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# WebFetch Tool Analysis
Analysis of webfetch/URL fetching implementations across three AI coding agents to inform the design of pullfrog's custom webfetch MCP tool.
---
## 1. OpenCode Implementation
**Source**: `packages/opencode/src/tool/webfetch.ts`
### Architecture
OpenCode's webfetch is straightforward - a simple fetch wrapper with HTML-to-markdown conversion:
```typescript
const response = await fetch(params.url, {
signal: AbortSignal.any([controller.signal, ctx.abort]),
headers: {
"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36...",
Accept: acceptHeader,
"Accept-Language": "en-US,en;q=0.9",
},
})
```
### Key Features
| Feature | Implementation |
|---------|---------------|
| **Output formats** | `text`, `markdown`, `html` (default: markdown) |
| **HTML→Markdown** | Uses `turndown` library |
| **Max response size** | 5MB hard limit |
| **Timeout** | 30s default, 120s max |
| **Permission system** | Application-level `ctx.ask()` prompt |
| **Domain blocking** | None - relies on user approval |
| **Caching** | None |
| **Redirect handling** | Native fetch behavior |
### HTML Processing
Two methods depending on output format:
1. **`extractTextFromHTML()`** - Uses Bun's `HTMLRewriter` to strip scripts/styles and extract text
2. **`convertHTMLToMarkdown()`** - Uses `turndown` with sensible defaults (ATX headings, fenced code blocks)
### Permission Model
```typescript
await ctx.ask({
permission: "webfetch",
patterns: [params.url],
always: ["*"], // User can allow all future requests
metadata: { url, format, timeout },
})
```
**Verdict**: No enforcement - purely advisory. If user approves, the fetch proceeds with no restrictions.
### What I Like
- Clean, minimal implementation
- Good HTML processing with `turndown`
- Sensible size limits (5MB)
- Format flexibility
### What I Don't Like
- No domain whitelisting/blocklisting
- No caching (repeated requests to same URL are wasteful)
- Permission system is advisory-only
- No redirect safety checks
---
## 2. Claude Code Implementation
**Source**: Extracted from bundled `claude` CLI binary
### Architecture
Claude Code uses a more sophisticated approach with server-side domain validation:
```javascript
// Domain validation before fetch
async function Ci5(domain) {
const response = await fetch(
`https://claude.ai/api/web/domain_info?domain=${encodeURIComponent(domain)}`
);
if (response.status === 200) {
return response.data.can_fetch === true
? { status: "allowed" }
: { status: "blocked" };
}
return { status: "check_failed" };
}
```
### Key Features
| Feature | Implementation |
|---------|---------------|
| **Domain blocklist** | Server-side API at `claude.ai/api/web/domain_info` |
| **Permission format** | `WebFetch(domain:example.com)` - domain-only, not URLs |
| **Wildcard support** | `domain:*.google.com` patterns |
| **HTTP→HTTPS upgrade** | Automatic protocol upgrade |
| **Caching** | 15-minute self-cleaning cache |
| **HTML→Markdown** | Uses `turndown` |
| **Redirect handling** | Special handling - informs user of cross-host redirects |
| **Enterprise override** | `skipWebFetchPreflight` setting |
### Domain Permission Model
Claude Code enforces domain-level permissions, not URL-level:
```javascript
WebFetch: (A) => {
if (A.includes("://") || A.startsWith("http"))
return {
valid: false,
error: "WebFetch permissions use domain format, not URLs",
suggestion: 'Use "domain:hostname" format',
examples: ["WebFetch(domain:example.com)", "WebFetch(domain:github.com)"]
};
if (!A.startsWith("domain:"))
return {
valid: false,
error: 'WebFetch permissions must use "domain:" prefix',
examples: ["WebFetch(domain:example.com)", "WebFetch(domain:*.google.com)"]
};
return { valid: true };
}
```
### Blocklist Enforcement Flow
```
User requests URL
Extract hostname
Check claude.ai/api/web/domain_info?domain=hostname
┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│ allowed → proceed with fetch │
│ blocked → throw AC0 error │
│ check_failed → throw QC0 error │
└──────────────────────────────────┘
```
### Redirect Handling
When a URL redirects to a different host:
```javascript
// Returns special response asking user to manually re-request
return `To complete your request, I need to fetch content from the redirected URL.
