Tavily CLI

CLI and agent tools for the Tavily API — search, extract, crawl, map, and research from the command line.

Note: This package provides the tvly command-line tool. It depends on tavily-python, the official Tavily Python SDK.

Features

• Interactive REPL — Run tvly with no arguments for a chat-like shell experience
• CLI for Humans & AI Agents — Rich-formatted output for humans, --json for agents
• Web Search — LLM-optimized search with domain/date filtering and relevance scoring
• Content Extraction — Extract clean markdown from any URL
• Website Crawling — Crawl sites with depth/breadth control and path filtering
• URL Discovery — Map all URLs on a site without content extraction
• Deep Research — AI-powered research with citations and structured output
• Self-Update — Check for and install CLI updates through the original package manager

Installation

Requires Python 3.10+.

Guided installer

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tavily-ai/tavily-cli/main/install.sh | sh

On a fresh interactive desktop installation, the installer starts tvly init to guide authentication, agent detection, skill installation, and verification. In CI, SSH/headless, and other non-interactive environments, run tvly init separately after installation.

Package manager

pip install tavily-cli

From source

git clone https://github.com/tavily-ai/tavily-cli.git
cd tavily-cli
pip install -e .

Updating

# Check without changing the installation
tvly update --check

# Update through uv, pipx, or pip
tvly update

Source and direct-URL installations are detected and must be updated from their original source.

Quick Start

Keyless mode

tvly search and tvly extract work without an API key — try them right after installing. A fair-use rate-limit cap applies; when reached, the CLI prints a clear message with sign-up and continuation options. All other commands (crawl, map, research) require a key.

pip install tavily-cli
tvly search "latest AI trends"
tvly extract https://example.com

1. Authenticate

# Browser OAuth (no Node.js required)
tvly login

# Headless / SSH: print the URL instead of opening a browser
tvly login --no-browser

# Or set API key directly
tvly login --api-key tvly-YOUR_KEY

# Or use environment variable
export TAVILY_API_KEY=tvly-YOUR_KEY

# Check auth status
tvly auth

2. Interactive Mode

# Launch the interactive REPL
tvly

This opens a chat-like shell where you can run commands without the tvly prefix:

❯  search "latest AI trends"
❯  extract https://example.com
❯  help

3. Search the Web

# Basic search
tvly search "latest AI trends"

# Advanced search with filters
tvly search "quantum computing" --depth advanced --max-results 10 --time-range week

# Search specific domains
tvly search "SEC filings for Apple" --include-domains sec.gov,reuters.com

# JSON output for agents
tvly search "AI news" --json

# Set client_name for attribution
tvly search "latest AI news" --client-name x

4. Extract Content from URLs

# Extract a single URL
tvly extract https://example.com/article

# Extract multiple URLs with a focus query
tvly extract https://example.com https://other.com --query "pricing information"

# Advanced extraction for JS-heavy pages
tvly extract https://spa-app.com --extract-depth advanced

5. Crawl a Website

# Basic crawl
tvly crawl https://docs.example.com

# Deep crawl with filters
tvly crawl https://docs.example.com --max-depth 2 --limit 100 --select-paths "/api/.*,/guides/.*"

# Semantic focus
tvly crawl https://docs.example.com --instructions "Find authentication docs" --chunks-per-source 3

# Save pages as markdown files
tvly crawl https://docs.example.com --output-dir ./docs

6. Map URLs

# Discover all URLs on a site
tvly map https://example.com

# Filter by path
tvly map https://example.com --select-paths "/blog/.*" --limit 500

7. Deep Research

# Run research and wait for results
tvly research "Competitive landscape of AI code assistants"

# Use pro model for comprehensive analysis
tvly research "Electric vehicle market analysis" --model pro

# Stream results in real-time
tvly research "AI market trends" --stream

# Async: start and poll separately
tvly research "topic" --no-wait --json        # returns request_id
tvly research status <request_id> --json      # check status
tvly research poll <request_id> --json        # wait and get result

# Structured output
tvly research "AI market size" --output-schema schema.json --json

CLI Overview

tvly
├── (no command)                # Interactive REPL
├── login                       # Authenticate (OAuth or API key)
├── logout                      # Clear stored credentials
├── auth                        # Check authentication status
├── search <query>              # Web search
├── extract <urls...>           # Extract content from URLs
├── crawl <url>                 # Crawl a website
├── map <url>                   # Discover URLs (no content)
├── update                      # Check for or install CLI updates
└── research <query>            # Deep research (async)
    ├── run <query>             # Start a research task (same as above)
    ├── status <id>             # Check task status
    └── poll <id>               # Poll until completion

Non-Interactive Mode (for AI Agents & Scripts)

All commands support --json output and can be fully controlled via CLI arguments.

