GreedySearch for Pi

Multi-engine AI web search for Pi via browser automation.

• No API keys
• Real browser results from configurable engines: Perplexity, Google AI, ChatGPT, Gemini, plus opt-in Semantic Scholar and Logically research engines
• Research mode as the centerpiece: iterative planning, source fetching, citation audit, and structured bundles
• Optional configurable synthesis with source grounding (Gemini by default)
• Chrome runs headless by default — no window, purely background

Install

pi install npm:@apmantza/greedysearch-pi

Or from git:

pi install git:github.com/apmantza/GreedySearch-pi

Tool

• greedy_search — multi-engine AI web search, source-grounded synthesis, and deep research

Quick usage

greedy_search({ query: "React 19 changes" }); // all engines + fetched sources
greedy_search({ query: "React 19 changes", synthesize: true }); // add configured synthesis
greedy_search({ query: "Prisma vs Drizzle", engine: "perplexity" }); // individual engine
greedy_search({
  query: "Evaluate browser automation options for AI agents",
  depth: "research",
  breadth: 3,
  iterations: 2,
  maxSources: 8,
});
// Research mode writes a dataroom-style bundle under .pi/greedysearch-research/ by default.
// Headless is the default — no window. To force visible Chrome:
greedy_search({ query: "Visible browser setup", engine: "perplexity", visible: true });

Parameters (greedy_search)

Common

• query (required)
• fullAnswer: return full single-engine output instead of preview
• headless: set to false to show Chrome window (default: true)
• visible / alwaysVisible: set to true to always use visible Chrome for this search

Normal search

• engine: all (default web/search fan-out), perplexity, google, chatgpt, gemini; opt-in research engines: semantic-scholar, logically; bing still works for signed-in users
• synthesize: for engine: "all", synthesize fetched sources with the configured synthesizer (default false)
• synthesizer: override the configured synthesis engine for this call (gemini default, chatgpt supported)
• depth: legacy fast/standard/deep aliases are still accepted for compatibility; prefer synthesize for normal search

Deep research

• depth: set to "research" to run the iterative research workflow
• breadth: number of research actions per round, 1-5 (default 3)
• iterations: research rounds, 1-3 (default 2)
• maxSources: fetched source cap for the final report, 3-12
• researchOutDir: optional directory for the research bundle
• writeResearchBundle: write the research bundle to disk (default true for research mode)

Deep research uses the configured ~/.pi/greedyconfig.engines list for child searches and Gemini for planning/final synthesis.

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Description
GREEDY_SEARCH_VISIBLE	(unset)	Set to 1 to show Chrome window instead of headless
GREEDY_SEARCH_ALWAYS_VISIBLE	(unset)	Set to 1 to force visible Chrome for all GreedySearch runs
GREEDY_SEARCH_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MINUTES	5	Minutes of inactivity before auto-killing GreedySearch Chrome
GREEDY_SEARCH_LOCALE	en	Default result language (en, de, fr, es, ja, etc.)
CHROME_PATH	auto-detected	Path to Chrome/Chromium executable

Search modes

• Individual engine search/research — engine: "perplexity" | "google" | "chatgpt" | "gemini" | "semantic-scholar" | "logically" | "bing"; returns that engine's answer and sources.
• Grounded multi-engine search — default engine: "all"; fans out to configured engines, ranks sources, fetches top source content, and reports confidence metadata.
• All + synthesis — add synthesize: true (or CLI --synthesize) to ask the configured synthesizer to combine engine answers and fetched source evidence.
• Deep research — depth: "research"; iterative action planning, direct URL fetches, fast multi-engine searches, source fetching, learning extraction, deterministic floor checks, citation audit, a final cited report, and a structured on-disk bundle.

Legacy depth: "fast" | "standard" | "deep" values remain accepted for compatibility: fast skips source fetching; standard/deep request synthesis.

Configure all-engine fan-out and synthesis in ~/.pi/greedyconfig:

{
  "engines": ["perplexity", "google", "chatgpt", "gemini", "semantic-scholar", "logically"],
  "synthesizer": "gemini"
}

Gemini is a normal search engine and can participate in engine: "all". Semantic Scholar and Logically are opt-in research engines; include them in ~/.pi/greedyconfig only when you want the all-engine fan-out to include academic paper discovery or research-assistant workflows. Deep research child searches reuse the same configured engines list and keep query text on stdin; Gemini remains the research planner/final-report synthesizer. If synthesize: true and "synthesizer": "gemini", Gemini runs once as a search engine and again as the synthesizer; set "synthesizer": "chatgpt" to separate those roles for normal all-search synthesis.

