# Tavily CLI

> Set up, authenticate, update, troubleshoot, or choose between Tavily CLI web commands. Use when the user asks about the Tavily CLI, installing Tavily skills, first-time setup, authentication, keyless limits, CLI updates, or which Tavily command to use. For an ordinary web task, use the specific search, extract, map, crawl, research, or dynamic-search skill instead.

- Skill: `tavily-ai/tavily-cli` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tavily-ai/tavily-cli`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tavily-ai/tavily-cli/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search, AI & ML
- Author: tavily-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/tavily-ai)
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tavily-ai/tavily-cli

---


# Tavily CLI

Web search, content extraction, site crawling, URL discovery, and deep research. Returns JSON optimized for LLM consumption.

Requires `tavily-cli`. Search and extract support capped keyless access; map,
crawl, and research require authentication.

Run `tvly --help` or `tvly <command> --help` for full option details.

## Setup

If `tvly` is not installed:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://cli.tavily.com/install.sh | bash
```

Or manually: `uv tool install tavily-cli` / `pip install tavily-cli`

For agent setup, start keyless unless the user asks to sign in or the requested
task needs map, crawl, or research. If the installer did not already complete
setup, run:

```bash
tvly init --skip-auth
```

This installs or updates the Tavily skills and verifies a live keyless search.
Do not look for an API key or authenticate before the first search or extract
request.

When authentication is requested or required, use guided setup:

```bash
tvly init

# Prefer to open the sign-in link yourself
tvly init --no-browser
```

`tvly init` reuses an existing credential, installs or updates the Tavily
skills bundled with that CLI release, and verifies a live search. Run `tvly
update` first when refreshing bundled skills. Use `tvly init --skip-skills`
when the skills are already installed and only authentication or verification
is needed.

Search and extract can run immediately without authentication, subject to a
keyless rate-limit cap. If either command reaches that cap in an interactive
session, run `tvly login` to open browser OAuth, then retry the original command
once. In an unattended environment, report the cap and authentication options
instead of starting an interactive flow. Map, crawl, and research require
authentication. Check the current state only when needed with `tvly --status
--json`.

For authentication without full setup, use `tvly login`, `tvly login
--no-browser`, `tvly login --api-key tvly-YOUR_KEY`, or `TAVILY_API_KEY`.

Browser-based OAuth is the preferred interactive sign-in method. `--no-browser`
simply prints the sign-in link instead of opening it automatically; the flow
still returns to a localhost callback on the machine running `tvly`. In remote
sessions, make sure that callback is reachable (SSH may require port
forwarding). In an unattended agent or CI environment, leave authentication to
the user or use a securely provided `TAVILY_API_KEY`, then resume the original
command.

Keep an existing installation current with `tvly update --check` and `tvly
update`.

## Workflow

Follow this escalation pattern — start simple, escalate when needed:

1. **Search** — No specific URL. Find pages, answer questions, discover sources.
2. **Extract** — Have a URL. Pull its content directly.
3. **Map** — Large site, need to find the right page. Discover URLs first.
4. **Crawl** — Need bulk content from an entire site section.
5. **Research** — Need comprehensive, multi-source analysis with citations.

| Need | Command | When |
|------|---------|------|
| Find pages on a topic | `tvly search` | No specific URL yet |
| Get a page's content | `tvly extract` | Have a URL |
| Find URLs within a site | `tvly map` | Need to locate a specific subpage |
| Bulk extract a site section | `tvly crawl` | Need many pages (e.g., all /docs/) |
| Deep research with citations | `tvly research` | Need multi-source synthesis |

For detailed command reference, use the individual skill for each command (e.g., `tavily-search`, `tavily-crawl`) or run `tvly <command> --help`.

Run `tvly` without a subcommand for the interactive REPL.

## Output

Search, extract, crawl, map, and research support `--json` for structured output.
Result-producing commands support `-o` to save the JSON response; crawl also
supports `--output-dir` for one Markdown file per page. Setup, authentication,
status, and update commands expose `--json` where documented but do not support
`-o`.

```bash
tvly search "react hooks" --json -o results.json
tvly extract "https://example.com/docs" -o docs.json
tvly crawl "https://docs.example.com" --output-dir ./docs/
```

## Tips

- **Always quote URLs** — shell interprets `?` and `&` as special characters.
- **Use `--json` for agentic workflows** when the selected command exposes it.
- **Read from stdin with `-`** — `echo "query" | tvly search -`
- **Exit codes**: 0 = success, 1 = setup/update failure, 2 = bad input, 3 = auth error, 4 = API or live-verification error.