opencode-scout

Web search and git clone for opencode agents.

Scout fills two gaps in opencode's tool set: finding things on the web and pulling down external repositories. It adds two tools (web_search and clone_repo) that plug into the existing workflow alongside webfetch, read, grep, and glob.

Tools at a Glance

web_search searches the web via Exa, TinyFish, or Gemini and returns answers with source citations. Use it when you need to find a page, not fetch one you already know about.

web_search("how to configure Vite for library mode")
→ Synthesized answer with source URLs
→ Sources tagged [cloneable] when they point to GitHub/GitLab repos

clone_repo clones any git repository to a local cache and returns the file tree, README, and a path you can explore with read/grep/glob. Accepts SSH URLs, HTTPS URLs, browser links with file paths, and Sourcegraph paths.

clone_repo("https://github.com/openai/tiktoken/blob/main/src/lib.rs")
→ Clones the repo, returns the content of src/lib.rs + parent directory tree
→ Cached — repeated calls skip the clone

Where Scout Fits

OpenCode already has strong tools for fetching known URLs and exploring local files. Scout adds web search and external repo cloning.

| Capability | OpenCode built-in | Scout adds | |---|---|---| | Fetch a known URL | webfetch | — | | Search the web | — | web_search | | Read local files | read, grep, glob | — | | Clone external repos | — | clone_repo | | Browse interactive pages | Chrome DevTools MCP | — | | Search internal code | lucerna/Sourcegraph | — |

The tools chain together:

1. web_search finds relevant pages or repos
2. webfetch reads specific pages from those results (or use includeContent: true with Exa to get full content in one call)
3. clone_repo pulls down repos from those results
4. read/grep/glob explore the cloned code locally

Install

Add "opencode-scout" to the plugin array in your opencode.jsonc:

{
  "plugin": [
    "opencode-scout"
  ]
}

Restart opencode. The plugin auto-installs from npm.

Configure

Scout reads configuration from three sources, in order of precedence:

1. Environment variables — for secrets (API keys). Highest priority.
2. opencode.jsonc plugin options — for per-project settings.
3. ~/.config/opencode/web-access.json — for machine-wide defaults.

All sources are optional. Settings merge: a value from a higher-priority source overrides the same key from a lower-priority one.

opencode.jsonc (recommended)

Add options as the second element of the plugin tuple:

{
  "plugin": [
    ["opencode-scout", {
      "provider": "auto",
      "gemini": { "model": "gemini-2.5-flash" },
      "clone": { "timeoutSeconds": 60 }
    }]
  ]
}

Note: API keys should be set via environment variables, not in opencode.jsonc — the config file may be committed to git.

Environment variables

export EXA_API_KEY="your-exa-api-key"
export TINYFISH_API_KEY="your-tinyfish-api-key"
export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-gemini-api-key"

Config file (machine-wide fallback)

~/.config/opencode/web-access.json:

{
  "exaApiKey": "your-exa-api-key",
  "tinyFishApiKey": "your-tinyfish-api-key",
  "geminiApiKey": "your-gemini-api-key",
  "provider": "auto",
  "gemini": {
    "model": "gemini-2.5-flash"
  },
  "clone": {
    "cachePath": "/Users/you/.cache/opencode/repos",
    "timeoutSeconds": 60
  }
}

All fields are optional.

What works without configuration

• No API keys at all: clone_repo works. web_search returns an error telling you which keys to set.
• Exa key only: web_search uses Exa. Full page content via includeContent is available.
• TinyFish key only: web_search uses TinyFish. Returns snippets only (no full content). Search is free.
• Gemini key only: web_search uses Gemini with grounded search. No includeContent support (use webfetch on source URLs instead).
• Multiple keys: web_search in auto mode tries Exa → TinyFish → Gemini, falling back on failure.

Tools

web_search

Search the web using Exa, TinyFish, or Gemini. Returns answers with source citations.

Parameters:

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|---|---| | query | string | yes | Search query | | provider | "auto" | "exa" | "tinyfish" | "gemini" | no | Search provider. Default: auto (tries Exa → TinyFish → Gemini) | | numResults | number | no | Max results. Default: 5. Exa only. | | includeContent | boolean | no | Fetch full page content from sources. Exa only. For Gemini results, use webfetch on source URLs. |

Examples:

// Basic search
web_search({ query: "Cloudflare Workers websocket hibernation" })

// Get full page content in one call (no follow-up webfetch needed)
web_search({ query: "deno kv documentation", includeContent: true })

// Force a specific provider
web_search({ query: "rust async runtime comparison", provider: "gemini" })

Provider fallback. In auto mode, Scout tries Exa first, then TinyFish, then Gemini. If a provider fails (network error, rate limit), the next one in the chain is tried. If all fail, the error message lists what was tried.

