research

Name: research
Author: tavily-ai

Comprehensive research on any topic with automatic source gathering, analysis, and citations. Conducts multi-source web research with explicit citations, ideal for comparisons, current events, market analysis, and detailed reports Offers three model options: mini for targeted single-topic research (~30s), pro for comprehensive multi-angle analysis (~60-120s), and auto for API-driven complexity detection Authenticates via OAuth through Tavily MCP server with automatic browser-based login on first run, or supports API key configuration as an alternative Accepts research input and optional model selection, with output saveable to file for report generation

INSTALLATION

npx skills add https://github.com/tavily-ai/skills --skill research

Run in your project or agent environment. Adjust flags if your CLI version differs.

SKILL.md

Research Skill

Conduct comprehensive research on any topic with automatic source gathering, analysis, and response generation with citations.

Authentication

The script uses OAuth via the Tavily MCP server. No manual setup required - on first run, it will:

Check for existing tokens in ~/.mcp-auth/

If none found, automatically open your browser for OAuth authentication

Note: You must have an existing Tavily account. The OAuth flow only supports login — account creation is not available through this flow. Sign up at tavily.com first if you don't have an account.

Alternative: API Key

If you prefer using an API key, get one at https://tavily.com and add to ~/.claude/settings.json:

{

  "env": {

    "TAVILY_API_KEY": "tvly-your-api-key-here"

  }

}

Quick Start

Tip: Research can take 30-120 seconds. Press Ctrl+B to run in the background.

Using the Script

./scripts/research.sh '<json>' [output_file]

Examples:

# Basic research

./scripts/research.sh '{"input": "quantum computing trends"}'

# With pro model for comprehensive analysis

./scripts/research.sh '{"input": "AI agents comparison", "model": "pro"}'

# Save to file

./scripts/research.sh '{"input": "market analysis for EVs", "model": "pro"}' ./ev-report.md

# Quick targeted research

./scripts/research.sh '{"input": "climate change impacts", "model": "mini"}'

Parameters

Field

Type

Default

Description

input

string

Required

Research topic or question

model

string

"mini"

Model: mini, pro, auto

Model Selection

Rule of thumb: "what does X do?" -> mini. "X vs Y vs Z" or "best way to..." -> pro.

Model

Use Case

Speed

mini

Single topic, targeted research

~30s

pro

Comprehensive multi-angle analysis

~60-120s

auto

API chooses based on complexity

Varies

Examples

Quick Overview

./scripts/research.sh '{"input": "What is retrieval augmented generation?", "model": "mini"}'

Technical Comparison

./scripts/research.sh '{"input": "LangGraph vs CrewAI for multi-agent systems", "model": "pro"}'

Market Research

./scripts/research.sh '{"input": "Fintech startup landscape 2025", "model": "pro"}' fintech-report.md