research-topic

Drive wet's extract(action="agent") to answer a research question end to end: one search round + concurrent extracts of the top hits + a single LLM synthesis pass that preserves numbered [N] citations matching the returned sources.

Use this skill when:

• The user asks an open-ended question that needs multiple sources.
• "Summarise the current state of X."
• "What's the latest on Y?"
• "Compare approaches to Z."
• The user needs a quoted, cited answer (the citations are first-class output, not an afterthought).

Do NOT use this skill when:

• The user already gave you a specific URL -- call extract(action="extract").
• The user wants a single search result list -- call search(action="web").
• The question is about library API documentation -- call search(action="docs_query") against a Tier 1 / locked stack.

Steps

1. Restate the question to the user in 1-2 sentences (calibration: confirm scope before spending tokens).
2. Pick max_urls based on breadth:
   • 3-5 for a tight question (single technology, single timeframe).
   • 6-10 for a broad survey (multiple competitors, multi-year window).
   • Hard ceiling is 20 (cost guard).
3. Pick synthesis_model only if the user asked for a specific model. Otherwise omit and let wet resolve it from the [models.chat] cell (~/.wet/config.toml, or HULL_CHAT_API_KEY / OPENROUTER_API_KEY).
4. Call

   extract(action="agent", query="<question>", max_urls=<N>)

   Optional knobs: synthesis_model="...", token_budget=<int> (default 10000; raise for long-form questions, lower for tight cost control).
5. Quote the synthesised Markdown verbatim to the user, then list the sources from the sources array as clickable URLs. If per_url_metadata shows any error, mention which URL failed and that the synthesis used the remaining N-K sources.
6. If wet returns Error: no LLM provider detected, surface the exact error to the user (do not silently retry against search(action="research")); they need to set one of the supported API keys before agent works.

Output contract

{
  "markdown": "# Synthesised answer with [1] inline citations...",
  "sources": [
    {"index": 1, "url": "https://...", "title": "..."}
  ],
  "per_url_metadata": [
    {"url": "...", "extract_strategy": "basic_http", "tokens": 487, "error": null}
  ]
}

Anti-patterns

• Do NOT chain multiple agent calls back-to-back without informing the user; each call is a full search + N extracts + LLM round.
• Do NOT post-edit the synthesised Markdown to drop citations -- the citation markers are the user's audit trail.
• Do NOT replace extract(action="agent") with manual search + extract loops "to save tokens"; the orchestrator enforces token budgets per source and avoids re-implementation drift.