fetch-url v2.7.1A

Immutable. This exact content is served forever at /api/v1/blob/c27c43d10c79927a.

---
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.