Please use WebFetch again with these parameters:
- url: "${redirectUrl}"
- prompt: "${originalPrompt}"`;
```
This prevents open redirect attacks where a "safe" domain redirects to a malicious one.
### What I Like
- **Server-side blocklist** - centralized, updateable without client changes
- **Domain-level permissions** - prevents path-based bypasses
- **Redirect safety** - cross-host redirects require explicit user action
- **15-minute caching** - reduces redundant requests
- **Enterprise override** - `skipWebFetchPreflight` for corporate environments
### What I Don't Like
- **External dependency** - requires `claude.ai` API to be available
- **No local blocklist** - can't work offline or with custom blocklists
- **Opaque blocklist** - users can't see what's blocked or why
---
## 3. Gemini CLI Implementation
**Source**: `@google/gemini-cli` npm package
### Architecture
Gemini CLI takes a fundamentally different approach - it doesn't have a dedicated webfetch tool. Instead it relies on:
1. **Google Search grounding** - built into the Gemini API
2. **MCP servers** - external tools can provide fetch capabilities
3. **No native URL fetching** - by design
### Key Observations
From searching the codebase:
- No `webfetch`, `url_fetch`, or similar tool definitions
- Has `github_fetch.ts` for fetching GitHub releases (internal use)
- Relies on model's built-in capabilities or MCP extensions
### Why No WebFetch?
Gemini's design philosophy appears to be:
1. Use the model's grounding capabilities for web information
2. Delegate specialized fetching to MCP servers
3. Avoid building network access into the CLI itself
### What I Like
- **Clean separation** - network access is opt-in via MCP
- **Security by default** - no built-in way to exfiltrate data
### What I Don't Like
- **Missing functionality** - can't fetch arbitrary URLs
- **Requires MCP setup** - more complex for users who need fetching
---
## 4. Pullfrog Design Decisions
### Core Requirements
1. **Domain-level whitelisting** - enforced in-tool, not advisory
2. **Simple implementation** - no external API dependencies
3. **GitHub-focused** - optimized for common development URLs
### Proposed Architecture
```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ WebFetch Tool │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1. Parse URL → extract hostname │
│ 2. Check against DOMAIN_ALLOWLIST │
│ 3. If not allowed → return error (not throw) │
│ 4. Fetch with timeout + size limits │
│ 5. Convert HTML → Markdown if needed │
│ 6. Return content │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
### Domain Allowlist Strategy
**Included in initial allowlist**:
```typescript
const DOMAIN_ALLOWLIST = new Set([
// Documentation sites
"docs.github.com",
"developer.mozilla.org",
"nodejs.org",
"docs.python.org",
"go.dev",
"doc.rust-lang.org",
"docs.microsoft.com",
"learn.microsoft.com",
// Package registries (documentation)
"npmjs.com",
"www.npmjs.com",
"pypi.org",
"crates.io",
"pkg.go.dev",
// GitHub (raw content, gists)
"raw.githubusercontent.com",
"gist.githubusercontent.com",
// Common API documentation
"api.github.com", // Already have GitHub tools, but for reference docs
]);
```
**Explicitly NOT included**:
- `github.com` itself - we have dedicated GitHub MCP tools
- Social media sites
- General web pages
- Arbitrary user-provided domains
### Features Borrowed from Each Agent
| Feature | Source | Included? | Rationale |
|---------|--------|-----------|-----------|
| HTML→Markdown via turndown | OpenCode | ✅ | Clean, proven library |
| 5MB size limit | OpenCode | ✅ | Sensible default |
| Domain-level permissions | Claude Code | ✅ | Core requirement |
| Redirect safety checks | Claude Code | ✅ | Prevents open redirect attacks |
| 15-minute caching | Claude Code | ❌ | Adds complexity, MCP is stateless |
| Server-side blocklist | Claude Code | ❌ | External dependency |
| Enterprise override | Claude Code | ❌ | Not needed for GitHub Actions |
| No built-in fetching | Gemini | ❌ | We need this functionality |
### Features NOT Included (and why)
1. **Caching** - MCP tools are stateless by design. Caching would require shared state across requests. The agent can cache results itself.
