liustack/modsearch

Models like DeepSeek-V4-Flash have no web access, or a weak one. ModSearch is a plug-in that greatly strengthens the model's web search, X search, and single-page fetch.

Talk to us

Something broken, or something missing? Open an issue. For everything else, come find me on X: @liustack. What you built with it, which harness you are on, what should come next. New releases land there first, and a proper community space is on the way.

Features

• 🌐 The web plugin for DeepSeek Harness (dsh): one command, npx -y @deepseek-ai/dsh plugin --profile web add @liustack/modsearch@latest, and dsh's built-in web_search runs on the modsearch engine chain with no API key, keeping its native citation cards. Two tools dsh does not have land beside it: x_search for X (Twitter) and read_page for focused single-page reading. Details in harness setup.
• Completely free. The default channel is Antigravity CLI, no API key needed. All three fallback channels (Tavily, Exa, Firecrawl) offer monthly free tiers with no card required.
• Automatic failover. When a channel fails or exhausts its quota, the next one takes over.
• Searches X (Twitter). With Grok Build installed, ModSearch queries the corpus that web indexes cannot reach.
• Install once, use everywhere. Works in Claude Code, Codex, Pi, and OpenCode.

Supported engines

Any one of these makes search work. Configure with one command each, keys are stored in ~/.modsearch/config.json (0600, masked when shown):

Engine	Does	Free tier	Turn it on
Antigravity CLI	web search + page fetch	free, browser sign-in	install agy and sign in
Tavily	web search	1,000 credits/month, no card	modsearch config set tavily.apiKey <key>
Exa	web search	$10/month recurring credit (~1,400 searches), no card	modsearch config set exa.apiKey <key>
Firecrawl	web search + page fetch	1,000 credits/month, search even works keyless	modsearch config set firecrawl.apiKey <key>
Grok Build	X (Twitter) search	rides SuperGrok or X Premium	install grok and sign in
local	page fetch	built in, nothing to install	nothing

Keys can also come from the environment (TAVILY_API_KEY, EXA_API_KEY, FIRECRAWL_API_KEY). Multiple engines configured means automatic failover, best first. Using a Tavily-, Exa-, or Firecrawl-compatible third-party or self-hosted endpoint? Point the engine at it: modsearch config set tavily.baseURL <url>. Every knob, engine by engine, is in the configuration guide.

Installation

Step 1, set up a search engine (the only part that needs your hands). The default engine, Antigravity CLI, requires a browser sign-in that only you can complete:

curl -fsSL https://antigravity.google/cli/install.sh | bash
agy                                                           # sign in, then exit

Prefer not to install it? Register a free key with Tavily, Exa, or Firecrawl instead (Tavily 1,000 credits a month, Exa about 1,400 searches a month, Firecrawl 1,000 credits a month, no card required by any of them).

Step 2, hand the rest to your AI. Send it this line, along with the key if you chose one:

Install and configure the modsearch skill following https://github.com/liustack/modsearch/blob/main/INSTALL.md, then run the health check and tell me the result.

Usage

Once installed, just chat. Ask anything that needs checking, or paste a URL, and the skill triggers on its own: it picks an engine, runs the search or fetch, and the answer comes back with sources.

See it work

Both screenshots are unedited runs from the Codex desktop app, driving a DeepSeek-V4-Flash that has no web access of its own.

Give it a blog link and ask what the post says. Twenty-five seconds later: a structured summary of the whole post, with no browser involved.

Give it no target at all, just "anything interesting in AI today?". Thirty-six seconds later: six sourced stories, with a closing note on which details came from aggregation and deserve a second look. The note comes from the uncertainty field.

Documentation

Doc	Read it when
INSTALL.md	Installing the skill step by step (written for an agent)
CLI manual	The CLI the skill drives: flags, config, doctor
Troubleshooting	A command failed and the message needs decoding
Configuration	Setting a key, switching engines, fixing config
Output contract	Parsing the JSON or building on it
Harness setup	Wiring it into Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, or Pi
Security	SSRF guards, DNS-rebinding protection, untrusted input
CHANGELOG	Finding what changed in a version

Contributing

ModSearch does not accept pull requests. The project is maintained by a single author who reviews every line, which is a deliberate choice for reliability. Two effective ways to contribute:

• Open an issue. Bugs, suggestions, confusing errors, unclear docs. Issues are read and shape what gets built next.
• Fork it. Under MIT your copy is fully yours to modify and publish.

Shameless plug

This project runs on LIUSTACK Skills: shaping before you build, coding while you build, dig when it breaks, snapshot when you hand off. Lighter than Superpowers, and stronger.

npx -y skills add liustack/liustack -g

⭐ If it helps, star ModSearch and liustack. Stars are how the next developer finds them.

Star History

Disclaimer

ModSearch is MIT-licensed, so use is not restricted. The author gives no warranty and no endorsement for any particular use, commercial or otherwise. The upstream engines it drives (Antigravity CLI, Tavily, Exa, Firecrawl, Grok Build) each carry their own terms and quotas, and complying with them is the user's responsibility.

License

MIT