Research bundles are written by default to .pi/greedysearch-research/<timestamp>_<query>/ and include:

STATUS.md              # floor status, open/closed question ledger, and gaps
OUTLINE.md             # bundle table of contents
reports/SUMMARY.md     # final cited report
reports/CLAIMS.md      # extracted claims mapped to source IDs
reports/EVIDENCE.md    # goal-based evidence extracted from fetched sources
reports/GAPS.md        # caveats and remaining uncertainties
sources/               # fetched source markdown files
data/manifest.json     # run metadata, stop reason, floor checks, citation audit
data/rounds.json       # per-round actions/learnings/gaps
data/sources.json      # ranked source registry
data/questions.json    # STATUS-style question ledger with evidence/source IDs
data/evidence.json     # structured rational/evidence/summary per useful source

CLI controls:

node bin/search.mjs all --inline --stdin --depth research --breadth 3 --iterations 2 --max-sources 8 <<'EOF'
Evaluate browser automation options for AI agents
EOF
node bin/search.mjs all "topic" --depth research --research-out-dir ./research-topic
node bin/search.mjs all "topic" --depth research --no-research-bundle

Runtime commands

Inside Pi, prefer the extension commands (no package path needed):

/greedy-visible      # launch visible Chrome for captcha/login/cookie setup
/greedy-status       # show GreedySearch Chrome status
/greedy-kill         # stop GreedySearch Chrome
/set-greedy-locale   # set default result language (de, fr, es, ja, etc.)

Git install path:

GS=~/.pi/agent/git/github.com/apmantza/GreedySearch-pi
node "$GS/bin/launch.mjs" --status
node "$GS/bin/visible.mjs"          # visible mode
node "$GS/bin/visible.mjs" --kill   # strong visible/port cleanup
node "$GS/bin/kill-visible.mjs"     # same as visible.mjs --kill
node "$GS/bin/cdp-visible.mjs" list # safe CDP: GreedySearch visible Chrome only
node "$GS/bin/cdp-headless.mjs" list # safe CDP: GreedySearch headless Chrome only
node "$GS/bin/cdp-greedy.mjs" list  # safe CDP: any GreedySearch Chrome mode

npm global install path:

GS="$(npm root -g)/@apmantza/greedysearch-pi"
node "$GS/bin/launch.mjs" --status
node "$GS/bin/visible.mjs"
node "$GS/bin/visible.mjs" --kill
node "$GS/bin/kill-visible.mjs"
node "$GS/bin/cdp-visible.mjs" list
node "$GS/bin/cdp-headless.mjs" list
node "$GS/bin/cdp-greedy.mjs" list

Chrome is auto-cleaned after 5 min idle. Override with GREEDY_SEARCH_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MINUTES=10 or disable with 0.

CDP safety: use cdp-visible.mjs, cdp-headless.mjs, or cdp-greedy.mjs for debugging. They always set CDP_PROFILE_DIR to the dedicated GreedySearch Chrome profile and never fall back to your main Chrome session. Avoid calling raw bin/cdp.mjs manually unless you explicitly set CDP_PROFILE_DIR.

Requirements

• Chrome
• Node.js 20.11.0+

Source fetching

When using engine: "all", top source content is fetched by default. Add synthesize: true to synthesize with the configured synthesizer:

• PDFs — Direct PDF links are parsed to markdown text for source-grounded synthesis
• Semantic Scholar — Discovers academic papers and prefers direct PDF/external paper links when available
• Reddit — Uses Reddit's public .json API for posts and comments
• GitHub — Uses GitHub REST API for repos, READMEs, and file trees
• General web — Mozilla Readability extraction with browser fallback when needed
• Metadata — title, author/byline, site name, publish date, language, excerpt

Project layout

• bin/ — runtime CLIs (search.mjs, launch.mjs, launch-visible.mjs, visible.mjs, kill-visible.mjs, safe CDP wrappers, cdp.mjs)
• extractors/ — engine-specific automation + stealth/consent handling
• src/ — search pipeline, chrome management, source fetching, formatting
• skills/ — Pi skill metadata

Testing

Cross-platform test runner (Windows + Unix):

npm test              # run all tests
npm run test:quick    # skip slow tests
npm run test:smoke    # basic health check

Full bash test suite (Unix only):

npm run test:bash           # comprehensive tests
./test.sh parallel          # race condition tests
./test.sh flags             # flag/option tests

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md.

License

MIT