Web Search Instant 1.1.0

Web search using DuckDuckGo Instant Answer API (no API key required). Use when you need to search the web for information, definitions, calculations, convers...

Security Scan

The skill's code and instructions match its stated purpose (a DuckDuckGo Instant Answer CLI client); no unrelated credentials, installs, or hidden endpoints were found, though there are minor metadata and example-path inconsistencies you should review before installing.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description state a DuckDuckGo Instant Answer client and the package contains a shell CLI (web-search.sh) that queries api.duckduckgo.com. Required tools (curl/wget, optional jq, fallback to python3) are appropriate for the task. No unrelated credentials, services, or binaries are requested.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md and web-search.sh instruct only running the CLI to perform searches. The README and tests accurately describe expected behavior. Minor scope notes: examples include a hard-coded example path (cd /home/hxx/clawd/tools && ./web-search.sh) which is environment-specific and unnecessary; test scripts may run queries and write temporary files (/tmp) if executed. The tool performs network requests to DuckDuckGo (expected).

Install Mechanism

No install spec — instruction-only with included shell scripts. Nothing is downloaded from external arbitrary URLs or extracted. Risk is low because no installation step writes remote code to disk beyond the existing bundled scripts.

Credentials

The skill requests no environment variables or credentials. It only needs network access and common CLI tools (curl/wget, optionally jq or python3). This is proportionate to a CLI web-search client. Note: user queries are sent to DuckDuckGo — do not submit sensitive secrets as search queries.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false, the skill is user-invocable and does not request persistent system privileges or modify other skills/config. There is no autonomous onboarding or forced inclusion.

Assessment

This skill appears internally consistent and implements a DuckDuckGo Instant Answer CLI. Before installing or running it: 1) Verify the publisher/source since registry metadata shows minor inconsistencies (registry listed version 1.0.0 while package files report 1.1.0 and _meta.json ownerId differs); confirm you trust the owner. 2) Inspect the included web-search.sh yourself (you already have it) — it makes outbound HTTPS requests to api.duckduckgo.com and uses curl/wget/jq/python3; it does not read secrets or require credentials. 3) Don’t run the test scripts or CLI with sensitive queries (queries are transmitted to DuckDuckGo and test suites will execute multiple queries and write temporary files). 4) If you plan to run on a restricted host, note the script’s fallbacks use jq or python3 and grep -P; some environments may lack these and behavior will differ. 5) If you need provenance, ask the publisher for a homepage, license, or signed release — the package currently lacks an authoritative homepage link. Overall the package looks coherent for its stated purpose, but validate source/trust before use.

Web Search

Free web search using DuckDuckGo's Instant Answer API. No API key required.

Quick Start

# Basic search
cd /home/hxx/clawd/tools && ./web-search.sh "your query"

# Examples
./web-search.sh "what is artificial intelligence"
./web-search.sh "python programming"
./web-search.sh "define recursion"
./web-search.sh "2+2"

Command-Line Options

Core Options

• -h, --help - Display help message with usage examples
• --format <format> - Output format: text, markdown, plain (default: text)
  • text: Colored terminal output (default)
  • markdown: Clean markdown format (no ANSI colors)
  • plain: Plain text without colors
• --no-color - Disable colored output (same as --format plain)
• --max-related <N> - Control number of related topics to show (default: 5)
• --quiet - Minimal output mode (just results, no headers/footer)

Output to File

Use shell redirection to save results to file:

# Save to file
./web-search.sh "query" > output.txt

# With markdown format
./web-search.sh --format markdown "query" > results.md

# With no colors for logs
./web-search.sh --no-color "query" > search.log

What It Returns

The tool provides several result types:

• Answers - Direct answers for calculations, conversions, weather, etc.
• Abstracts - Wikipedia-style summaries with source and URL
• Definitions - Word/term definitions
• Related Topics - Additional relevant results (configurable, 5 default)

Best Practices

1. Be specific - More specific queries get better instant answers
2. Try variations - If no results, rephrase your query
3. Use for facts - Definitions, calculations, quick lookups work best
4. Check URL - Always provides DuckDuckGo link for full search
5. Use appropriate format:
   • Terminal output: --format text (colored, default)
   • Documentation: --format markdown > file.md`
   • Logs/piping: --format plain or --no-color

Limitations

• No full web search results (only instant answers)
• Some queries return limited results depending on DuckDuckGo's data
• Character encoding issues in some abstracts (known limitation)
• Requires internet access to query DuckDuckGo API
• Not all query types return instant answers (e.g., complex math like sqrt(144))
• Definitions may not always be available for all terms
• Recent news may not appear (DuckDuckGo focuses on evergreen content)

Usage Examples

Basic Search

# Simple query
./web-search.sh "open source AI models"

# Wikipedia-style query
./web-search.sh "what is recursion"

Markdown Format

# Clean markdown output
./web-search.sh --format markdown "python programming"

# Save to markdown file
./web-search.sh --format markdown "AI research" > research.md

Plain/No Color

# For logs or piping
./web-search.sh --format plain "search query"

# Disable colors explicitly
./web-search.sh --no-color "search query"

Control Related Topics

# Show fewer related topics
./web-search.sh --max-related 3 "machine learning"

# Show more related topics
./web-search.sh --max-related 10 "open source"

Quiet Mode

# Minimal output (just results)
./web-search.sh --quiet "what is 42 + 7"

Combined Options

# Markdown, no color, saved to file
./web-search.sh --format markdown --no-color "topic" > results.md

# Quiet with custom related count
./web-search.sh --quiet --max-related 2 "definition"

Tested Scenarios

Tested and verified to work:

• ✅ Calculations: 2+2, 10% of 500
• ✅ Conversions: 100 miles to km
• ✅ Wikipedia queries: what is artificial intelligence
• ✅ Programming: what is python, how to install docker
• ✅ People: who is Elon Musk
• ✅ Scientific facts: speed of light
• ✅ Weather: weather in Tokyo
• ✅ Edge cases: empty queries, special characters, no results
• ✅ Output formats: text, markdown, plain
• ✅ Flags: --help, --format, --no-color, --max-related, --quiet

See test-outputs.md for detailed test results.

Troubleshooting

"No direct results found"

Try rephasing your query or using the provided DuckDuckGo URL for full search.

Network errors

Check internet connection. Tool requires network access.

Character encoding issues

Some abstracts display garbled characters. This is a known issue with basic parsing (install jq for better results).

"jq not found" warning

The tool works without jq using basic text extraction, but installing jq improves JSON parsing:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install jq

# macOS
brew install jq

# Via package managers
npm install -g jq

Output Format

Text Format (default)

• Blue - Headers and search info
• Green - Result markers and content
• Yellow - Sources, URLs, and warnings
• Red - Errors

Use --format plain or --no-color to disable colors.

Markdown Format

Clean markdown with:

• ## headers for sections
• **bold** for emphasis
• - bullet lists
• *italics* for metadata
• [links]() for URLs

Plain Format

No ANSI codes or markdown formatting - suitable for logs and piping.

Requirements

• curl or wget (for HTTP requests)
• Optional: jq (for better JSON parsing)