Tavily Search

Community

LichAmnesia

tavily-search

Web search and content extraction via the Tavily API. Use when you need real-time web results, citations, or raw article content without a browser. Requires TAVILY_API_KEY.

Overview

Publisher	LichAmnesia
Repository	`lich-skills`
Skill name	`tavily-search`
Stars	231
Forks	26
Bundled files	1
License	MIT
Links	Skill source Repository

Markdown instructions
A SKILL.md file the model loads on demand, so it only costs tokens when a request actually matches.
Works with any LLM
AI skills are plain Markdown, not provider-specific code, so this works with GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or a local model.
1 bundled files
Scripts, templates, and references the model can read while it works. Files are read-only and never executed.
Open source
Published by LichAmnesia on GitHub. Read the source before you install it.

Installation

Install the Tavily Search AI skill in TypingMind to use it with any LLM, or drop it into another agent that reads SKILL.md.

Install in TypingMind

TypingMind installs a skill straight from its GitHub folder — it reads SKILL.md, bundles the resource files, and stores the result locally.

Open the app and go to Plugins → Skills.
Choose "Install from GitHub".
Paste the skill folder URL below and confirm.
https://github.com/LichAmnesia/lich-skills/tree/main/skills/tavily-search
Enable the skill in any chat where you want it available.

Plugins → Skills → Add skill → From GitHub URL, then paste the folder URL and press Continue.

Install in another agent

Any agent that reads the Agent Skills format can use this skill — copy the folder into that agent's skills directory.

Claude Code — .claude/skills

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/LichAmnesia/lich-skills.git /tmp/lich-skills
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/lich-skills/skills/tavily-search .claude/skills/tavily-search

Restart Claude Code after copying so it picks up the new skill.

Use it in TypingMind

Enable Tavily Search in any TypingMind chat and the model takes it from there. Its name and description sit in the system prompt, and the moment a request matches, the model loads the full instructions itself — you never invoke it by hand, and it costs no tokens until it is actually used.

The model loads Tavily Search on its own as soon as a request matches it.

Works with any AI model

AI skills are plain Markdown instructions rather than provider-specific code, so Tavily Search is not tied to the model it was written for. Install it once in TypingMind and use it with GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Llama, or a local model you run yourself — all on your own API keys.

Loaded only when it is needed
The system prompt carries just the name and description. The instructions are fetched on the first matching request, so an idle skill costs nothing.
Switch models mid-chat
Because the skill is instructions rather than code, changing model does not break it — the next model reads the same SKILL.md.

Skill instructions

This is the SKILL.md content the model loads. Read it before installing — a skill is instructions your model will follow.

Tavily Search

Headless web search and content extraction using Tavily. Built for LLM agents — returns clean, summarised results with optional raw article bodies. No browser required.

When to use

You need up-to-date web information (news, docs, pricing, facts)
You want cited sources with URLs for a research/writing task
You need the full readable body of a URL as markdown
Brave/Google search is not available or rate-limited

When NOT to use

You already have the page in your context
The answer is static and likely in the model's training data
You need to interact with a page (login, click) — use a browser MCP instead

Setup

Get a free API key: https://app.tavily.com (1000 free searches/month)

Export it:

bash
export TAVILY_API_KEY="tvly-YOUR_KEY_HERE"

Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc for persistence. Never commit the key.

First run will auto-install dependencies via uv:

bash
command -v uv || curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Search

bash
# Basic search — 5 results, summarised answer
uv run ~/.claude/skills/lich-skills/skills/tavily-search/scripts/search.py "your query"

# More results
uv run .../search.py "your query" --max-results 10

# Include full article bodies (slower, more tokens)
uv run .../search.py "your query" --raw-content

# Deeper search with higher recall
uv run .../search.py "your query" --depth advanced

# News-only, last 7 days
uv run .../search.py "your query" --topic news --days 7

# Output as JSON
uv run .../search.py "your query" --json

Flags

Flag	Default	Purpose
`--max-results N`	`5`	Number of results to return (1–20)
`--depth {basic,advanced}`	`basic`	`advanced` = slower, higher quality
`--topic {general,news}`	`general`	News mode adds recency filtering
`--days N`	—	With `--topic news`, restrict to last N days
`--raw-content`	off	Include full article body as markdown
`--include-domains a,b`	—	Restrict to comma-separated domains
`--exclude-domains a,b`	—	Exclude comma-separated domains
`--json`	off	Machine-readable JSON output

Extract a single URL

bash
uv run .../search.py --extract https://example.com/article

Returns clean markdown of the page body (no nav, ads, or boilerplate).

