---
name: tavily-research
description: |-
  Conduct comprehensive AI-powered research with citations via the Tavily CLI. Use this skill when the user wants deep research, a detailed report, a comparison, market analysis, literature review, or says "research", "investigate", "analyze in depth", "compare X vs Y", "what does the market look like for", or needs multi-source synthesis with explicit citations. Returns a structured report grounded in web sources. Takes 30-120 seconds. For quick fact-finding, use tavily-search instead.
allowed-tools: Bash(tvly *)
title: tavily-research
canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/tavily-ai/skills/tavily-research
last_updated: 2026-09-27T08:42:27.000Z
---

> 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-research`. 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-research`, 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-research) 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-research`. 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-research --mode copy --plain`. If skilld is unavailable, use `npx skilld install ./skills/tavily-research --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 research

AI-powered deep research that gathers sources, analyzes them, and produces a cited report. Takes 30-120 seconds.

## Before running

Research requires authentication. Run the requested command directly when
`tvly` is already authenticated; do not add a status check to every invocation.

If `tvly` is missing, follow the [tavily-cli setup](../tavily-cli/SKILL.md#setup).
If an installed CLI reports an authentication error, use `tvly login` for
authentication only, or `tvly init --skip-skills` when guided verification is
also useful. Browser-based OAuth is preferred when an interactive user can
complete it. `--no-browser` prints the sign-in link instead of opening it, but
still waits for a localhost callback. In an unattended agent or CI environment,
leave authentication to the user or use a securely provided `TAVILY_API_KEY`.
Do not start a second login immediately after guided setup has completed.

## When to use

- You need comprehensive, multi-source analysis
- The user wants a comparison, market report, or literature review
- Quick searches aren't enough — you need synthesis with citations
- Step 5 in the [workflow](../tavily-cli/SKILL.md): search → extract → map → crawl → **research**

## Quick start

```bash
# Basic research (waits for completion)
tvly research "competitive landscape of AI code assistants"

# Pro model for comprehensive analysis
tvly research "electric vehicle market analysis" --model pro

# Stream results in real-time
tvly research "AI agent frameworks comparison" --stream

# Save report to file
tvly research "fintech trends 2025" --model pro -o fintech-report.json

# JSON output for agents
tvly research "quantum computing breakthroughs" --json
```

## Options

| Option | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| `--model` | `mini`, `pro`, or `auto` (default) |
| `--stream` | Stream results in real-time |
| `--no-wait` | Return request_id immediately (async) |
| `--output-schema` | Path to JSON schema for structured output |
| `--citation-format` | `numbered`, `mla`, `apa`, `chicago` |
| `--poll-interval` | Seconds between checks (default: 10) |
| `--timeout` | Max wait seconds (default: 600) |
| `-o, --output` | Save the JSON response to a file |
| `--json` | Structured JSON output |

## Model selection

| Model | Use for | Speed |
|-------|---------|-------|
| `mini` | Single-topic, targeted research | ~30s |
| `pro` | Comprehensive multi-angle analysis | ~60-120s |
| `auto` | API chooses based on complexity | Varies |

**Rule of thumb:** "What does X do?" → mini. "X vs Y vs Z" or "best way to..." → pro.

## Async workflow

For long-running research, you can start and poll separately:

```bash
# Start without waiting
tvly research "topic" --no-wait --json    # returns request_id

# Check status
tvly research status <request_id> --json

# Wait for completion
tvly research poll <request_id> --json -o result.json
```

## Tips

- **Research takes 30-120 seconds** — use `--stream` to see progress in real-time.
- **Use `--model pro`** for complex comparisons or multi-faceted topics.
- **Use `--output-schema`** to get structured JSON output matching a custom schema.
- **For quick facts**, use `tvly search` instead — research is for deep synthesis.
- Read from stdin: `echo "query" | tvly research - --json`

## See also

- [tavily-search](../tavily-search/SKILL.md) — quick web search for simple lookups
- [tavily-crawl](../tavily-crawl/SKILL.md) — bulk extract from a site for your own analysis