v2.7.1 to v2.7.1

---

name: fetch-url

version: "2.7.1"

description: "Fetch and extract readable text from any web page — auto-selects the best backend (w3m, lynx, jina, markdown, chrome) with smart fallback. Use when the user wants to read an article, docs, or scrape text from a page. Triggers on: fetch this URL, read this page, extract the text, scrape this site, get the article content. Works on Reddit, StackOverflow, GitHub, docs sites, and more."

---

# Fetch URL

```bash

fetch-url "https://example.com" # That's it.

```

Extracts text from any webpage. Works globally after install. **No credentials needed** — the free tools (w3m, lynx, jina, markdown) cover most sites.

## Keep it simple

The default auto-selects the best tool per site. Don't add flags you don't need.

| ✗ Don't | ✓ Do |

|---------|------|

| `export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"; fetch-url "url" --tool jina -v 2>&1 \| head -100` | `fetch-url "url"` |

| `fetch-url "url" --tool auto --clean -v` | `fetch-url "url"` |

- **Output is already cleaned** (empty lines collapsed). No `head`, no `2>&1`.

- **`fetch-url: command not found`?** Install once (below) or use the full path `~/.local/bin/fetch-url "url"`. Don't prefix every call with `export PATH=`.

- **Tool auto-selects per site** (Reddit→w3m, GitHub→jina, StackOverflow→markdown). Reach for `--tool` only when the default output is poor.

- **JS/Cloudflare-protected site?** `fetch-url "url" --tool chrome` (or `--tool markdown --md-method browser`).

## Install

This skill ships in the **skale-skills** pi package — install the repo once:

```bash

pi install git:github.com/devskale/skale-skills

```

That loads the skill into pi. To also get a global `fetch-url` shell command, run the installer from **this skill's own directory** (next to `SKILL.md`):

```bash

./install.sh # → creates ~/.local/bin/fetch-url (uv auto-installed)

install.bat # Windows, same directory

```

## Update

```bash

fetch-url --update # Manual update (git pull + uv sync)

fetch-url --selfcheck # Show version + last update date

```

Auto-updates in background every 7 days.

## Usage

```bash

fetch-url "https://example.com" # Auto-selects best tool

fetch-url "https://reddit.com/r/python" # Redirects to old.reddit.com, uses w3m

fetch-url "https://news.ycombinator.com" # Uses w3m (free, local)

fetch-url "URL" --tool jina # Force specific tool

fetch-url "URL" -v # Verbose (shows tool + redirects)

```

## Options

| Option | Description |

|--------|-------------|

| `--tool NAME` | w3m, lynx, jina, markdown, chrome, chawan, api |

| `-v, --verbose` | Show tool selection and redirects |

| `--no-clean` | Keep empty lines |

| `--update` | Update the skill now |

| `--selfcheck` | Show version and last update |

## Tools (Auto-Selected)

Priority: free local tools first (w3m, lynx), then free APIs (jina, markdown), then chrome.

| Tool | Best For | Cost |

|------|----------|------|

| w3m | Reddit, HN, simple HTML sites | Free, local |

| lynx | Wikipedia, text-heavy sites | Free, local |

| jina | Docs, blogs, GitHub, Medium | Free API |

| markdown | StackOverflow, fallback | Free API (50/day) |

| api | Skale fetch endpoint (`amd.skale.dev`) | Free, needs credgoo key |

| chrome | Cloudflare/JS-protected sites | Free, needs Chrome |

## Site-Specific Behavior

| Site | Strategy |

|------|----------|

| Reddit | Auto-redirects to old.reddit.com, uses w3m |

| HN | w3m (clean output) |

| Wikipedia | jina (cleanest), lynx/w3m fallback |

| GitHub | jina (clean markdown) |

| StackOverflow | markdown (bypasses blocks) |

| Medium | jina |

| Cloudflare sites | Chrome headless |

## Configure (optional)

```bash

# Credgoo for the 'api' tool (retrieve shared team token)

credgoo FETCH_URL_BEARER

# No 'credgoo' command? Install it once:

uv tool install "credgoo @ git+https://github.com/devskale/python-openutils.git#subdirectory=packages/credgoo"

# Optional browsers for better fallback

brew install w3m lynx chawan

```

## Troubleshooting

| Problem | Fix |

|---------|-----|

| `fetch-url: command not found` | Add `~/.local/bin` to PATH |

| gunzip error on GitHub | Use `--tool jina` |

| Empty result | Try `--tool jina` or `--tool chrome` |

| Dependency error | `fetch-url --update` |

## References

- [references/sites.md](references/sites.md) — per-site tool rankings. **Read when** a site returns poor output and you need to pick a better `--tool`.

- [references/github.md](references/github.md) — GitHub raw-URL patterns. **Read when** fetching GitHub file/README/directory content.

- [references/troubleshooting.md](references/troubleshooting.md) — detailed fixes. **Read when** a fetch fails or returns empty/garbled output.