stephschofield Web Search Skill
When to Use
Use this skill when you need to:
- Perform competitive analysis or market research
- Find current information about technologies, trends, or events
- Research user behavior patterns or industry benchmarks
- Look up documentation or examples from the web
MCP Check (Run First)
Before using web search tools, verify MCP availability:
- Check if
brave_web_searchtool is available - If unavailable, fall back to
fetchtool for specific URLs - Ask user to provide information if no search capability
Available Tools (When MCP Active)
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
brave_web_search |
General web queries with filtering |
brave_news_search |
Current events, recent developments |
brave_local_search |
Business/location info (Pro tier) |
brave_image_search |
Image search with metadata |
brave_summarizer |
AI summaries (use summary:true) |
Search Patterns
Competitive Analysis
- Search for competitor name + product type
- Search for reviews, comparisons
- Compile findings into structured report
Technology Research
- Search for technology + "best practices"
- Search for technology + "alternatives"
- Search for recent news/updates
Graceful Degradation
If MCP unavailable:
- Use
fetchtool for known documentation URLs - Request user to provide specific URLs or information
- Analyze codebase for existing similar implementations
- Clearly state what information is missing
Configuration
Requires Brave Search API key. See docs/MCP-SETUP.md for setup.