pi-web-agent

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Tools ​

The public tool surface is intentionally small now.

web_explore ​

Use web_explore for web research questions:

  • current docs lookups
  • comparing sources
  • checking discussions or issues
  • getting a recommendation with citations
  • finding practical context around a library or API

It runs a bounded research workflow instead of making the model manually chain separate search/fetch/browser tools.

Internally, web_explore can do a few things:

  • read HTTP/HTTPS links from the prompt before search
  • strip common tracking params from direct links
  • plan search queries
  • run web search
  • pick candidate pages
  • prefer forum/thread sources when the query asks for discussions
  • read pages over HTTP
  • escalate selected pages to headless rendering
  • keep explicit gaps for unreadable direct/thread sources
  • rank evidence
  • evaluate source quality and source diversity
  • synthesize findings and caveats

The important bit: those internal steps are not separate public tools for normal model use. If more web evidence is needed, the model should call web_explore again with a narrower query.

What preview and verbose show ​

In compact mode, web_explore keeps the transcript short:

text
Reviewed 3 sources · synthesized answer with 3 findings

In preview or verbose mode, findings include where the evidence came from internally:

text
- [web_fetch] Official docs say ...
- [web_fetch_headless] Rendered docs show ...

Internal research: web_search ×2, web_fetch ×5, web_fetch_headless ×1

That is meant to be transparent, not an invitation to call those internal steps directly.

When evidence is weak ​

Sometimes a research pass finds nothing useful. In that case the output says:

text
No usable evidence found.

That is expected. Web pages can be thin, blocked, duplicated, or irrelevant. Forum/thread pages can also render bot checks or noisy app shells. A follow-up web_explore call with a more specific query is usually the right next move.

Partial answers may explain the specific quality problem, for example:

text
Evidence is partial: one or more thread sources could not be read reliably, and the source set was narrow.

A practical rule ​

If the task is web research, use web_explore.

If you need another angle, call web_explore again with a better query. Do not switch to shell network commands like curl, Invoke-WebRequest, or npm view just to continue web research.