Web research

Use Exa and Tavily as complementary research providers, then write one synthesis yourself. Firecrawl is not part of this skill.

Authentication

EXA_API_KEY and TAVILY_API_KEY are read from the environment, or failing that from .env at the root of the current repository. Only the selected provider's key is required for a call. If neither place has it, say which variable is missing and stop.

Use scripts/request to call either API without exposing a key in diagnostics or command arguments. Never write keys into any file, print them, or substitute another search provider because authentication failed. Report which provider is unavailable and any resulting coverage gap. Credential loading must be non-interactive and bounded by the host's timeout; do not initiate login as a repair step.

Pass a complete JSON request body on standard input:

printf '%s' '{"query":"current timber reuse standards","type":"auto","numResults":5}' | scripts/request exa search

Research

Read references/providers.md before choosing endpoints. Use the cheapest operation that can answer the question: