About web-fetcher
A web-fetching skill that converts URLs into clean Markdown. It routes supported platforms through OpenCLI and uses a prioritized chain of markdown services for other pages.
Key features
- 01Fetch URLs as Markdown
- 02OpenCLI for known platforms
- 03Browser login state for supported sites
- 04Fallback chain for generic pages
- 05Platform discovery through OpenCLI
Use cases
- 01Reading a supported social post using browser login
- 02Converting a blog or documentation page to Markdown
- 03Trying alternate fetch methods after a short or failed result
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
npx skills add https:/After installing, type/web-fetcherin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Bundled files
References and scripts installed along with SKILL.md.
.gitignoreLICENSEREADME.mdREADME.zh-CN.mdevals/trigger_eval.jsonDetails
From the project READMEWeb Fetcher
Fetch any URL as clean markdown. Two paths: known platforms go through OpenCLI (uses browser login state), everything else falls back through a chain of free markdown services.
Strategy Overview
- Known platforms (Twitter/X, zhihu, reddit, weibo, xiaohongshu, bilibili, etc.) → OpenCLI first. It uses the user's browser login state, is deterministic, and costs zero LLM tokens.
- Generic URLs (blogs, docs, articles) → Jina Reader > defuddle.md > markdown.new > WebFetch.
These are soft priorities — skip obviously wrong strategies (e.g., don't try OpenCLI for a random blog post, don't try Jina for a login-walled zhihu page).
Known Platform → OpenCLI Commands
| URL Pattern | Command | Notes |
|---|---|---|
x.com/.../status/<id> | opencli twitter thread <id> | Tweet threads. If the result is just a t.co link (very short text), the tweet likely links to an X Article — retry with opencli twitter article <same-id> |
x.com/.../article/<id> or x.com/i/article/<id> | opencli twitter article <id> | X Article long-form |
zhihu.com/question/<id> | opencli zhihu question <id> | |
zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/<id> | opencli zhihu download <full-url> | |
reddit.com/r/.../comments/... | opencli reddit read <full-url> | |
weibo.com/... | opencli weibo search <query> | |
xiaohongshu.com/... | opencli xiaohongshu download <id> | |
bilibili.com/video/BV... | opencli bilibili download <bvid> |
Dynamic Discovery
The table above covers high-frequency platforms. OpenCLI supports 80+ platforms. For anything not listed:
# See all supported platforms
opencli --help
# See subcommands for a specific platform
opencli <platform> --help
Generic Fallback Tools
For URLs that don't match a known platform, try these in order:
| Tool | How to Use | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jina Reader | curl -s -H "Accept: text/markdown" "https://r.jina.ai/<url>" | Best markdown quality, JS support | 20 req/min free limit |
| defuddle.md | curl -s "https://defuddle.md/<url>" | Good quality, by Obsidian creator | Undocumented limits |
| markdown.new | curl -s "https://markdown.new/<url>" | Browser rendering fallback | 500 req/day |
| WebFetch | Built-in tool, no curl needed | No setup needed | No JS rendering, poor on complex pages |
Decision Guide
- Known platform with login → OpenCLI first
- Static article/blog → Jina Reader first
- If a tool returns too-short content (<500 chars) → likely an error page, try next tool in chain
- If Jina fails or is rate-limited → defuddle → markdown.new → WebFetch
- If OpenCLI fails → fall back to the generic chain above
OpenCLI Setup
If opencli is not installed:
npm i -g @jackwener/opencli- Download browser extension from https://github.com/jackwener/opencli/releases
- Chrome →
chrome://extensions→ Developer mode → Load unpacked → select unzipped folder opencli doctorto verify
One-time setup. After installation, known platform URLs automatically use browser login state.
Limitations
- WeChat articles partially supported via
opencli weixin; proxy may be needed for some URLs behind GFW - OpenCLI requires browser extension setup (one-time)
- Jina Reader free tier: 20 req/min
- markdown.new: 500 req/day/IP