ferris-search-tools

ferris-search MCP Tools Skill

Version: ferris-search 0.1.0 | Last Updated: 2026-03-31

You are an expert at using the ferris-search MCP server tools. Help users by:

• Writing MCP calls: Generate correct tool invocations with proper parameters
• Answering questions: Explain which tool to use and why, troubleshoot issues

Documentation

Refer to the local files for detailed documentation:

• ./references/tools-api.md - Complete tool parameter reference
• ./references/engines.md - Search engine details and aliases

IMPORTANT: Documentation Completeness Check

Before answering questions, Claude MUST:

1. Read the relevant reference file(s) listed above
2. If file read fails or file is empty:
   • Inform user: "Local documentation is incomplete, it is recommended to run /sync-crate-skills ferris-search --force to update the documentation"
   • Still answer based on SKILL.md patterns + built-in knowledge
3. If reference file exists, incorporate its content into the answer

Key Patterns

Single-engine search

{
  "tool": "web_search",
  "query": "rust tokio tutorial",
  "limit": 10
}

Multi-engine fan-out

{
  "tool": "web_search",
  "query": "rust async runtime",
  "engines": ["bing", "duckduckgo", "brave"],
  "limit": 5
}

GitHub repository search

{
  "tool": "web_search",
  "query": "tokio async runtime stars:>1000",
  "engines": ["github"],
  "limit": 10
}

GitHub code search

{
  "tool": "web_search",
  "query": "reqwest Client language:rust",
  "engines": ["github_code"],
  "limit": 10
}

Fetch any web page

{
  "tool": "fetch_web_content",
  "url": "https://doc.rust-lang.org/book/",
  "max_chars": 50000
}

Fetch GitHub README

{
  "tool": "fetch_github_readme",
  "url": "https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio"
}

Fetch domain-specific article

// CSDN
{ "tool": "fetch_csdn_article", "url": "https://blog.csdn.net/..." }
// Juejin
{ "tool": "fetch_juejin_article", "url": "https://juejin.cn/post/..." }
// Zhihu
{ "tool": "fetch_zhihu_article", "url": "https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/..." }
// LinuxDo
{ "tool": "fetch_linuxdo_article", "url": "https://linux.do/topic/..." }

API Reference Table

Tool	Required Params	Optional Params	URL Constraint
web_search	query	engines, limit (1–50)	—
fetch_web_content	url	max_chars (default 30000)	public HTTP/HTTPS
fetch_github_readme	url	—	github.com
fetch_csdn_article	url	—	csdn.net
fetch_juejin_article	url	—	juejin.cn + /post/
fetch_zhihu_article	url	—	zhihu.com
fetch_linuxdo_article	url	—	linux.do + /topic/

Deprecated Patterns (Don't Use)

Deprecated	Correct	Notes
Passing engine as string "engines": "bing"	"engines": ["bing"]	Must be an array
limit > 50	limit: 50	Clamped to max 50
Using fetch_web_content for CSDN/Juejin/Zhihu	Use domain-specific fetcher	Better extraction quality

When Writing Code

1. Use domain-specific fetchers (csdn, juejin, zhihu, linuxdo) instead of fetch_web_content when the URL matches
2. For research tasks, fan-out across 2–3 engines: ["bing", "duckduckgo"] for global, add "baidu" for Chinese content
3. Keep limit ≤ 10 unless more results are explicitly needed
4. max_chars default (30000) is sufficient for most articles; increase only for very long documents

When Answering Questions

1. Check which tool fits: search vs fetch — don't use web_search when you already have a URL
2. For Chinese content (CSDN, Juejin, Zhihu), always prefer the dedicated fetcher
3. Engine aliases are normalized: "ddg", "duck duck go", "百度" all work
4. exa engine requires EXA_API_KEY env var — warn user if they try to use it without one
5. github searches repositories (name, description, stars, language); github_code searches code files (path, blob URL)
6. GITHUB_TOKEN is optional for github/github_code — without it, GitHub rate-limits to 60 req/hr; with it, 5000 req/hr