Output format (default, human-readable)


ANSWER: <Tavily's synthesised answer, 1–3 sentences>

RESULTS:
[1] <title>
    <url>
    <snippet — 1–2 sentences>

[2] ...

With --raw-content each result gets an indented markdown body below the snippet.

Examples

Research a library:

bash
uv run .../search.py "Gemini 3 Flash Image API pricing" --depth advanced

Get the full article body of a blog post:

bash
uv run .../search.py --extract https://blog.example.com/post --json > post.json

News sweep:

bash
uv run .../search.py "OpenAI Codex release" --topic news --days 3 --max-results 10

Environment

Key lookup order: --api-key flag → $TAVILY_API_KEY → $TAVILY_KEY
Default model: Tavily's search and extract endpoints (v1)
Default timeout: 30s per request

Common failures

Error	Fix
`Error: No TAVILY_API_KEY`	Export the key or pass `--api-key`
`401 Unauthorized`	Key is wrong, revoked, or over quota
`429 Rate limit`	Wait or upgrade plan
`No results`	Broaden query, try `--depth advanced`, drop domain filters

Red flags

Hardcoding the API key anywhere in this repo
Passing the key on the command line in shared terminals (shell history leak)
Using --raw-content with --max-results 20 on every query (burns tokens)

Verification

$TAVILY_API_KEY is set in env, not in files
uv run .../search.py "hello world" returns results
gitleaks detect --source . clean

Bundled files

The model reads these on demand while the skill is loaded. They are exposed as readable files and are never executed.

scripts/search.py6 KB

Frequently asked questions

What does the Tavily Search AI skill do?

Web search and content extraction via the Tavily API. Use when you need real-time web results, citations, or raw article content without a browser. Requires TAVILY_API_KEY.

Why use Tavily Search on TypingMind?

Because you install it once and use it with any model. Tavily Search is plain Markdown rather than provider-specific code, so the same skill runs on GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or a local model — and you can switch model mid-chat without it breaking. TypingMind runs on your own API keys, so you pay providers directly instead of a per-seat subscription, and your skills and chats stay in your own storage.

How do I install Tavily Search in TypingMind?

Open Plugins → Skills → Install from GitHub in TypingMind and paste https://github.com/LichAmnesia/lich-skills/tree/main/skills/tavily-search. TypingMind reads its SKILL.md and bundles its files and installs it as a skill you can enable per chat.

Which AI models can use Tavily Search?

Any model you connect in TypingMind. AI skills are plain Markdown instructions rather than provider-specific code, so GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and local models can all load this skill when a request matches it.

How many AI models can I use with Tavily Search?

As many as you like. As long as a model supports skills, you can use Tavily Search with it — GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Llama and more — all on TypingMind with your own API keys.

Is the Tavily Search AI skill free?

Yes. It is published on GitHub by LichAmnesia under the MIT license. You only pay your own AI provider for the tokens you use.

What are AI skills?

An AI skill is a reusable instruction bundle that teaches an AI model how to do one specific task. It follows the open Agent Skills format: a SKILL.md file with a name and description, plus any scripts, templates or reference files the model may need. The model reads the instructions only when your request matches the skill, so an installed skill costs nothing until it is used.

How are AI skills different from plugins or MCP servers?

A plugin or MCP server gives a model new tools to call — code that runs somewhere and returns a result. An AI skill gives the model knowledge and process instead: how to approach a task, which steps to follow, what good output looks like. Skills are plain Markdown, so they need no server, no API key and no runtime, and they work with any model.

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Overview

Installation

Install in TypingMind

Install in another agent

Use it in TypingMind

Works with any AI model

Skill instructions

Tavily Search

When to use

When NOT to use

Setup

Search

Flags

Extract a single URL

Output format (default, human-readable)

Examples

Environment

Common failures

Red flags

Verification

Bundled files

Frequently asked questions

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