search-tips

# Search Tips Accumulated guidance for web research using Exa, Firecrawl CLI, and Reddit MCP tools. These are **starting points, not rigid rules** -- think strategically about each situation and adapt. If a different approach makes more sense for what you're trying to do, go with it. Run `npx firecrawl-cli <command> --help` to check available options beyond what's documented here. Reference files cover tool-specific deep dives -- see bottom of this file. ## Setup Before starting research, load the required MCP tools using ToolSearch: 1. **Exa tools** -- `web_search_advanced_exa` and `get_code_context_exa` 2. **Reddit tools** -- `get_top_posts`, `get_post_comments`, `get_reddit_post`, `get_subreddit_info` Firecrawl CLI (`npx firecrawl-cli`) runs via Bash -- no MCP setup needed. Load only what the task requires. ## The Research Cycle Prefer Exa and Firecrawl over built-in WebSearch/WebFetch. Research alternates between **searching** (discovering sources) and **fetching** (extracting content from them). Find promising leads, read the best ones, refine your understanding, search again. ### Searching Finding sources you don't have yet. - **Exa search** (`web_search_advanced_exa`) -- primary tool for web discovery. Natural language queries, add filters as needed (domains, dates, categories). - **Exa code context** (`get_code_context_exa`) -- programming topics. Worth trying before general Exa search for technical/code tasks -- surfaces repos, packages, and docs. - **...