modbender Parallel Search
High-accuracy web search built for AI agents. Returns ranked results with intelligent excerpts optimized for LLM consumption.
When to Use
Trigger this skill when the user asks for:
- "search the web", "web search", "look up", "find online"
- "current news about...", "latest updates on..."
- "research [topic]", "what's happening with..."
- Fact-checking with citations needed
- Domain-specific searches (e.g., "search GitHub for...", "find on Reddit...")
Quick Start
parallel-cli search "your query" --json --max-results 5
CLI Reference
Basic Usage
parallel-cli search "<objective>" [options]
Common Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-q, --query "<keyword>" |
Add keyword filter (repeatable, 3-8 recommended) |
--max-results N |
Number of results (1-20, default: 10) |
--json |
Output as JSON |
--after-date YYYY-MM-DD |
Filter for recent content |
--include-domains domain.com |
Limit to specific domains (repeatable, max 10) |
--exclude-domains domain.com |
Exclude domains (repeatable, max 10) |
--excerpt-max-chars-total N |
Limit total excerpt size (default: 8000) |
Examples
Basic search:
parallel-cli search "When was the United Nations founded?" --json --max-results 5
With keyword filters:
parallel-cli search "Latest developments in quantum computing" \
-q "quantum" -q "computing" -q "2026" \
--json --max-results 10
Domain-scoped search:
parallel-cli search "React hooks best practices" \
--include-domains react.dev --include-domains github.com \
--json --max-results 5
Recent news only:
parallel-cli search "AI regulation news" \
--after-date 2026-01-01 \
--json --max-results 10
Best-Practice Prompting
Objective
Write 1-3 sentences describing:
- The real task context (why you need the info)
- Freshness constraints ("prefer 2026+", "latest docs")
- Preferred sources ("official docs", "news sites")
Keyword Queries
Add 3-8 keyword queries including:
- Specific terms, version numbers, error strings
- Common synonyms
- Date terms if relevant ("2026", "Jan 2026")
Response Format
Returns structured JSON with:
search_id— unique identifierresults[]— array of results:url— source URLtitle— page titleexcerpts[]— relevant text excerptspublish_date— when available
Output Handling
When turning results into a user-facing answer:
- Prefer official/primary sources when possible
- Quote or paraphrase only the relevant extracted text
- Include URL + publish_date for transparency
- If results disagree, present both and note the discrepancy
Running Out of Context?
For long conversations, save results and use sessions_spawn:
parallel-cli search "<query>" --json -o /tmp/search-<topic>.json
Then spawn a sub-agent:
{
"tool": "sessions_spawn",
"task": "Read /tmp/search-<topic>.json and synthesize a summary with sources.",
"label": "search-summary"
}
Error Handling
| Exit Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Success |
| 1 | Unexpected error (network, parse) |
| 2 | Invalid arguments |
| 3 | API error (non-2xx) |
Prerequisites
- Get an API key at parallel.ai
- Install the CLI:
curl -fsSL https://parallel.ai/install.sh | bash
export PARALLEL_API_KEY=your-key