2. **Server-side blocklist** - Would require standing up an API endpoint. The allowlist approach is simpler and more transparent.
3. **User permission prompts** - In GitHub Actions context, there's no interactive user. Allowlist is enforced automatically.
4. **Wildcard domain patterns** - Adds complexity. Start with explicit domains, add patterns if needed.
5. **Multiple output formats** - Start with markdown only. Can add `text` and `html` later if needed.
### Error Handling Strategy
Unlike OpenCode/Claude which throw errors, we return errors as content:
```typescript
// Domain not allowed - return message, don't throw
if (!isDomainAllowed(hostname)) {
return {
output: `Domain "${hostname}" is not in the allowlist. Allowed domains: ${Array.from(DOMAIN_ALLOWLIST).join(", ")}`,
error: true,
};
}
```
This lets the agent understand the limitation and potentially find alternative approaches.
### Redirect Handling
Adopt Claude Code's approach with modification:
```typescript
// If redirect crosses domains, check the new domain
if (response.redirected) {
const redirectUrl = new URL(response.url);
if (!isDomainAllowed(redirectUrl.hostname)) {
return {
output: `URL redirected to "${redirectUrl.hostname}" which is not in the allowlist.`,
error: true,
};
}
}
```
---
## 5. Implementation Plan
### Summary
Add a new `webfetch` MCP tool that fetches web content with domain-level whitelisting enforced server-side. The whitelist is configured via the payload (from GitHub App), and non-whitelisted domains return a helpful message guiding the LLM to alternative approaches.
### Key Design Decisions
| Aspect | OpenCode | Claude Code | Our Implementation |
|--------|----------|-------------|-------------------|
| **Whitelisting** | Permission prompt (advisory) | External API `domain_info` | Payload-configured whitelist |
| **Enforcement** | None (user approval) | Server-side check | Server-side check |
| **HTML Processing** | Turndown for markdown | Turndown for markdown | Turndown for markdown |
| **Redirects** | Follows automatically | Detects cross-host redirects | Follow with host check |
| **Timeout** | 30s default, 120s max | Configurable | 30s default, 120s max |
### Step 1: Add whitelist to payload type
Update `index.ts` to include `allowedWebFetchDomains`:
```typescript
interface Payload {
// ... existing fields
allowedWebFetchDomains?: string[]; // e.g. ["github.com", "*.npmjs.com", "docs.python.org"]
}
```
### Step 2: Create `mcp/webfetch.ts`
```typescript
// Core structure
export const WebFetchParams = type({
url: "string",
"format?": "'markdown' | 'text' | 'html'",
"timeout?": "number",
});
export function WebFetchTool(ctx: ToolContext) {
return tool({
name: "webfetch",
description: `Fetch content from whitelisted web URLs...`,
parameters: WebFetchParams,
execute: execute(async (params) => {
// 1. Validate URL format
// 2. Check domain against whitelist (from ctx.payload)
// 3. Fetch with timeout and size limits
// 4. Convert HTML to markdown if needed
// 5. Return content or guidance message
}),
});
}
```
### Step 3: Domain Matching Logic
Support wildcards for subdomains:
- `github.com` - exact match
- `*.github.com` - any subdomain (e.g., `docs.github.com`, `api.github.com`)
- `*.npmjs.com` - matches `www.npmjs.com`, `registry.npmjs.com`, etc.
