple lookups - `--location us` (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) for geo-targeted results ## Parsing results Do not set `max_output_tokens` on the command execution — the output is already bounded by `--max-results` and `--excerpt-max-chars-total`. Capping output tokens will truncate the JSON and break parsing. **Prefer reading from the saved `-o` file**, not stdout. Even bounded output regularly exceeds harness stdout limits and gets truncated. Read `/tmp/$FILENAME.json` for the authoritative payload. For each result, extract: - title, url, publish_date - Useful content from excerpts (skip navigation noise like menus, footers, "Skip to content") ## Response format **CRITICAL: Every claim must have an inline citation.** Use markdown links like [Title](URL) pulling only from the JSON output. Never invent or guess URLs. Synthesize a response that: - Leads with the key answer/finding - Includes specific facts, names, numbers, dates - Cites every fact inline as [Source Title](url) — do not leave any claim uncited - Organizes by theme if multiple topics **End with a Sources section** listing every URL referenced: ```text Sources: - [Source Title](https://example.com/article) (Feb 2026) - [Another Source](https://example.com/other) (Jan 2026) ``` This Sources section is mandatory. Do not omit it. After the Sources section, mention the output file path (`/tmp/$FILENAME.json`) so the user knows it's available for follow-up questions. ## Setup If `parallel-cli` is not found, install and authenticate: ```bash /parallel:parallel-cli-setup ``` If `parallel-cli search` returns `403`, tell the user balance is likely required. Offer to run `parallel-cli balance get`, and if needed ask for explicit confirmation before running `parallel-cli balance add `. Then retry the original search command.