Web search, content extraction, and video understanding for Pi agent. Zero config with a supported Chromium-based browser, or bring your own API keys.
pi-web-fetch-demo.mp4
Zero Config — Works out of the box with Exa MCP (no API key needed). Or sign into Google in Chrome, Arc, Helium, or Chromium for Gemini Web. Add API keys for Exa, Perplexity, or Gemini API for more control.
Video Understanding — Point it at a YouTube video or local screen recording and ask questions about what's on screen. Full transcripts, visual descriptions, and frame extraction at exact timestamps.
Smart Fallbacks — Every capability has a fallback chain. Search tries Exa, then Perplexity, then Gemini API, then Gemini Web. YouTube tries Gemini Web, then API, then Perplexity. Blocked pages retry through Jina Reader and Gemini extraction. Something always works.
GitHub Cloning — GitHub URLs are cloned locally instead of scraped. The agent gets real file contents and a local path to explore, not rendered HTML.
pi install npm:pi-web-accessWorks immediately with no API keys — Exa MCP provides zero-config search. For more providers or direct API access, add keys to ~/.pi/web-search.json:
{
"exaApiKey": "exa-...",
"perplexityApiKey": "pplx-...",
"geminiApiKey": "AIza..."
}In auto mode (default), web_search tries Exa first (direct API if keyed, MCP if not), then Perplexity, then Gemini API, then Gemini Web.
Optional dependencies for video frame extraction:
brew install ffmpeg # frame extraction, video thumbnails, local video duration
brew install yt-dlp # YouTube stream URLs for frame extractionWithout these, video content analysis (transcripts, visual descriptions via Gemini) still works. The binaries are only needed for extracting individual frames as images.
Requires Pi v0.37.3+.
// Search the web
web_search({ query: "TypeScript best practices 2025" })
// Fetch a page
fetch_content({ url: "https://docs.example.com/guide" })
// Clone a GitHub repo
fetch_content({ url: "https://github.com/owner/repo" })
// Understand a YouTube video
fetch_content({ url: "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc", prompt: "What libraries are shown?" })
// Analyze a screen recording
fetch_content({ url: "/path/to/recording.mp4", prompt: "What error appears on screen?" })Search the web via Exa, Perplexity AI, or Gemini. Returns a synthesized answer with source citations.
web_search({ query: "rust async programming" })
web_search({ queries: ["query 1", "query 2"] })
web_search({ query: "latest news", numResults: 10, recencyFilter: "week" })
web_search({ query: "...", domainFilter: ["github.com"] })
web_search({ query: "...", provider: "exa" })
web_search({ query: "...", includeContent: true })
web_search({ queries: ["query 1", "query 2"], workflow: "none" })
web_search({ queries: ["query 1", "query 2"], workflow: "summary-review" })| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
query / queries |
Single query or batch of queries |
numResults |
Results per query (default: 5, max: 20) |
recencyFilter |
day, week, month, or year |
domainFilter |
Limit to domains (prefix with - to exclude) |
provider |
auto (default), exa, perplexity, or gemini |
includeContent |
Fetch full page content from sources in background |
workflow |
none (skip curator) or summary-review (auto-generate summary draft after search completion, default) |
Search for code examples, documentation, and API references via Exa MCP. No API key required.
code_search({ query: "React useEffect cleanup pattern" })
code_search({ query: "Express middleware error handling", maxTokens: 10000 })| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
query |
Programming question, API, library, or debugging topic |
maxTokens |
Maximum tokens of context to return (default: 5000, max: 50000) |
Fetch URL(s) and extract readable content as markdown. Automatically detects and handles GitHub repos, YouTube videos, PDFs, local video files, and regular web pages.
fetch_content({ url: "https://example.com/article" })
fetch_content({ urls: ["url1", "url2", "url3"] })
fetch_content({ url: "https://github.com/owner/repo" })
fetch_content({ url: "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc", prompt: "What libraries are shown?" })
fetch_content({ url: "/path/to/recording.mp4", prompt: "What error appears on screen?" })
fetch_content({ url: "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc", timestamp: "23:41-25:00", frames: 4 })| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
url / urls |
Single URL/path or multiple URLs |
prompt |
Question to ask about a YouTube video or local video file |
timestamp |
Extract frame(s) — single ("23:41"), range ("23:41-25:00"), or seconds ("85") |
frames |
Number of frames to extract (max 12) |
forceClone |
Clone GitHub repos that exceed the 350MB size threshold |
Retrieve stored content from previous searches or fetches. Content over 30,000 chars is truncated in tool responses but stored in full for retrieval here.
get_search_content({ responseId: "abc123", urlIndex: 0 })
get_search_content({ responseId: "abc123", url: "https://..." })
get_search_content({ responseId: "abc123", query: "original query" })GitHub URLs are cloned locally instead of scraped. The agent gets real file contents and a local path to explore with read and bash. Root URLs return the repo tree + README, /tree/ paths return directory listings, /blob/ paths return file contents.