Cloneable sources. Search results from GitHub or GitLab URLs are tagged [cloneable], signaling that clone_repo can pull them down.

clone_repo

Clone a git repository and return its local path, file tree, and README.

Parameters:

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |---|---|---|---| | url | string | yes | Git repository URL, browser link, or Sourcegraph path | | branch | string | no | Branch to clone. Default: default branch | | path | string | no | Subdirectory or file to focus on after cloning | | forceReclone | boolean | no | Force re-clone even if cached |

Supported URL formats:

| Format | Example | |---|---| | HTTPS URL | https://github.com/owner/repo | | SSH URL | [email protected]:owner/repo.git | | GitHub file URL | https://github.com/owner/repo/blob/main/src/index.ts | | GitHub tree URL | https://github.com/owner/repo/tree/main/src | | GitLab file URL | https://gitlab.example.com/org/repo/-/blob/main/file.ts | | GitLab nested groups | https://gitlab.example.com/org/group/subgroup/repo | | Sourcegraph path | gitlab.example.com/org/repo | | Sourcegraph file path | gitlab.example.com/org/repo/-/blob/main/file.ts |

When the URL points to a specific file, the response returns that file's content plus the parent directory tree. When it points to a directory, the response scopes the tree listing to that directory.

Examples:

// Clone a repo
clone_repo({ url: "https://github.com/openai/tiktoken" })

// Clone and focus on a specific file (extracted from the URL)
clone_repo({ url: "https://github.com/openai/tiktoken/blob/main/src/lib.rs" })

// Clone a GitLab repo with nested groups
clone_repo({ url: "https://gitlab.example.com/myorg/group/project" })

// Clone from a Sourcegraph path
clone_repo({ url: "gitlab.example.com/myorg/group/project" })

// Force fresh clone
clone_repo({ url: "https://github.com/owner/repo", forceReclone: true })

Cache behavior. Repos are cached by a hash of the clone URL at ~/.cache/opencode/repos/. Repeated calls for the same URL reuse the existing clone. Use forceReclone: true to force a fresh clone.

Clone settings. Clones are shallow (--depth 1 --single-branch) to minimize disk and time. The default timeout is 60 seconds. Both are configurable.

Self-hosted GitLab. For GitLab instances (any gitlab.* hostname), the URL normalizer automatically converts HTTPS URLs to SSH format. Your local SSH key configuration handles authentication.

Providers

Exa

Exa returns raw search results with titles, URLs, and text snippets. With includeContent: true, it fetches full page content (up to 10,000 characters per result) in the same API call. No follow-up webfetch needed.

• Requires an API key from exa.ai
• Pay-per-search pricing
• Best for: finding specific pages, getting full content in one call, structured results you want to process further

TinyFish

TinyFish returns raw search results with titles, URLs, and short snippets (~140-160 characters). Search queries are free — no credits consumed. Supports site: and -site: operators in the query string for domain-scoped searches.

• Requires an API key from TinyFish
• Free search (no per-query cost)
• Returns 10 results per page, snippets only (no full page content)
• numResults and includeContent are not supported. Use webfetch on source URLs to get full page content.
• Best for: free-tier usage, quick searches when you just need URLs and snippets, domain-scoped searches with site: operator

Gemini

Gemini returns a synthesized answer with inline citation markers ([1][2]) and a Sources list with resolved URLs. It uses Google's grounding API, so results are backed by web search but presented as a coherent narrative.

• Requires a Gemini API key from Google AI Studio
• Free tier available (with rate limits)
• Default model: gemini-2.5-flash (configurable)
• numResults and includeContent are not supported. Use webfetch on source URLs to get full page content.
• Best for: questions that benefit from synthesized answers, when you want a direct answer rather than a list of pages

System Prompt

Scout injects a one-line status indicator into the system prompt:

## Scout: web_search (Exa ✓ TinyFish ✓ Gemini ✓) | clone_repo ✓

This tells the agent which providers are configured and available. If no API keys are set, it shows web_search (no providers configured).