crw-dynamic-search — Programmatic Tool Calling for Web Research

Search the web and scrape pages so that raw web data never enters your context window. Only your curated print() output comes back — pure signal, no noise.

Why this matters

A typical crw search --json returns 10 results × 300-600 chars of description each = ~5K characters. That sounds manageable — until you add scrapeOptions to fetch full page markdown, which can be 20-50K chars per result. A 10-result search with full content ≈ 200-500K characters. If that floods your context, you burn tokens reading cookie banners, navigation menus, and boilerplate — and your reasoning quality degrades under the noise.

By processing results inside a Python subprocess, only your print() output enters context — typically 1-3K characters of pure signal. That's a 100-200x reduction.

Background: the PTC sandbox pattern

Anthropic's Programmatic Tool Calling lets a model write code that orchestrates tool calls inside a sandbox. Intermediate results live in the sandbox; only print() output crosses into the context window.

This skill applies the same principle using local Python execution. The Python process is your sandbox. Variables in memory hold raw data. Only what you print() crosses into context. You write the filtering logic — you decide what matters for each query.

Core Rule

NEVER pipe crw search --json or crw scrape --format json bare into context. Always process through Python so you control what enters.

# WRONG — raw results flood context, possibly 200K+ characters
crw search "quantum computing 2025" --json

# RIGHT — only your print() enters context
crw search "quantum computing 2025" --json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "
import json, sys
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for r in data:
    print(f'[{r[\"position\"]}] {r[\"title\"]}')
    print(f'  {r[\"url\"]}')
    print(f'  {r[\"description\"][:150]}')
"

JSON Schemas

You need these to write correct filtering code.

crw search --json output

The CLI outputs a JSON array of result objects (not a wrapper object):

[
  {
    "title": "string",
    "url": "string",
    "description": "string (~200-600 chars from SearXNG snippet)",
    "snippet": "string (alias of description — always same value)",
    "position": 1,
    "score": 0.85,
    "category": "general | news | images | null"
  }
]

Key notes for crw vs Tavily:

• `score` is unreliable. SearXNG aggregates results from many engines; scores

are engine-dependent and often null. Triage by `position` (rank order) and keyword density in `description`, not by score.

• description and snippet are always the same value — pick either. snippet

exists as an alias for Firecrawl-compat pipelines.

• category is the SearXNG category: "general" for web, "news", "images".
• published_date appears on news results (ISO 8601 string or null).

crw scrape --format json output (ScrapeData)

The CLI outputs a single object (serialized ScrapeData):

{
  "markdown": "string | null",
  "html": "string | null",
  "links": ["url1", "url2"],
  "renderDecision": { "kind": "autoDefault", "chosen": "http" },
  "creditCost": 1,
  "contentType": "text/html",
  "metadata": {
    "title": "string | null",
    "description": "string | null",
    "ogTitle": "string | null",
    "ogDescription": "string | null",
    "ogImage": "string | null",
    "sourceURL": "string",
    "language": "string | null",
    "statusCode": 200,
    "renderedWith": "string | null",
    "elapsedMs": 1234
  }
}

For most filtering tasks you want markdown (the main content) and metadata.title. links is a flat array of hrefs found on the page.

MCP crw_search output (when using MCP, not CLI)

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "results": [
      {
        "url": "string",
        "title": "string",
        "description": "string",
        "snippet": "string",
        "position": 1,
        "score": 0.85,
        "category": "string | null",
        "publishedDate": "string | null"
      }
    ]
  }
}

When scrapeOptions is passed, each result also carries markdown, html, links, and metadata populated from the full page fetch.

Execution modes

Pipe mode — for simple filters (3-5 lines)

crw search "Python 3.13 release date" --json 2>/dev/null | python3 -c "
import json, sys
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for r in data[:3]:
    print(r['title'])
    print(r['description'][:300])
    print()
"

Heredoc mode — for anything more complex (default)

Single Bash call, clean multi-line Python, no escaping, no temp files. The single-quoted << 'PYEOF' heredoc is the workhorse — nothing inside is interpolated by the shell.

python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json, subprocess

raw = subprocess.check_output(
    ['crw', 'search', 'your query', '--json', '--limit', '10'],
    stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL
)
data = json.loads(raw)
for r in data:
    print(f'[{r["position"]}] {r["title"]}')
    print(f'  {r["url"]}')
    print(f'  {r["description"][:200]}')
    print()
PYEOF

Save DATA to `/tmp/`, not CODE. Saving /tmp/crw_results.json for use in the next turn = good. Writing a one-shot /tmp/filter.py = wasteful; use a heredoc.

Script mode — only for reusable pipelines

Only write a real file when the same script will be called across 3+ turns or invoked repeatedly. Otherwise, use a heredoc.

Multi-turn iteration

Complex research needs explore then extract — see what's available before deciding what to drill into. The key: save raw JSON to /tmp/ once, process in separate steps.

Turn 1: Search and triage

python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json, subprocess

raw = subprocess.check_output(
    ['crw', 'search', 'solid-state battery commercialization 2025',
     '--json', '--limit', '10'],
    stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL
)
data = json.loads(raw)

# Save raw — stays on disk, never enters context
with open('/tmp/crw_results.json', 'w') as f:
    json.dump(data, f)

# Print only what you need to pick next steps
# Sort by position (rank), not score — score is unreliable from SearXNG
print(f'{len(data)} results saved to /tmp/crw_results.json\n')
for r in data:
    print(f'[{r["position"]}] {r["title"][:90]}')
    print(f'    {r["url"]}')
    print(f'    {r["description"][:150]}')
    print()
PYEOF

Context receives: ~600-800 tokens of titles + snippets. Any full page markdown is in /tmp/crw_results.json, untouched.