Repos over 350MB get a lightweight API-based view instead of a full clone (override with forceClone: true). Commit SHA URLs are handled via the API. Clones are cached for the session and wiped on session change. Private repos require the gh CLI.
YouTube URLs are processed via Gemini for full video understanding — visual descriptions, transcripts with timestamps, and chapter markers. Pass a prompt to ask specific questions about the video. Results include the video thumbnail so the agent gets visual context alongside the transcript.
Fallback: Gemini Web → Gemini API → Perplexity (text summary only). Handles all URL formats: /watch?v=, youtu.be/, /shorts/, /live/, /embed/, /v/.
Pass a file path (/, ./, ../, or file:// prefix) to analyze video content via Gemini. Supports MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, and other common formats up to 50MB. Pass a prompt to ask about specific content. If ffmpeg is installed, a thumbnail frame is included alongside the analysis.
Fallback: Gemini API (Files API upload) → Gemini Web.
Use timestamp and/or frames on any YouTube URL or local video file to extract visual frames as images.
fetch_content({ url: "...", timestamp: "23:41" }) // single frame
fetch_content({ url: "...", timestamp: "23:41-25:00" }) // range, 6 frames
fetch_content({ url: "...", timestamp: "23:41-25:00", frames: 3 }) // range, custom count
fetch_content({ url: "...", timestamp: "23:41", frames: 5 }) // 5 frames at 5s intervals
fetch_content({ url: "...", frames: 6 }) // sample whole videoRequires ffmpeg (and yt-dlp for YouTube). Timestamps accept H:MM:SS, MM:SS, or bare seconds.
PDF URLs are extracted as text and saved to ~/Downloads/ as markdown. The agent can then read specific sections without loading the full document into context. Text-based extraction only — no OCR.
When Readability fails or returns only a cookie notice, the extension retries via Jina Reader (handles JS rendering server-side, no API key needed), then Gemini URL Context API, then Gemini Web extraction. Handles SPAs, JS-heavy pages, and anti-bot protections transparently. Also parses Next.js RSC flight data when present.
web_search(query)
→ Exa (direct API with key, MCP without) → Perplexity → Gemini API → Gemini Web
fetch_content(url)
→ Video file? Gemini API (Files API) → Gemini Web
→ GitHub URL? Clone repo, return file contents + local path
→ YouTube URL? Gemini Web → Gemini API → Perplexity
→ HTTP fetch → PDF? Extract text, save to ~/Downloads/
→ HTML? Readability → RSC parser → Jina Reader → Gemini fallback
→ Text/JSON/Markdown? Return directly
Bundled research workflow for investigating open-source libraries. Combines GitHub cloning, web search, and git operations (blame, log, show) to produce evidence-backed answers with permalinks. Pi loads it automatically based on your prompt. Also available via /skill:librarian with pi-skill-palette.
Open the search curator directly. Runs searches and lets you review, add, select results, and approve a summary before it is sent back to the agent — no LLM round-trip needed.
/websearch # empty page, type your own searches
/websearch react hooks, next.js caching # pre-fill with comma-separated queries
Results get injected into the conversation when you approve the summary or click "Send selected results without summary". On timeout, the curator auto-submits and falls back to a deterministic summary if no approved draft is present.
Toggle or configure the curator workflow at runtime.
/curator # toggle on/off
/curator on # enable curator (summary-review)
/curator off # disable curator (raw results only)
/curator summary-review # explicit workflow
Persists to ~/.pi/web-search.json and takes effect on the next web_search call. When disabled, web_search returns raw results without opening the curator window.
Browse stored search results interactively. Lists all results from the current session with their response IDs for easy retrieval.
Show the active Google account currently authenticated for Gemini Web. Useful when multiple Chromium profiles exist or chromeProfile is set in config.
Toggle with Ctrl+Shift+W to see live request/response activity:
─── Web Search Activity ────────────────────────────────────
API "typescript best practices" 200 2.1s ✓
GET docs.example.com/article 200 0.8s ✓
GET blog.example.com/post 404 0.3s ✗
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
All config lives in ~/.pi/web-search.json. Every field is optional.
