---
name: tavily-extract
description: |-
  Extract clean markdown or text content from specific URLs via the Tavily CLI. Use this skill when the user has one or more URLs and wants their content, says "extract", "grab the content from", "pull the text from", "get the page at", "read this webpage", or needs clean text from web pages. Handles JavaScript-rendered pages, returns LLM-optimized markdown, and supports query-focused chunking for targeted extraction. Can process up to 20 URLs in a single call.
allowed-tools: Bash(tvly *)
title: tavily-extract
canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/tavily-ai/skills/tavily-extract
last_updated: 2026-09-29T07:50:57.000Z
---

> Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://skilld.dev/llms.txt)

> **Skill from skilld.dev.** Follow the user's requested action.
> If the user asked to fork this Skill, follow the fork workflow below. Do not execute the Skill instructions while copying it.
> Otherwise, follow the instructions below for this session. You do not need to install anything.
>
> If the user asked to install this Skill, run `npx skilld install tavily-ai/skills/tavily-extract`. Install writes the Skill files into the project, so every session loads them.
>
> ## Fork workflow
>
> A fork creates an editable local Skill with its original author and licence. The request authorizes copying and local installation.
> 1. Check `./skills/tavily-extract`, the project lockfile, and selected Agent targets together. If the local directory or installed Skill exists, stop. Never overwrite an existing directory or Agent target.
> 2. Read [source metadata](https://skilld.dev/api/v1/skills/tavily-ai/skills/tavily-extract) once. Use sourceUrl, sourceCommit, skillPath, sourceGone, and license. If the source is gone or its path is missing, stop. If license is null, read licence files at the source commit.
> 3. Fetch only the source commit into a temporary Git repository. Do not clone full history. Derive repository_url from sourceUrl, including repository renames. If sourceCommit is absent, resolve the sourceUrl ref once. Set source_commit to that actual commit. Run these commands in one shell call:
>
> ```sh
> git init --quiet "$temporary_dir"
> git -C "$temporary_dir" fetch --quiet --depth=1 "$repository_url" "$source_commit"
> git -C "$temporary_dir" checkout --quiet --detach FETCH_HEAD
> ```
>
> Read applicable licence declarations and notices at that commit. If copying is not permitted, report the restriction and stop.
> 4. Inspect source entries together, then copy the directory containing skillPath into `./skills/tavily-extract`. Use the user's path if selected. Keep the original SKILL.md, relative links, scripts, binary assets, and executable modes. Exclude .git metadata. Reject symlinks and paths outside the Skill directory. After checking entries, use cp -a where available. A regular source directory needs no custom copy script. Do not save this page wrapper as SKILL.md.
> Preserve author credit, notices, and applicable licence files from repository or parent directories. Add PROVENANCE.md with the Skill page, source URL, actual commit, original path, and licence. Retain any existing PROVENANCE.md and record new provenance separately. Batch source inspection, copying, and provenance work where practical.
> 5. In the project root, run `skilld install ./skills/tavily-extract --mode copy --plain`. If skilld is unavailable, use `npx skilld install ./skills/tavily-extract --mode copy --plain`. This known command needs no help lookup. Install does not support --json. Use detected Agent targets, or add --agent for the targets the user selected. Install the local path, never the upstream selector. If installation fails, preserve the local copy and report the exact failure.
> 6. Confirm the local lockfile source and installed Agent copies once. Report the local path, actual commit, and Agent targets. After edits, reinstall the same local path. Upstream updates must not replace it. Do not publish or push unless the user asks.

# tavily extract

Extract clean markdown or text content from one or more URLs.

## Before running

Run extract directly when `tvly` is available. Extract supports capped keyless
access, so do not look for an API key or authenticate before the first request.

If `tvly` is missing, follow the [tavily-cli setup](../tavily-cli/SKILL.md#setup)
before retrying. If the keyless cap is reached in an interactive session, run
`tvly login` to open browser OAuth, then retry the original extraction once. In
an unattended environment, report the cap and authentication options instead
of starting an interactive flow. Do not start a second login immediately after
guided setup has completed.

## When to use

- You have a specific URL and want its content
- You need text from JavaScript-rendered pages
- Step 2 in the [workflow](../tavily-cli/SKILL.md): search → **extract** → map → crawl → research

## Quick start

```bash
# Single URL
tvly extract "https://example.com/article" --json

# Multiple URLs
tvly extract "https://example.com/page1" "https://example.com/page2" --json

# Query-focused extraction (returns relevant chunks only)
tvly extract "https://example.com/docs" --query "authentication API" --chunks-per-source 3 --json

# JS-heavy pages
tvly extract "https://app.example.com" --extract-depth advanced --json

# Save to file
tvly extract "https://example.com/article" -o article.json
```

## Options

| Option | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `--query` | Rerank chunks by relevance to this query |
| `--chunks-per-source` | Chunks per URL (1-5, requires `--query`) |
| `--extract-depth` | `basic` (default) or `advanced` (for JS pages) |
| `--format` | `markdown` (default) or `text` |
| `--include-images` | Include image URLs |
| `--timeout` | Max wait time (1-60 seconds) |
| `-o, --output` | Save the JSON response to a file |
| `--json` | Structured JSON output |

## Extract depth

| Depth | When to use |
|-------|-------------|
| `basic` | Simple pages, fast — try this first |
| `advanced` | JS-rendered SPAs, dynamic content, tables |

## Tips

- **Max 20 URLs per request** — batch larger lists into multiple calls.
- **Use `--query` + `--chunks-per-source`** to get only relevant content instead of full pages.
- **Try `basic` first**, fall back to `advanced` if content is missing.
- **Set `--timeout`** for slow pages (up to 60s).
- **Inspect `failed_results` even after exit code 0.** A successful request can
  still return no extracted pages. Retry the affected URL with `advanced` when
  appropriate, otherwise report the per-URL failure instead of treating the
  request as complete.
- If search results already contain the content you need (via `--include-raw-content`), skip the extract step.

## See also

- [tavily-search](../tavily-search/SKILL.md) — find pages when you don't have a URL
- [tavily-crawl](../tavily-crawl/SKILL.md) — extract content from many pages on a site