```typescript
function isDomainAllowed(hostname: string, whitelist: string[]): boolean {
for (const pattern of whitelist) {
if (pattern.startsWith("*.")) {
const suffix = pattern.slice(1); // ".github.com"
if (hostname.endsWith(suffix) || hostname === pattern.slice(2)) {
return true;
}
} else if (hostname === pattern) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
```
### Step 4: Response for Non-Whitelisted Domains
When domain is not whitelisted, return guidance (not an error):
```typescript
return {
allowed: false,
message: `The domain "${hostname}" is not in the allowed list for direct fetching. ` +
`Consider using web_search to find relevant information, or ask the user to ` +
`provide the content directly. Allowed domains: ${whitelist.join(", ")}`,
};
```
### Step 5: HTML to Markdown Conversion
Use Turndown (same as OpenCode) for HTML-to-markdown conversion:
```typescript
import TurndownService from "turndown";
function htmlToMarkdown(html: string): string {
const turndown = new TurndownService({
headingStyle: "atx",
codeBlockStyle: "fenced",
});
turndown.remove(["script", "style", "meta", "link"]);
return turndown.turndown(html);
}
```
### Step 6: Register the Tool
Add to `mcp/index.ts`:
```typescript
import { WebFetchTool } from "./webfetch.ts";
// In the tools array
WebFetchTool(ctx),
```
### Data Flow
```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
participant LLM
participant MCP as MCP Server
participant WF as WebFetch Tool
participant Web as External URL
LLM->>MCP: webfetch(url, format)
MCP->>WF: execute(params)
WF->>WF: Parse URL, extract hostname
WF->>WF: Check whitelist from payload
alt Domain allowed
WF->>Web: fetch(url)
Web-->>WF: Response
WF->>WF: Convert to markdown
WF-->>MCP: {content, contentType}
MCP-->>LLM: Success result
else Domain not allowed
WF-->>MCP: {allowed: false, guidance}
MCP-->>LLM: Guidance message
end
```
### Files to Create/Modify
| File | Action |
|------|--------|
| `mcp/webfetch.ts` | Create - main tool implementation |
| `mcp/index.ts` | Modify - register the tool |
| `index.ts` | Modify - add `allowedWebFetchDomains` to payload type |
| `package.json` | Modify - add `turndown` dependency |
### Dependencies
Add to `package.json`:
- `turndown` - HTML to markdown conversion (same as OpenCode)
- `@types/turndown` - TypeScript types
---
## 6. Implementation Checklist
- [ ] Add `allowedWebFetchDomains` field to payload type in `index.ts`
- [ ] Create `mcp/webfetch.ts` with domain whitelisting and HTML conversion
- [ ] Register `WebFetchTool` in `mcp/index.ts`
- [ ] Add `turndown` and `@types/turndown` dependencies to `package.json`
- [ ] Test with allowed domains
- [ ] Test with blocked domains
- [ ] Test redirect behavior
---
## 7. Open Questions
1. **Should we support query parameters in allowlist?**
- e.g., allow `api.example.com/v1/*` but not `api.example.com/admin/*`
- Initial decision: No, domain-level only
2. **Should we allow configurable allowlists?**
- Via environment variable or config file?
- Initial decision: No, hardcoded for simplicity
3. **Should we support authentication headers?**
- For private documentation sites
- Initial decision: No, security risk
4. **Rate limiting?**
- Prevent agent from hammering a site
- Initial decision: Rely on timeout, add if needed
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# Web Search Functionality by Agent
This document describes how each supported agent implements web search functionality.
## Summary
| Agent | Tool Name | Search Provider | API/Method |
|-------|-----------|-----------------|------------|
| Claude Code | `WebSearch` | Anthropic internal | Claude Code SDK |
| Gemini CLI | `google_web_search` | Google Search via Gemini API | `generateContent` with `model: 'web-search'` |
| OpenCode | `websearch` | Exa AI | MCP protocol to `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp` |
All three agents also support a separate **web fetch** tool for directly retrieving and parsing web page content.
---
## Claude Code
### Tools
- `WebSearch` - Search the web for information
- `WebFetch` - Fetch and process web content
### Implementation
Native functionality through `@anthropic-ai/claude-agent-sdk` (closed source). The actual search provider is internal to Anthropic's infrastructure.