# Every command supports --json for structured output
tvly search "query" --json
tvly auth --json
tvly extract https://example.com --json
tvly update --check --json

# Read input from stdin with "-"
echo "What is the latest funding for Anthropic?" | tvly search - --json
echo "Research question" | tvly research - --json

# Async research: launch then poll separately
tvly research "question" --no-wait --json        # returns request_id
tvly research status <id> --json                 # check status
tvly research poll <id> --json                   # wait and get result

# Global options
tvly --version         # show version
tvly --status          # show version + auth status
tvly --status --json   # structured status

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Local setup or update error
2	Invalid input / usage error
3	Authentication error
4	API or update-check error

Command Reference

tvly search

Option	Description
--depth	ultra-fast, fast, basic (default), advanced
--max-results	Maximum results, 0-20 (default: 5)
--topic	general (default), news, finance
--time-range	day, week, month, year
--start-date	Results after date (YYYY-MM-DD)
--end-date	Results before date (YYYY-MM-DD)
--include-domains	Comma-separated domains to include
--exclude-domains	Comma-separated domains to exclude
--country	Boost results from country
--include-answer	Include AI answer (basic or advanced)
--include-raw-content	Include full page (markdown or text)
--include-images	Include image results
--chunks-per-source	Chunks per source (advanced/fast depth only)
-o / --output	Save output to file
--client-name	Set optional client_name for request attribution

tvly update

Check PyPI for the latest Tavily CLI release and update through the package manager responsible for the active installation.

tvly update --check
tvly update
tvly update --check --json

--check is read-only. Source/direct-URL installations are reported without being modified. JSON output includes can_update and blocked_reason so automation can distinguish an available release from a supported self-update.

tvly extract

Option	Description
--query	Rerank chunks by relevance
--chunks-per-source	Chunks per source (1-5, requires --query)
--extract-depth	basic (default) or advanced
--format	markdown (default) or text
--include-images	Include image URLs
--timeout	Max wait (1-60 seconds)
-o / --output	Save output to file
--client-name	Set optional client_name for request attribution

tvly crawl

Option	Description
--max-depth	Levels deep (1-5, default: 1)
--max-breadth	Links per page (default: 20)
--limit	Total pages cap (default: 50)
--instructions	Natural language guidance
--chunks-per-source	Chunks per page (1-5, requires --instructions)
--extract-depth	basic or advanced
--format	markdown or text
--select-paths	Regex patterns for paths to include
--exclude-paths	Regex patterns for paths to exclude
--select-domains	Regex for domains to include
--exclude-domains	Regex for domains to exclude
--allow-external	Include external links (default: true)
--include-images	Include images
--timeout	Max wait (10-150 seconds)
-o / --output	Save JSON to file
--output-dir	Save each page as .md file in directory
--client-name	Set optional client_name for request attribution

tvly map

Option	Description
--max-depth	Levels deep (1-5, default: 1)
--max-breadth	Links per page (default: 20)
--limit	Max URLs to discover (default: 50)
--instructions	Natural language guidance
--select-paths	Regex patterns for paths to include
--exclude-paths	Regex patterns for paths to exclude
--allow-external	Include external links
--timeout	Max wait (10-150 seconds)
-o / --output	Save output to file
--client-name	Set optional client_name for request attribution

tvly research <query> / tvly research run <query>

Option	Description
--model	mini, pro, or auto (default)
--no-wait	Return request_id immediately
--stream	Stream results in real-time
--output-schema	Path to JSON schema file
--citation-format	numbered, mla, apa, chicago
--poll-interval	Seconds between checks (default: 10)
--timeout	Max wait seconds (default: 600)
-o / --output	Save output to file
--client-name	Set optional client_name for request attribution

tvly research status

Check research task status by request ID. Supports --client-name.

tvly research poll

Poll until completion and return results. Same --poll-interval, --timeout, -o, and --client-name options as run.

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
TAVILY_API_KEY	API key (highest priority, no login needed)
TAVILY_HUMAN_ID	Optional identifier attached to every request for usage attribution

# Via env var (highest priority)
export TAVILY_HUMAN_ID=alice@example.com

# Or persist it in the config file
# (~/.tavily/config.json — set the "human_id" key)

Related

• tavily-python — Official Tavily Python SDK
• Tavily Docs — Full API documentation

License

MIT