Web Search Skill
A skill for searching the web to find current, accurate information beyond the knowledge cutoff.
When to Search
Search whenever:
- The user asks about current events, news, prices, people in roles, or anything time-sensitive
- The question includes words like "latest", "current", "now", "still", "recently", "today"
- The answer could have changed in the past year
- The user explicitly asks you to search or look something up
- You're uncertain whether your training data is up to date on the topic
Do NOT search for:
- Timeless facts, definitions, math, or stable historical events
- Topics you can answer confidently without recent data
- When the user is asking for your opinion or for creative output
How to Search Effectively
Query construction
- Keep queries short and specific (1–6 words works best)
- Start broad, then narrow if needed
- Never use quotes,
- operators, or site: unless explicitly asked
- Include the year (e.g. "2026") when asking about current holders of roles or recent events
- Use
today for breaking news (e.g. "Fed interest rate decision today")
Scale to complexity
| Query type |
Tool calls |
| Single fact (price, score, who holds a role) |
1 |
| Topic overview or recent news |
2–4 |
| Research or comparison across multiple sources |
5–10 |
| Deep investigation |
Suggest the Research feature |
Fetch full articles when needed
Search snippets are often too brief. Use web_fetch to read the full page when:
- You need detail beyond the snippet
- The user references a specific URL
- Snippets conflict and you need the source of truth
Responding with Search Results
Citing sources
- Cite every specific claim that came from search results using
<cite> tags
- Use the minimum citations needed — don't over-cite
- Always paraphrase; never quote 15+ words from any source
- Use one direct quote per source maximum — then switch to paraphrasing
Tone and structure
- Lead with the most recent and relevant information
- Be concise — only include what's useful to the user
- Note conflicting sources when relevant
- Prefer original sources (official sites, gov pages, company blogs) over aggregators
Copyright rules (mandatory)
- Hard limit: No direct quote may exceed 14 words
- One quote per source: After quoting a source once, only paraphrase it thereafter
- Never reproduce: song lyrics, poems, article paragraphs verbatim, or any full creative works
- Paraphrase is always preferred — quotes are a last resort
Example Workflows
Simple fact lookup
User: "Who is the current CEO of OpenAI?"
→ web_search: "OpenAI CEO 2026"
→ Respond with cited answer
News summary
User: "What's been happening with the Fed lately?"
→ web_search: "Federal Reserve interest rates 2026"
→ web_fetch the most relevant article
→ Summarize in 2–4 sentences with citations
Comparison research
User: "Compare the top AI coding assistants right now"
→ web_search: "best AI coding assistants 2026"
→ web_search: "GitHub Copilot vs Cursor 2026"
→ web_search: "Claude Code review 2026"
→ Synthesize into a comparison, citing each source
Handling Uncertainty
- If search results conflict, say so and note which sources disagree
- If results are thin or inconclusive, say what you found and what's still unclear
- If a topic is prone to misinformation or SEO manipulation, note that and prefer authoritative sources
- Never invent citations or attribute claims without a source
1---2name: web-search3description: Use this skill whenever the user wants to search the web, look up current information, research a topic, find recent news, verify facts, or answer questions that may have changed since the knowledge cutoff. Trigger on phrases like "search for", "look up", "find out", "what's the latest on", "is X still", "who currently", "recent news about", "check if", or any question that requires up-to-date or real-time information. Also trigger when the user asks about prices, stock quotes, weather, sports scores, current events, recent product releases, or anything where recency matters. Use this skill proactively — if there's any chance the answer has changed recently, search rather than relying on training data alone.4---56# Web Search Skill78A skill for searching the web to find current, accurate information beyond the knowledge cutoff.910---1112## When to Search1314Search whenever:15- The user asks about **current events**, news, prices, people in roles, or anything time-sensitive16- The question includes words like "latest", "current", "now", "still", "recently", "today"17- The answer could have changed in the past year18- The user explicitly asks you to search or look something up19- You're uncertain whether your training data is up to date on the topic2021Do NOT search for:22- Timeless facts, definitions, math, or stable historical events23- Topics you can answer confidently without recent data24- When the user is asking for your opinion or for creative output2526---2728## How to Search Effectively2930### Query construction31- Keep queries **short and specific** (1–6 words works best)32- Start broad, then narrow if needed33- Never use quotes, `-` operators, or `site:` unless explicitly asked34- Include the year (e.g. "2026") when asking about current holders of roles or recent events35- Use `today` for breaking news (e.g. "Fed interest rate decision today")3637### Scale to complexity38| Query type | Tool calls |39|---|---|40| Single fact (price, score, who holds a role) | 1 |41| Topic overview or recent news | 2–4 |42| Research or comparison across multiple sources | 5–10 |43| Deep investigation | Suggest the Research feature |4445### Fetch full articles when needed46Search snippets are often too brief. Use `web_fetch` to read the full page when:47- You need detail beyond the snippet48- The user references a specific URL49- Snippets conflict and you need the source of truth5051---5253## Responding with Search Results5455### Citing sources56- Cite **every specific claim** that came from search results using `<cite>` tags57- Use the minimum citations needed — don't over-cite58- Always paraphrase; **never quote 15+ words** from any source59- Use **one direct quote per source maximum** — then switch to paraphrasing6061### Tone and structure62- Lead with the most recent and relevant information63- Be concise — only include what's useful to the user64- Note conflicting sources when relevant65- Prefer original sources (official sites, gov pages, company blogs) over aggregators6667### Copyright rules (mandatory)68- **Hard limit**: No direct quote may exceed 14 words69- **One quote per source**: After quoting a source once, only paraphrase it thereafter70- **Never reproduce**: song lyrics, poems, article paragraphs verbatim, or any full creative works71- Paraphrase is always preferred — quotes are a last resort7273---7475## Example Workflows7677### Simple fact lookup78```79User: "Who is the current CEO of OpenAI?"80→ web_search: "OpenAI CEO 2026"81→ Respond with cited answer82```8384### News summary85```86User: "What's been happening with the Fed lately?"87→ web_search: "Federal Reserve interest rates 2026"88→ web_fetch the most relevant article89→ Summarize in 2–4 sentences with citations90```9192### Comparison research93```94User: "Compare the top AI coding assistants right now"95→ web_search: "best AI coding assistants 2026"96→ web_search: "GitHub Copilot vs Cursor 2026"97→ web_search: "Claude Code review 2026"98→ Synthesize into a comparison, citing each source99```100101---102103## Handling Uncertainty104105- If search results conflict, say so and note which sources disagree106- If results are thin or inconclusive, say what you found and what's still unclear107- If a topic is prone to misinformation or SEO manipulation, note that and prefer authoritative sources108- Never invent citations or attribute claims without a source
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