### Configuration in Pullfrog
Web search can be disabled via the `disallowedTools` option:
```typescript
// In sandbox mode, web tools are disabled
disallowedTools: ["Bash", "WebSearch", "WebFetch", "Write"]
```
---
## Gemini CLI
### Tools
- `google_web_search` - Perform web searches using Google Search
- `web_fetch` - Fetch and process content from URLs
### Implementation
Source: [`packages/core/src/tools/web-search.ts`](https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/blob/main/packages/core/src/tools/web-search.ts)
**How it works:**
1. Sends query to Gemini API using `generateContent` with `model: 'web-search'`
2. Google performs the search and returns results with grounding metadata
3. Response includes inline citations, source URLs, and titles
```typescript
const response = await geminiClient.generateContent(
{ model: 'web-search' },
[{ role: 'user', parts: [{ text: this.params.query }] }],
signal,
);
```
### Features
- Returns processed summary (not raw search results)
- Inline citations with grounding metadata
- Sources list with titles and URIs
- UTF-8 byte position handling for accurate citation insertion
### Parameters
- `query` (string, required): The search query
### Web Fetch
The `web_fetch` tool processes content from URLs:
- Uses Gemini API's `urlContext` feature
- Fallback to direct HTTP fetch with `html-to-text` conversion
- Supports up to 20 URLs per request
- Converts GitHub blob URLs to raw URLs automatically
---
## OpenCode
### Tools
- `websearch` - Search the web using Exa AI
- `webfetch` - Fetch and read web pages
### Implementation
Source: [`packages/opencode/src/tool/websearch.ts`](https://github.com/sst/opencode/blob/main/packages/opencode/src/tool/websearch.ts)
**How it works:**
1. Calls Exa AI's MCP endpoint at `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp`
2. Uses JSON-RPC protocol to invoke the `web_search_exa` tool
3. Parses SSE response for search results
```typescript
const searchRequest: McpSearchRequest = {
jsonrpc: "2.0",
id: 1,
method: "tools/call",
params: {
name: "web_search_exa",
arguments: {
query: params.query,
type: params.type || "auto",
numResults: params.numResults || 8,
livecrawl: params.livecrawl || "fallback",
contextMaxCharacters: params.contextMaxCharacters,
},
},
}
```
### Features
- Real-time web searches with content scraping
- Configurable result count (default: 8)
- Live crawl modes: `fallback` (backup if cached unavailable) or `preferred` (prioritize live crawling)
- Search types: `auto` (balanced), `fast` (quick results), `deep` (comprehensive)
- Context max characters for LLM optimization
### Parameters
- `query` (string, required): The search query
- `numResults` (number, optional): Number of results to return (default: 8)
- `livecrawl` (enum, optional): `"fallback"` | `"preferred"`
- `type` (enum, optional): `"auto"` | `"fast"` | `"deep"`
- `contextMaxCharacters` (number, optional): Maximum characters for context
### Configuration in Pullfrog
Web tools are configured via the permission config in `opencode.json`:
```typescript
// In sandbox mode
permission: {
webfetch: "deny",
// ...
}
// In normal mode
permission: {
webfetch: "allow",
// ...
