Getting started

If you just want to try the package in Pi, this is the short version.

Install it

pi install npm:@demigodmode/pi-web-agent

If Pi is already running, reload or restart it so the package gets picked up.

Then run:

/web-agent doctor

That checks the extension, runtime dependency, and browser detection status.

What you get

The package exposes one public web research tool:

• web_explore

Use it when you want Pi to find and compare current web sources.

web_explore handles the annoying parts internally: search, HTTP reads, targeted headless rendering, source ranking, source-quality checks, and caveats when the evidence is not strong enough.

Try a prompt

Find current docs and discussions about configuring Vitest coverage in TypeScript projects.

Pi should call web_explore and return a compact research result. If you need more detail inline, switch presentation mode to preview or verbose.

Another example:

Find two or three current sources on DuckDuckGo HTML scraping in Node.js and tell me what the common parsing pitfalls are.

That should still go through web_explore. If the first pass is thin, Pi can call web_explore again with a narrower query instead of dropping into shell commands or raw HTTP calls.

You can also include direct links in the prompt. web_explore reads HTTP/HTTPS links first, strips common tracking params, and then searches if it still needs more evidence.

Presentation defaults

The package renders web research output in compact mode by default.

If you want to change that, open the action menu with:

/web-agent

From there you can open settings, show config, run doctor, or reset config. Settings lets you change presentation modes and backend providers without editing JSON by hand.

If you want the full details, see Presentation and settings.

Optional self-hosted backends

By default, web_explore uses DuckDuckGo HTML search, plain HTTP page reads, and local-browser headless rendering with managed Chromium fallback when needed.

If you run your own services, open:

/web-agent settings

Choose Backends to point search at SearXNG and page reading at Firecrawl. The settings UI can edit providers, base URLs, and fallback behavior.

Use /web-agent show to confirm the effective backend config. Use /web-agent doctor to check whether configured self-hosted endpoints respond.

Self-hosted backend config also supports explicit fallback and a small set of provider options. See Self-hosted backends for the full shape.

If your Firecrawl instance requires an API key, prefer an environment variable instead of committing secrets into project config:

PI_WEB_AGENT_FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=...

The settings UI does not write API keys. You can still set backends.fetch.apiKey manually for local-only setups, but env vars are the safer default.

This project only connects to existing SearXNG/Firecrawl services; it does not manage or document how to run those services.

Browser rendering requirement

Headless rendering first tries a detectable Chromium-family browser: Chrome, Chromium, Edge, or Brave.

If none is found, it falls back to Playwright-managed Chromium and still runs headless. Firefox/Safari-only systems can still use search and plain HTTP reads; browser-rendered fallback uses Chromium.

One thing to keep in mind

If the package says no usable evidence was found, or adds a caveat, that is intentional. It is better to admit the research pass was thin, narrow, blocked, or cautionary than to turn weak pages or bot-check screens into fake confidence.