{
"exaApiKey": "exa-...",
"perplexityApiKey": "pplx-...",
"geminiApiKey": "AIza...",
"provider": "exa",
"chromeProfile": "Profile 2",
"searchModel": "gemini-2.5-flash",
"workflow": "summary-review",
"curatorTimeoutSeconds": 20,
"githubClone": {
"enabled": true,
"maxRepoSizeMB": 350,
"cloneTimeoutSeconds": 30,
"clonePath": "/tmp/pi-github-repos"
},
"youtube": {
"enabled": true,
"preferredModel": "gemini-3-flash-preview"
},
"video": {
"enabled": true,
"preferredModel": "gemini-3-flash-preview",
"maxSizeMB": 50
},
"shortcuts": {
"curate": "ctrl+shift+s",
"activity": "ctrl+shift+w"
}
}EXA_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, and PERPLEXITY_API_KEY env vars take precedence over config file values. provider sets the default search provider: "exa", "perplexity", or "gemini". This is also updated automatically when you change the provider in the curator UI. workflow sets the default curator mode: "summary-review" (default, opens curator with auto-generated summary draft) or "none" (raw results, no curator). Overridden per-call via the workflow parameter on web_search, or toggled at runtime with /curator. chromeProfile overrides the Chromium profile directory used for Gemini Web cookie lookup. searchModel overrides the Gemini API model used by web_search without changing URL, YouTube, or video extraction defaults. curatorTimeoutSeconds controls the initial curator idle timeout (default 20, max 600); users can still adjust the timer in the curator UI.
Both shortcuts are configurable via ~/.pi/web-search.json:
{
"shortcuts": {
"curate": "ctrl+shift+s",
"activity": "ctrl+shift+w"
}
}Values use the same format as pi keybindings (e.g. ctrl+s, ctrl+shift+s, alt+r). Changes take effect on next pi restart.
Set "enabled": false under any feature to disable it. Config changes require a Pi restart.
Rate limits: Perplexity is capped at 10 requests/minute (client-side). Content fetches run 3 concurrent with a 30s timeout per URL.
- Chromium cookie extraction works on macOS and Linux. Linux uses
secret-toolwhen available and falls back to Chromium's default password otherwise; other platforms fall through to API keys. First-time macOS access may trigger a Keychain dialog. - YouTube private/age-restricted videos may fail on all extraction paths.
- Gemini can process videos up to ~1 hour; longer videos may be truncated.
- PDFs are text-extracted only (no OCR for scanned documents).
- GitHub branch names with slashes may misresolve file paths; the clone still works and the agent can navigate manually.
- Non-code GitHub URLs (issues, PRs, wiki) fall through to normal web extraction.
Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
index.ts |
Extension entry, tool definitions, commands, widget |
curator-page.ts |
HTML/CSS/JS generation for the curator UI with markdown rendering |
curator-server.ts |
Ephemeral HTTP server with SSE streaming and state machine |
summary-review.ts |
Summary prompt construction, model-based draft generation, and deterministic fallback summary |
exa.ts |
Exa.ai search provider — direct API and MCP proxy, budget tracking |
code-search.ts |
Code/docs search via Exa MCP |
extract.ts |
URL/file path routing, HTTP extraction, fallback orchestration |
gemini-search.ts |
Search routing across Exa, Perplexity, Gemini API, Gemini Web |
gemini-url-context.ts |
Gemini URL Context + Web extraction fallbacks |
gemini-web.ts |
Gemini Web client (cookie auth, StreamGenerate) |
gemini-api.ts |
Gemini REST API client (generateContent) |
chrome-cookies.ts |
macOS/Linux Chromium-based cookie extraction (Keychain/secret-tool + SQLite) |
youtube-extract.ts |
YouTube detection, three-tier extraction, frame extraction |
video-extract.ts |
Local video detection, Files API upload, Gemini analysis |
github-extract.ts |
GitHub URL parsing, clone cache, content generation |
github-api.ts |
GitHub API fallback for large repos and commit SHAs |
perplexity.ts |
Perplexity API client with rate limiting |
pdf-extract.ts |
PDF text extraction, saves to markdown |
rsc-extract.ts |
RSC flight data parser for Next.js pages |
utils.ts |
Shared formatting and error helpers |
storage.ts |
Session-aware result storage |
activity.ts |
Activity tracking for the observability widget |
skills/librarian/ |
Bundled skill for library research |