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This skill should be used when performing web research beyond a simple single search -- looking into topics, comparing options, investigating questions, finding recommendations, or any task where effective use of Exa, Firecrawl, and Reddit tools matters.
Passed 16 of 19 test cases with the skill, and 9 of 19 without it.
and 7 more in the full report
8 fixed10 passed either way4 still failing0 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
One of 8 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
I am using Firecrawl CLI search to find published academic research papers on quantum error correction. What category flag restricts search results to academic papers?
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| Specifies --categories research in the Firecrawl CLI search command. | Missed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
Accumulated guidance for web research using Exa, Firecrawl CLI, and Reddit MCP tools. These
are starting points, not rigid rules -- think strategically about each situation and
adapt. If a different approach makes more sense for what you're trying to do, go with it.
Run npx firecrawl-cli <command> --help to check available options beyond what's documented
here. Reference files cover tool-specific deep dives -- see bottom of this file.
Before starting research, load the required MCP tools using ToolSearch:
web_search_advanced_exa and get_code_context_exaget_top_posts, get_post_comments, get_reddit_post, get_subreddit_infoFirecrawl CLI (npx firecrawl-cli) runs via Bash -- no MCP setup needed. Load only what
the task requires.
Prefer Exa and Firecrawl over built-in WebSearch/WebFetch.
Research alternates between searching (discovering sources) and fetching (extracting content from them). Find promising leads, read the best ones, refine your understanding, search again.
Finding sources you don't have yet.
web_search_advanced_exa) -- primary tool for web discovery. Natural
language queries, add filters as needed (domains, dates, categories).get_code_context_exa) -- programming topics. Worth trying before
general Exa search for technical/code tasks -- surfaces repos, packages, and docs.npx firecrawl-cli search) -- Google-powered keyword search.
Useful when keyword matching works better than Exa's semantic approach, for site-scoped
queries (site:reddit.com {query}), and for content-type filtering (--categories research
for academic, --sources news, --tbs qdr:w for time).Default Exa search pattern: Default to enableHighlights: true and textMaxCharacters: 1.
test cases passed, vs 9 / 19 without
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