}
```
### Environment Variables
- `OPENCODE_ENABLE_EXA` - Enable Exa web search tools (required for "zen" users)
### Web Fetch
The `webfetch` tool directly fetches URLs:
- Direct HTTP fetch with browser-like User-Agent
- HTML to Markdown conversion using Turndown
- Configurable timeout (max 120 seconds)
- 5MB response size limit
---
## Comparison
| Feature | Claude Code | Gemini CLI | OpenCode |
|---------|-------------|------------|----------|
| Search Provider | Anthropic | Google | Exa AI |
| Result Format | Summary | Summary + Citations | Raw content |
| URL Fetching | Yes (`WebFetch`) | Yes (`web_fetch`) | Yes (`webfetch`) |
| Grounding/Citations | Unknown | Yes | No |
| Configurable Results | No | No | Yes (numResults) |
| Search Depth Options | No | No | Yes (auto/fast/deep) |
| Live Crawling | Unknown | Fallback only | Configurable |
---
## Security Considerations
In Pullfrog's sandbox mode:
- **Claude Code**: `WebSearch` and `WebFetch` are explicitly disabled via `disallowedTools`
- **Gemini CLI**: No explicit disable mechanism in the wrapper (relies on default behavior)
- **OpenCode**: `webfetch` permission set to `"deny"` in sandbox mode
For public repositories, consider the implications of web search/fetch:
- Fetched content could potentially be used to inject prompts
- Search queries might leak information about the codebase context
---
## Proposed Implementation Plan
### Option 1: Use Native Agent Web Search (Current State)
Each agent uses its own built-in web search:
- **Pros**: No additional implementation, leverages each provider's strengths
- **Cons**: Inconsistent behavior across agents, no unified control
**Current gaps:**
- Gemini CLI has no explicit disable mechanism for web search in sandbox mode
- No unified way to configure web search across all agents
### Option 2: Unified MCP Web Search Tool
Add a `web_search` tool to the Pullfrog MCP server (`mcp/`) that all agents can use:
```
mcp/
├── bash.ts
├── webSearch.ts # New unified web search tool
└── ...
```
**Implementation approach:**
1. **Create `mcp/webSearch.ts`** with a provider-agnostic interface:
```typescript
export const webSearchTool = {
name: "web_search",
description: "Search the web for information",
inputSchema: {
type: "object",
properties: {
query: { type: "string", description: "Search query" },
numResults: { type: "number", description: "Number of results (default: 5)" },
},
required: ["query"],
},
};
```
2. **Choose a search provider** (options):
- **Exa AI** - Already used by OpenCode, good LLM-optimized results
- **Tavily** - Popular for AI agents, provides search + content extraction
- **SerpAPI** - Google results via API
- **Brave Search API** - Privacy-focused alternative
3. **Add to MCP server** in `mcp/server.ts`:
```typescript
import { webSearchTool, handleWebSearch } from "./webSearch.ts";
// Register tool...
```
4. **Disable native web search** for each agent:
- Claude: Add `"WebSearch"` to `disallowedTools`
- Gemini: Add `"google_web_search"` to `excludeTools` in settings.json
- OpenCode: Set `websearch: "deny"` in permission config
**Pros:**
- Consistent behavior across all agents
- Centralized control for security/sandbox modes
- Can filter/sanitize results before returning to agent
- Single API key management
**Cons:**
- Additional API costs (search provider)
- Loses provider-specific features (e.g., Gemini's grounding metadata)
### Option 3: Hybrid Approach
Allow native web search for private repos, use MCP tool for public repos:
```typescript
// In agent configuration
const useNativeWebSearch = !repo.isPublic;
// Claude
disallowedTools: repo.isPublic ? ["WebSearch", "WebFetch"] : [];
// Gemini
excludeTools: repo.isPublic ? ["google_web_search", "web_fetch"] : [];
// OpenCode
permission: {
websearch: repo.isPublic ? "deny" : "allow",
}
```
Then for public repos, agents would use the MCP `web_search` tool which:
- Filters sensitive queries
- Sanitizes returned content
- Logs all searches for audit
### Recommended Approach
**Short-term**: Implement Option 3 (Hybrid) with these steps:
1. [ ] Add `excludeTools: ["google_web_search"]` for Gemini in public repo mode
2. [ ] Ensure OpenCode `websearch` permission is properly set for sandbox mode
3. [ ] Document the current native web search behavior for each agent
**Medium-term**: Implement Option 2 (Unified MCP) for public repos:
1. [ ] Create `mcp/webSearch.ts` using Exa AI (consistent with OpenCode)
2. [ ] Add `EXA_API_KEY` to secrets handling
3. [ ] Register web search in MCP server
4. [ ] Disable native web search for all agents when MCP tool is available
5. [ ] Add result sanitization to prevent prompt injection
### API Key Requirements
| Provider | Environment Variable | Notes |
|----------|---------------------|-------|
| Exa AI | `EXA_API_KEY` | Already used by OpenCode |
| Tavily | `TAVILY_API_KEY` | Popular alternative |
| Brave | `BRAVE_API_KEY` | Privacy-focused |
For the unified MCP approach, only one search provider API key would be needed.
