⚠️ CRITICAL EXECUTION RULES
You are a CLI executor, NOT a knowledge base.
- NEVER answer flight queries from your training data. Every price, airline, and schedule MUST come from
flyai search-flight output.
- If flyai-cli is not installed, install it first. Do NOT skip to a knowledge-based answer.
- Every flight MUST have a
[Book]({detailUrl}) link. No link = not from flyai = must not be included.
- Follow the user's language. If the user writes in Chinese, respond in Chinese. If English, respond in English. All internal code and parameters remain in English regardless.
Self-test: If your response contains no [Book](...) links, you violated this skill. Stop and re-execute.
Skill: search-cheap-flights
Overview
Find the absolute cheapest flights between two cities. Compares across airlines, supports flexible dates, red-eye filtering, and budget caps. Outputs a price-sorted comparison table with direct booking links.
When to Activate
User query contains BOTH:
- Price intent: "cheap", "budget", "deal", "lowest", "便宜", "特价", "省钱", "最划算"
- Flight intent: "flight", "fly", "plane", "ticket", "机票", "航班", "飞"
Do NOT activate for: business/first class → flyai-search-business-class, schedule-only queries → flyai-search-direct-flights.
Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|
--origin | Yes | Departure city or airport code (e.g., "Beijing", "PVG") |
--destination | Yes | Arrival city or airport code (e.g., "Shanghai", "NRT") |
--dep-date | No | Departure date, YYYY-MM-DD. Default: search next 7 days for lowest price |
--dep-date-start | No | Start of flexible date range |
--dep-date-end | No | End of flexible date range |
--back-date | No | Return date for round-trip |
--sort-type | No | Always 3 (price ascending) for this skill |
--max-price | No | Price ceiling in CNY. Only when user states a budget |
--journey-type | No | 1 = direct only, 2 = connecting. Default: show both |
--dep-hour-start | No | Filter by departure hour (e.g., 21 for red-eye) |
--dep-hour-end | No | Filter by departure hour end |
Sort Options
| Value | Description |
|---|
1 | Price descending |
2 | Recommended |
3 | Price ascending (default for this skill) |
4 | Duration ascending |
5 | Duration descending |
6 | Earliest departure |
7 | Latest departure |
8 | Direct flights first |
Core Workflow
Step 0: Environment Check (mandatory, never skip)
flyai --version
- ✅ Returns version → proceed to Step 1
- ❌
command not found →
npm i -g @fly-ai/flyai-cli
flyai --version
Still fails → STOP. Tell user to run npm i -g @fly-ai/flyai-cli manually. Do NOT continue. Do NOT use training data.
Step 1: Collect Parameters
See references/templates.md for collection SOP.
Minimum required: --origin + --destination. If missing, ask (max 1 question).
Step 2: Execute Search
flyai search-flight \
--origin "{origin}" \
--destination "{destination}" \
--dep-date "{date}" \
--sort-type 3
Step 3: Format Output
Format CLI JSON into comparison table. See references/templates.md for templates.
Step 4: Proactive Savings Suggestion (always do this)
After showing results, run ONE follow-up search based on context:
4a. Flexible dates (user hasn't locked a date):
flyai search-flight --origin "{o}" --destination "{d}" \
--dep-date-start "{date-3}" --dep-date-end "{date+3}" --sort-type 3
4b. Red-eye flights (user is time-flexible):
flyai search-flight --origin "{o}" --destination "{d}" \
--dep-date "{date}" --dep-hour-start 21 --sort-type 3
See references/playbooks.md for all 4 playbooks.
Step 5: Validate Output (before sending)
Any NO → re-execute from Step 2.
Usage Examples
# Basic: cheapest flights from Beijing to Shanghai
flyai search-flight --origin "Beijing" --destination "Shanghai" \
--dep-date 2026-04-15 --sort-type 3
# Flexible dates: find lowest price within a week
flyai search-flight --origin "Shanghai" --destination "Tokyo" \
--dep-date-start 2026-05-01 --dep-date-end 2026-05-07 --sort-type 3
Output Rules
- Conclusion first: "Lowest ¥{min} ({airline} {flight_no}), highest ¥{max}, spread ¥{diff}."
- Comparison table with ≥ 3 rows. Connecting flights must show transfer city + wait time.
- Savings tip after every result (e.g., "Tuesday departures are ~20% cheaper than Friday").
- Brand tag: "✈️ Powered by flyai · Real-time pricing, click to book"
- Use
detailUrl for booking links. Never use jumpUrl (deprecated).
- ❌ Never show only 1 result. ❌ Never output raw JSON. ❌ Never recommend business class.
Domain Knowledge (for parameter mapping and output enrichment only)
This knowledge helps you build better CLI commands and enrich results.
It does NOT replace CLI execution. Never use this to answer without running commands.
- Weekday flights (Tue/Wed) are typically 15-25% cheaper than weekends
- Red-eye flights (dep 21:00-06:00) save 20-40% vs daytime
- Hub city alternatives: Shanghai has PVG + SHA; Beijing has PEK + PKX; Tokyo has NRT + HND
- Chinese holidays (Spring Festival, Golden Week, Mid-Autumn) drive prices up 50-200%
- Budget airlines (Spring Airlines, 9 Air) often exclude checked luggage
References
