# Web Fetch > Fetch and extract one public web source, optionally restrict its hosts, and return the content by digest with full provenance. - Skill: `runxhq/web-fetch` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add runxhq/web-fetch` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/runxhq/web-fetch/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: runxhq (https://skillmd.com/u/runxhq) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/runxhq/web-fetch --- # Web Fetch Fetch one URL, prove it was allowed, extract the part the caller asked for, and return that slice by digest with the provenance needed to trust it later. ## What this skill does `web-fetch` retrieves a single public URL, extracts text, metadata, or links, and seals the result so a downstream step can cite the fetch without re-fetching. It checks the final host against the effective host policy before and after redirects, retrieves up to `max_bytes`, and returns the final URL, the HTTP status, a `content_digest` over the retrieved body, the extracted slice, and a provenance block recording when it ran, every redirect hop, and how many bytes it read. The body is referenced by digest; only the extracted slice is inlined. This is the primitive an agent reaches for when it has already decided which page to read. The decision it makes easier is "can I read this page, and what did it actually say", with the answer backed by a digest instead of a remembered paraphrase. The calling agent decides which sources matter and synthesizes across them; `web-fetch` retrieves exactly one source. By default it may follow that source across any publicly routable host. Supply `allowlist` only when the operator needs to narrow the initial request and every redirect to named hosts. The request path is native Runx code. Skills do not supply a JavaScript HTTP client: the runtime owns public-network enforcement, redirect admission, timeouts, retries, byte limits, response digests, and receipt-safe evidence. ## When to use this skill - An agent has chosen a specific page and needs its content bound to a `content_digest` so a later step can cite it without re-fetching. - A research pass needs each source retrieved through one bounded public-network fetch with a complete redirect chain and byte count. - A review must later prove what a page said at fetch time. - A follow-on governed operation needs one source extracted as `text`, `metadata`, or `links`. ## When not to use this skill - To judge, rank, or synthesize across sources. That remains caller reasoning; `web-fetch` retrieves exactly one source and refuses to reason over many. - To reach a private, loopback, link-local, or otherwise non-public address. - To reach a host outside an explicitly supplied `allowlist`, including a host reached only through a redirect. - To write anything. The only scope is `net:allowlist`; there is no repo, file, wallet, or send authority here. - To inline a large raw body. The extracted slice is the payload; the full body lives behind `content_digest`. - To carry credentials, cookies, or custom authorization headers. Use the appropriate authenticated provider capability for those reads. ## Procedure 1. Require `url` at runner preflight. A missing target fails before the graph starts with the exact missing input. 2. Use `allowlist: ["*"]` when the caller omits it, meaning any publicly routable host. A caller-supplied allowlist narrows that default. Match the URL host against the effective allowlist. On a miss, return `policy_denied` before any network call, recording the attempted host and the allowlist it was checked against. 3. Fetch, following redirects, re-checking each redirect target's host against the same `allowlist`. A redirect that lands off-allowlist halts the fetch, returns `policy_denied` with the hop that failed, and discards partial bodies. Cap the read at `max_bytes` when set. 4. Compute `content_digest` over the retrieved body. 5. Extract per `extract`: `text` (readable body text, default), `metadata` (title, description, canonical, declared language, content type), or `links` (absolute hrefs found in the document). 6. Return `fetch_result` with the final URL, status, digest, extracted slice, and provenance. Flag truncated reads in provenance; never return a clipped read as if whole. ## Edge cases and stop conditions - **Missing `url`:** fail runner preflight; do not start or seal an empty fetch. - **Omitted `allowlist`:** use `["*"]`; private-network protection still applies. - **Host off the allowlist:** stop with `policy_denied` before any network call; record the attempted host, not a response body (there is none). - **Redirect off the allowlist:** halt the fetch, return `policy_denied` naming the hop that failed, and discard the partial body. - **Read clipped by `max_bytes`:** flag `truncated: true` in provenance; the digest is over the bytes actually retrieved. - **Large raw body:** never inline beyond the extracted slice; anything bigger than the requested view is reachable only through `content_digest`. - **Authenticated source:** stop and use the relevant provider read skill; this public fetch does not accept credentials or custom headers. ## Output schema ```yaml fetch_result: decision: ready | needs_agent | policy_denied | provider_error final_url: string # URL after redirects, the one the digest is over status: number # HTTP status of the final response content_digest: string # digest of the retrieved body, algorithm prefix included extract_mode: text | metadata | links extracted: string | object | array # string for text, object for metadata, array of hrefs for links provenance: fetched_at: string # timestamp of the fetch redirects: array # ordered host hops, each re-checked against the allowlist bytes: number # bytes read truncated: boolean # true when max_bytes clipped the read policy: allowlist_decision: allowed | denied attempted_host: string # set on policy_denied allowlist_checked: array # the hosts the request was checked against ``` The sealed `runx.receipt.v1` carries the final URL, status, `content_digest`, byte count, the redirect chain, and the allowlist decision. It carries no header values, no cookies, and no raw body beyond the digest. ## Worked example Input: `url` of the HTTP Semantics RFC, an `allowlist` of `www.rfc-editor.org` and `rfc-editor.org`, `extract: text`, and `max_bytes: 200000`. Output: `decision: ready`; the host matched the allowlist before the request left; no redirects; status `200`; `content_digest` is taken over the retrieved body; `extracted` holds the readable text slice; provenance records `fetched_at`, an empty redirect chain, `184302` bytes, and `truncated: false`. The receipt seals with the final URL, status, digest, byte count, and the allowlist decision; no header value reaches it. ## Inputs - `url` (required): the single public HTTP(S) URL to fetch. - `allowlist` (optional): permitted hosts or host patterns for the URL and every redirect target. Omit it for `["*"]`, meaning any publicly routable host. - `extract` (optional): `text`, `metadata`, or `links`. Defaults to `text`. - `max_bytes` (optional): cap on bytes read; a clipped read is flagged `truncated` in provenance.