Core Options

-h, --help - Display help message with usage examples
--format <format> - Output format: text, markdown, plain (default: text)
- text: Colored terminal output (default)
- markdown: Clean markdown format (no ANSI colors)
- plain: Plain text without colors
--no-color - Disable colored output (same as --format plain)
--max-related <N> - Control number of related topics to show (default: 5)
--quiet - Minimal output mode (just results, no headers/footer)

Output to File

Use shell redirection to save results to file:

# Save to file
./web-search.sh "query" > output.txt

# With markdown format
./web-search.sh --format markdown "query" > results.md

# With no colors for logs
./web-search.sh --no-color "query" > search.log

What It Returns

The tool provides several result types:

Answers - Direct answers for calculations, conversions, weather, etc.
Abstracts - Wikipedia-style summaries with source and URL
Definitions - Word/term definitions
Related Topics - Additional relevant results (configurable, 5 default)

Best Practices

Be specific - More specific queries get better instant answers
Try variations - If no results, rephrase your query
Use for facts - Definitions, calculations, quick lookups work best
Check URL - Always provides DuckDuckGo link for full search
Use appropriate format:
- Terminal output: --format text (colored, default)
- Documentation: --format markdown > file.md`
- Logs/piping: --format plain or --no-color

Limitations

No full web search results (only instant answers)
Some queries return limited results depending on DuckDuckGo's data
Character encoding issues in some abstracts (known limitation)
Requires internet access to query DuckDuckGo API
Not all query types return instant answers (e.g., complex math like sqrt(144))
Definitions may not always be available for all terms
Recent news may not appear (DuckDuckGo focuses on evergreen content)

Usage Examples

Basic Search

# Simple query
./web-search.sh "open source AI models"

# Wikipedia-style query
./web-search.sh "what is recursion"

Markdown Format

# Clean markdown output
./web-search.sh --format markdown "python programming"

# Save to markdown file
./web-search.sh --format markdown "AI research" > research.md

Plain/No Color

# For logs or piping
./web-search.sh --format plain "search query"

# Disable colors explicitly
./web-search.sh --no-color "search query"

Control Related Topics

# Show fewer related topics
./web-search.sh --max-related 3 "machine learning"

# Show more related topics
./web-search.sh --max-related 10 "open source"

Quiet Mode

# Minimal output (just results)
./web-search.sh --quiet "what is 42 + 7"

Combined Options

# Markdown, no color, saved to file
./web-search.sh --format markdown --no-color "topic" > results.md

# Quiet with custom related count
./web-search.sh --quiet --max-related 2 "definition"

Tested Scenarios

Tested and verified to work:

✅ Calculations: 2+2, 10% of 500
✅ Conversions: 100 miles to km
✅ Wikipedia queries: what is artificial intelligence
✅ Programming: what is python, how to install docker
✅ People: who is Elon Musk
✅ Scientific facts: speed of light
✅ Weather: weather in Tokyo
✅ Edge cases: empty queries, special characters, no results
✅ Output formats: text, markdown, plain
✅ Flags: --help, --format, --no-color, --max-related, --quiet

See test-outputs.md for detailed test results.

Troubleshooting

"No direct results found"

Try rephasing your query or using the provided DuckDuckGo URL for full search.

Network errors

Check internet connection. Tool requires network access.

Character encoding issues

Some abstracts display garbled characters. This is a known issue with basic parsing (install jq for better results).

"jq not found" warning

The tool works without jq using basic text extraction, but installing jq improves JSON parsing:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install jq

# macOS
brew install jq

# Via package managers
npm install -g jq

Output Format

Text Format (default)

Blue - Headers and search info
Green - Result markers and content
Yellow - Sources, URLs, and warnings
Red - Errors

Use --format plain or --no-color to disable colors.

Markdown Format

Clean markdown with:

## headers for sections
**bold** for emphasis
- bullet lists
*italics* for metadata
[links]() for URLs

Plain Format

No ANSI codes or markdown formatting - suitable for logs and piping.

Requirements

curl or wget (for HTTP requests)
Optional: jq (for better JSON parsing)

web-search

Web Search

Quick Start

Command-Line Options