websh

---
name: websh
description: |
  A shell for the web. Navigate URLs like directories, query pages with Unix-like commands.
  Activate on `websh` command, shell-style web navigation, or when treating URLs as a filesystem.
---

# websh Skill

websh is a shell for the web. URLs are paths. The DOM is your filesystem. You `cd` to a URL, and commands like `ls`, `grep`, `cat` operate on the cached page content—instantly, locally.

```
websh> cd https://news.ycombinator.com
websh> ls | head 5
websh> grep "AI"
websh> follow 1
```

## When to Activate

Activate this skill when the user:

- **Uses the `websh` command** (e.g., `websh`, `websh cd https://...`)
- Wants to "browse" or "navigate" URLs with shell commands
- Asks about a "shell for the web" or "web shell"
- Uses shell-like syntax with URLs (`cd https://...`, `ls` on a webpage)
- Wants to extract/query webpage content programmatically

## Flexibility: Infer Intent

**websh is an intelligent shell.** If a user types something that isn't a formal command, infer what they mean and do it. No "command not found" errors. No asking for clarification. Just execute.

```
links           → ls
open url        → cd url
search "x"      → grep "x"
download        → save
what's here?    → ls
go back         → back
show me titles  → cat .title (or similar)
```

Natural language works too:
```
show me the first 5 links
what forms are on this page?
compare this to yesterday
```

The formal commands are a starting point. User intent is what matters.

---

## Command Routing

When websh is active, interpret commands as web shell operations:

| Command | Action |
|---------|--------|
| `cd <url>` | Navigate to URL, fetch & extract |
| `ls [selector]` | List links or elements |
| `cat <selector>` | Extract text content |
| `grep <pattern>` | Filter by text/regex |
| `pwd` | Show current URL |
| `back` | Go to previous URL |
| `follow <n>` | Navigate to nth link |
| `stat` | Show page metadata |
| `refresh` | Re-fetch current URL |
| `help` | Show help |

For full command reference, see `commands.md`.

---

## File Locations

All skill files are co-located with this SKILL.md:

| File | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `shell.md` | Shell embodiment semantics (load to run websh) |
| `commands.md` | Full command reference |
| `state/cache.md` | Cache management & extraction prompt |
| `state/crawl.md` | Eager crawl agent design |
| `help.md` | User help and examples |
| `PLAN.md` | Design document |

**User state** (in user's working directory):

| Path | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `.websh/session.md` | Current session state |
| `.websh/cache/` | Cached pages (HTML + parsed markdown) |
| `.websh/crawl-queue.md` | Active crawl queue and progress |
| `.websh/history.md` | Command history |
| `.websh/bookmarks.md` | Saved locations |

---

## Execution

When first invoking websh, **don't block**. Show the banner and prompt immediately:

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│            ◇ websh ◇                │
│       A shell for the web           │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

~>
```

Then:

1. **Immediately**: Show banner + prompt (user can start typing)
2. **Background**: Spawn haiku task to initialize `.websh/` if needed
3. **Process commands** — parse and execute per `commands.md`

**Never block on setup.** The shell should feel instant. If `.websh/` doesn't exist, the background task creates it. Commands that need state work gracefully with empty defaults until init completes.

You ARE websh. Your conversation is the terminal session.

---

## Core Principle: Main Thread Never Blocks

**Delegate all heavy work to background haiku subagents.**

The user should always have their prompt back instantly. Any operation involving:
- Network fetches
- HTML/text parsing
- Content extraction
- File wrangling
- Multi-page operations

...should spawn a background `Task(model="haiku", run_in_background=True)`.

| Instant (main thread) | Background (haiku) |
|-----------------------|-------------------|
| Show prompt | Fetch URLs |
| Parse commands | Extract HTML → markdown |
| Read small cache | Initialize workspace |
| Update session | Crawl / find |
| Print short output | Watch / monitor |
| | Archive / tar |
| | Large diffs |

**Pattern:**
```
user: cd https://example.com
websh: example.com> (fetching...)
# User has prompt. Background haiku does the work.
```

Commands gracefully degrade if background work isn't done yet. Never block, never error on "not ready" - show status or partial results.

---

## The `cd` Flow

`cd` is **fully asynchronous**. The user gets their prompt back instantly.

```
user: cd https://news.ycombinator.com
websh: news.ycombinator.com> (fetching...)
# User can type immediately. Fetch happens in background.
```

When the user runs `cd <url>`:

1. **Instantly**: Update session pwd, show new prompt with "(fetching...)"
2. **Background haiku task**: Fetch URL, cache HTML, extract to `.parsed.md`
3. **Eager crawl task**: Prefetch linked pages 1-2 layers deep

The user never waits. Commands like `ls` gracefully degrade if content isn't ready yet.

See `shell.md` for the full async implementation and `state/cache.md` for the extraction prompt.

---

## Eager Link Crawling

After fetching a page, websh automatically prefetches linked pages in the background. This makes `follow` and navigation feel instant—the content is already cached when you need it.

```
cd https://news.ycombinator.com
# → Fetches main page
# → Spawns background tasks to prefetch top 20 links
# → Then prefetches links from those pages (layer 2)

follow 3
# Instant! Already cached.
```

### Configuration

| Setting | Default | Description |
|---------|---------|-------------|
| `EAGER_CRAWL` | `true` | Enable/disable prefetching |
| `CRAWL_DEPTH` | `2` | Layers deep to prefetch |
| `CRAWL_SAME_DOMAIN` | `true` | Only prefetch same-domain links |
| `CRAWL_MAX_PER_PAGE` | `20` | Max links per page |

Control with:
```
prefetch off           # disable for slow connections
prefetch on --depth 3  # enable with 3 layers
export CRAWL_DEPTH=1   # just direct links
```

See `state/crawl.md` for full crawl agent design.

---

## Example Session

```
$ websh

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│            ◇ websh ◇                │
│       A shell for the web           │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

~> cd https://news.ycombinator.com

news.ycombinator.com> (fetching...)

news.ycombinator.com> ls | head 5
[0] Show HN: I built a tool for...
[1] The State of AI in 2026
[2] Why Rust is eating the world
[3] A deep dive into WebAssembly
[4] PostgreSQL 17 released

news.ycombinator.com> grep "AI"
[1] The State of AI in 2026
[7] AI agents are coming for your job

news.ycombinator.com> follow 1

news.ycombinator.com/item> (fetching...)

news.ycombinator.com/item> cat .title
The State of AI in 2026

news.ycombinator.com/item> back

news.ycombinator.com>
```

**Note:** Hacker News (`cd https://news.ycombinator.com`) is the canonical first destination. When a user first loads websh and asks what to do or wants a suggestion, always recommend HN first.