NoteMD Pro - Web Research

Overview

This feature researches topics using web search providers and provides summarized context. It supports both Tavily (API-based) and DuckDuckGo (scraper-based) providers.

When to Use

• Research before writing: Gather context for content generation
• Summarize topics: Get overview of any subject
• Fact-checking: Verify information from web sources
• Literature review: Collect information from multiple sources

Function Call Chain

_performResearch (searchUtils.ts)
├── SearchManager.getProvider(settings)
│   ├── TavilyProvider (if searchProvider='tavily')
│   └── DuckDuckGoProvider (if searchProvider='duckduckgo')
├── provider.search(query, settings)
│   └── Returns SearchResult[]
├── fetchContentFromUrl(url)  [For DuckDuckGo only]
│   └── requestUrl({url, method: 'GET'})
│   └── Extract text from HTML
├── Combine research context
└── Return combined context string

Search Providers

Tavily Provider

• API-based search (requires API key)
• Returns snippets/summaries
• Faster, more reliable
• Configuration: tavilyApiKey, tavilyMaxResults, tavilySearchDepth

DuckDuckGo Provider

• Web scraping (no API key needed)
• Returns URLs, fetches full content
• More results, slower
• Configuration: ddgMaxResults, ddgFetchTimeout

Key Functions (from searchUtils.ts)

_performResearch

Performs web research for a topic and returns combined context.

export async function _performResearch(
  settings: NotemdSettings,
  topic: string,
  progressReporter: ProgressReporter,
): Promise<string | null>;

fetchContentFromUrl

Fetches content from a URL and extracts text.

export async function fetchContentFromUrl(
  url: string,
  progressReporter: ProgressReporter,
  debugMode?: boolean,
): Promise<string>;
// Returns extracted text or error message

SearchManager (search/SearchManager.ts)

Factory for getting search provider.

export class SearchManager {
  static getProvider(settings: NotemdSettings): SearchProvider;
  // Returns TavilyProvider or DuckDuckGoProvider
}

Settings

Provider Settings

Tavily Settings

DuckDuckGo Settings

Contextual Context (Macro Settings)

Research Limits

Prompt Template (researchSummarize)

From promptUtils.ts:

Summarize the following search results for the topic "{TOPIC}".
Provide a concise yet comprehensive overview.
Focus on key findings, data, and important conclusions.
Format the summary in Markdown.
The output language should be {LANGUAGE}.

Search Results:
{SEARCH_RESULTS_CONTEXT}

Output Format

Research context is formatted as:

Research context for "{query}" (via {provider}):

Result 1:
Title: {title}
URL: {url}
Content: {content}

Result 2:
Title: {title}
...

Error Handling

Common Errors

1. No API key for Tavily
   • Error: "Tavily API key not configured"
   • Solution: Add API key in settings or switch to DuckDuckGo
2. Network timeout
   • Error: "Timeout fetching {url}"
   • Solution: Increase ddgFetchTimeout
3. No search results
   • Warning: "Search returned no results"
   • Solution: Try different search query

Debug Mode

Enable enableApiErrorDebugMode for detailed error information including:

• Full API request/response
• HTTP status codes
• Error stack traces