Turn 2: Extract from chosen results

You saw the triage. Now write targeted extraction for the results that matter:

python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json, subprocess

data = json.load(open('/tmp/crw_results.json'))

# Indices you chose from the triage in turn 1
for r in [data[0], data[2], data[4]]:
    # Scrape the full page for results that looked relevant
    try:
        raw = subprocess.check_output(
            ['crw', 'scrape', r['url'], '--format', 'json'],
            stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, timeout=30
        )
        page = json.loads(raw)
    except Exception:
        continue

    md = page.get('markdown') or ''
    if not md:
        continue

    print(f'## {r["title"]}')
    print(f'URL: {r["url"]}\n')

    # Write filtering logic that matches the query — this is the key step
    # Example: keep paragraphs about commercialization timelines
    for para in md.split('\n\n'):
        para = para.strip()
        if len(para) > 80 and any(kw in para.lower() for kw in
                ['toyota', 'quantumscape', 'samsung', 'production',
                 'commercializ', '2025', '2026', 'gigafactory']):
            print(para)
            print()
    print('---\n')
PYEOF

Context receives: ~600-800 tokens of targeted content. You made the decision.

Turn 3: Follow leads

Turn 2 often surfaces new URLs or specific sub-topics. Keep iterating:

python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json, subprocess

# A URL you found referenced in the content you read in turn 2
raw = subprocess.check_output(
    ['crw', 'search', 'QuantumScape QSE-5 production timeline Q4 2025',
     '--json', '--limit', '5'],
    stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL
)
data = json.loads(raw)

for r in data[:3]:
    print(f'## {r["title"]}')
    print(f'URL: {r["url"]}')
    print(r['description'])
    print()
PYEOF

When to use single-turn vs multi-turn

Single turn (pipe or one heredoc): when you know what you're looking for. Specific factual queries, known keywords, lookup tasks.

Multi-turn (save + explore + extract): when you need to see what's available before deciding what to extract. Open-ended research, competitive analysis, queries where you don't know the right keywords yet.

Writing your filtering code

The Python you write IS the filtering logic. There are no fixed templates. Principles:

Triage by position, not score. SearXNG scores are engine-dependent and often absent. Result order (position: 1, 2, 3...) is a more reliable signal — the SearXNG aggregator's RRF ranking already baked in multi-engine consensus.

Be specific. A financial query should filter for numbers and financial terms. A technical query should look for code blocks and version strings. Match your filtering to the domain.

Skip structural noise. Lines shorter than ~50 chars are usually nav elements, breadcrumbs, or button labels. Skip them. Keep headings and their following paragraphs.

Print structured output so it's easy to reason over:

print(f'## {title}')
print(f'URL: {url}\n')
print(relevant_content)
print('---\n')

Handle errors. Pages 404, scrapes timeout, SearXNG returns partial results. Always wrap scrape calls in try/except:

try:
    raw = subprocess.check_output(['crw', 'scrape', url, '--format', 'json'],
                                   stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, timeout=30)
except Exception:
    continue

Token budget. Your print() output is what enters context. Target 150-600 tokens per source. If you're printing 5000+ chars from one page, you're not filtering enough. Exception: dense data tables or spec pages where every row counts.

Full example: multi-angle research

python3 << 'PYEOF'
import json, subprocess

# Fan out: hit the same topic from multiple angles
queries = [
    ('general', 'EU AI Act compliance requirements 2025'),
    ('specific', 'EU AI Act high-risk AI systems Article 6 obligations'),
]

all_results = []
for label, q in queries:
    raw = subprocess.check_output(
        ['crw', 'search', q, '--json', '--limit', '8'],
        stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL
    )
    results = json.loads(raw)
    for r in results:
        r['_query'] = label
    all_results.extend(results)

# Deduplicate by URL
seen = set()
unique = []
for r in all_results:
    if r['url'] not in seen:
        seen.add(r['url'])
        unique.append(r)

# Save everything
with open('/tmp/eu_ai_results.json', 'w') as f:
    json.dump(unique, f)

# Print triage sorted by position within each query batch
print(f'{len(unique)} unique results from {len(queries)} queries\n')
for r in unique[:12]:
    print(f'[{r["_query"]}][pos {r["position"]}] {r["title"][:80]}')
    print(f'  {r["url"]}')
    print(f'  {r["description"][:120]}')
    print()
PYEOF

jq fallback

When python3 is unavailable, use jq for basic filtering:

# Print titles and URLs only
crw search "query" --json 2>/dev/null | jq '.[] | {title, url, description: .description[:200]}'

# Filter by keyword in description
crw search "query" --json 2>/dev/null | jq '[.[] | select(.description | ascii_downcase | contains("keyword"))]'

jq can't do multi-step search-then-scrape, subprocess calls, or complex filtering. Use it only for simple single-pass lookups when Python isn't available.

CLI quick reference

crw search "query"                                     # text output (default)
crw search "query" --json                              # JSON array
crw search "query" --json --fields title,url,snippet   # projected fields only
crw search "query" --json --limit 5                    # cap results
crw search "query" --category news --time-range week   # news, last 7 days
crw scrape "https://example.com"                       # markdown
crw scrape "https://example.com" --format json         # full ScrapeData JSON
crw scrape "https://example.com" --format json -o /tmp/page.json

Available --fields for crw search --json: title, url, description, snippet, position, score, category

See also

• crw-search — full search options (time-range, categories, language)
• crw-scrape — scrape a known URL
• crw-best-practices — choosing the right verb, post-filtering strategies