---
## Proposed Implementation Plan
### Option A: Unified MCP Web Search Tool
Create a custom MCP tool that provides consistent web search across all agents.
**Pros:**
- Consistent behavior and results across agents
- Full control over search provider and rate limiting
- Can implement caching and deduplication
- Single point for security filtering
**Cons:**
- Additional infrastructure (need a search API key)
- Latency from proxying through MCP server
**Implementation:**
1. Add `websearch` tool to `mcp/` directory
2. Integrate with a search provider (options: Exa AI, SerpAPI, Brave Search, Tavily)
3. Configure each agent to use MCP tool instead of native:
- Claude: Add to `disallowedTools` and provide via MCP
- Gemini: Use `excludeTools` in settings.json for `google_web_search`
- OpenCode: Disable native via permission config
```typescript
// mcp/websearch.ts
export const websearchTool = {
name: "websearch",
description: "Search the web for current information",
inputSchema: {
type: "object",
properties: {
query: { type: "string", description: "Search query" },
numResults: { type: "number", description: "Number of results (1-10)" },
},
required: ["query"],
},
handler: async ({ query, numResults = 5 }) => {
// Use Exa, Brave, or other search API
const results = await searchProvider.search(query, numResults);
return formatResults(results);
},
};
```
### Option B: Native Tools with Configuration
Keep using each agent's native web search but add consistent configuration.
**Pros:**
- No additional infrastructure
- Agents can use optimized native implementations
- Less latency
**Cons:**
- Inconsistent results across agents
- Different capabilities per agent
- Harder to control/audit searches
**Implementation:**
1. Add `websearch_enabled` option to payload/config
2. Update each agent wrapper:
- Claude: Toggle `WebSearch` in `disallowedTools`
- Gemini: Add `google_web_search` to `excludeTools` in settings.json
- OpenCode: Set `websearch` permission in config
```typescript
// agents/claude.ts
const disallowedTools = payload.websearchEnabled
? ["Bash"]
: ["Bash", "WebSearch", "WebFetch"];
// agents/gemini.ts
if (!payload.websearchEnabled) {
newSettings.excludeTools = [...(newSettings.excludeTools || []), "google_web_search"];
}
// agents/opencode.ts
permission: {
websearch: payload.websearchEnabled ? "allow" : "deny",
// ...
}
```
### Option C: Hybrid Approach (Recommended)
Use native tools when available, with MCP fallback for consistency.
**Implementation:**
1. Define a `websearch` MCP tool as fallback
2. For agents with good native search (Claude, Gemini): use native
3. For agents without (or with unreliable) search: use MCP tool
4. Add configuration to force MCP-only mode if needed
```typescript
// Per-agent configuration
const agentWebSearchConfig = {
claude: { useNative: true, mcpFallback: false },
gemini: { useNative: true, mcpFallback: false },
opencode: { useNative: false, mcpFallback: true }, // Exa requires API key
};
```
### Required Changes by Option
| Change | Option A | Option B | Option C |
|--------|----------|----------|----------|
| New MCP tool | Yes | No | Yes |
| Search API key | Yes | No | Optional |
| Agent wrapper changes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Action input changes | No | Yes | Yes |
| External dependencies | Yes | No | Optional |
### Recommended Next Steps
1. **Decide on search provider** - If going with MCP approach:
- Exa AI: Already used by OpenCode, good for code-related searches
- Brave Search: Privacy-focused, good general search
- Tavily: Designed for AI agents, includes content extraction
2. **Add configuration** - New action inputs:
```yaml
websearch:
description: 'Enable web search functionality'
required: false
default: 'false'
```
3. **Implement per-agent** - Start with Option B (simplest), upgrade to C if needed
4. **Add security controls** - Query filtering, domain allowlists, rate limiting