qry Search Skill Skill | Agent Skills

qry Search Skill

qry routes search queries through built-in adapters and always outputs JSON.

Check availability

qry --agent-info   # prints tool description + your current config as JSON

If qry is not found, qry is a single binary with built-in adapters. Install: npm install -g @justestif/qry

See the qry README for all available adapters and config.

Core usage

# Basic search
qry "your query here"

# Limit results (default from config, usually 5–10)
qry --num 5 "your query"

# Force a specific adapter (bypass routing)
qry --adapter ddg-scrape "your query"

# Merge results from all pool adapters
qry --mode merge "your query"

Output format

first mode (default) — array of results:

[{ "title": "...", "url": "https://...", "snippet": "..." }]

merge mode — object with results (and optional warnings):

{
  "results": [{ "title": "...", "url": "https://...", "snippet": "..." }],
  "warnings": ["brave-api failed: rate_limited — results may be incomplete"]
}

Tips

Be specific — "express middleware error handling example" beats "http server"
Version lookups — "lodash latest release site:npmjs.com"
Error messages — wrap in quotes: qry '"cannot find module X"'
Docs — "site:docs.rust-lang.org ownership" gives cleaner results
After searching — fetch the most relevant URL for full content: curl -s <url> | cat

NEVER

NEVER use qry for URLs — it is a search tool, not a content fetcher. Why: qry returns search snippets, not page content. Instead: use defuddle or WebFetch to read the actual page.
NEVER ignore warnings in merge mode output. Why: partial failures mean results may be incomplete or biased toward one adapter. Instead: report the warnings to the user alongside results.
Partial failures in merge mode are non-fatal — results from successful adapters are returned alongside warnings

Agent Skills: qry Search Skill