Search macros

Search macros are URL shortcuts that expand search queries into full URLs for popular sites. Instead of manually constructing search URLs with proper encoding, use macros like @google_search or @youtube_search.

What are search macros?

Macros simplify navigation by handling URL construction and query encoding:

# Without macro (manual URL encoding)
POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{
  "userId": "agent1",
  "url": "https://www.google.com/search?q=machine%20learning%20tutorial"
}

# With macro (automatic encoding)
POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{
  "userId": "agent1",
  "macro": "@google_search",
  "query": "machine learning tutorial"
}

Both produce identical results, but macros eliminate manual encodeURIComponent() calls and URL structure knowledge.

Why macros exist

From practical experience building AI browser agents:

Avoid encoding bugs: LLMs frequently forget to encode special characters (spaces, &, #, etc.)
Site-specific URL structures: Each site has different query param names (q=, search_query=, keywords=)
API format changes: When Reddit switches from HTML to JSON, only the macro needs updating
Prompt brevity: Shorter tool calls = more context for reasoning

Macros are optional - you can always use the url parameter directly if you prefer full control.

Complete macro list

From lib/macros.js:1-16, here are all 14 supported macros:

Macro	Site	Expands to
`@google_search`	Google	`https://www.google.com/search?q=...`
`@youtube_search`	YouTube	`https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=...`
`@amazon_search`	Amazon	`https://www.amazon.com/s?k=...`
`@reddit_search`	Reddit	`https://www.reddit.com/search.json?q=...&limit=25`
`@reddit_subreddit`	Reddit	`https://www.reddit.com/r/....json?limit=25`
`@wikipedia_search`	Wikipedia	`https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=...`
`@twitter_search`	Twitter/X	`https://twitter.com/search?q=...`
`@yelp_search`	Yelp	`https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=...`
`@spotify_search`	Spotify	`https://open.spotify.com/search/...`
`@netflix_search`	Netflix	`https://www.netflix.com/search?q=...`
`@linkedin_search`	LinkedIn	`https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=...`
`@instagram_search`	Instagram	`https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/...`
`@tiktok_search`	TikTok	`https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=...`
`@twitch_search`	Twitch	`https://www.twitch.tv/search?term=...`

Usage in navigate endpoint

From server.js:872-934, the navigate endpoint accepts both url and macro:

POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{
  "userId": "agent1",
  "macro": "@youtube_search",
  "query": "python tutorial"
}

Server-side expansion:

let targetUrl = url;
if (macro) {
  targetUrl = expandMacro(macro, query) || url;
}
if (!targetUrl) throw new Error('url or macro required');

Macro takes precedence - if both macro and url are provided, macro is used and url serves as fallback.

Real expansion examples

Google search

Input:

{"macro": "@google_search", "query": "best restaurants near me"}

Expands to:

https://www.google.com/search?q=best%20restaurants%20near%20me

YouTube search

Input:

{"macro": "@youtube_search", "query": "how to bake bread"}

Expands to:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how%20to%20bake%20bread

Amazon search

Input:

{"macro": "@amazon_search", "query": "wireless headphones"}

Expands to:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=wireless%20headphones

Wikipedia search

Input:

{"macro": "@wikipedia_search", "query": "quantum computing"}

Expands to:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=quantum%20computing

LinkedIn search

Input:

{"macro": "@linkedin_search", "query": "software engineer"}

Expands to:

https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/all/?keywords=software%20engineer

Reddit JSON behavior

Reddit macros return JSON instead of HTML, enabling direct parsing without snapshot/scraping.

@reddit_search

From lib/macros.js:5:

'@reddit_search': (query) => `https://www.reddit.com/search.json?q=${encodeURIComponent(query || '')}&limit=25`

Example:

POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{"userId": "agent1", "macro": "@reddit_search", "query": "best programming languages"}

GET /tabs/:tabId/snapshot?userId=agent1

Returns raw JSON response:

{
  "kind": "Listing",
  "data": {
    "children": [
      {
        "kind": "t3",
        "data": {
          "title": "What's the best programming language to learn in 2024?",
          "selftext": "I'm a beginner and...",
          "url": "https://reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/abc123",
          "score": 456,
          "num_comments": 89
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

@reddit_subreddit

From lib/macros.js:6:

'@reddit_subreddit': (query) => `https://www.reddit.com/r/${encodeURIComponent(query || 'all')}.json?limit=25`

Fetch hot posts from a subreddit:

POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{"userId": "agent1", "macro": "@reddit_subreddit", "query": "programming"}

Expands to:

https://www.reddit.com/r/programming.json?limit=25

Returns JSON listing of top 25 posts in r/programming.

Use page.evaluate() to extract specific fields from the JSON instead of parsing the entire snapshot.

Implementation details

Macro expansion function

From lib/macros.js:18-21:

function expandMacro(macro, query) {
  const macroFn = MACROS[macro];
  return macroFn ? macroFn(query) : null;
}

Returns null if macro doesn’t exist (triggers fallback to url parameter)
Query defaults to empty string if undefined
Uses native encodeURIComponent() for safety

Available macros lookup

From lib/macros.js:23-25:

function getSupportedMacros() {
  return Object.keys(MACROS);
}

For programmatic discovery:

const { getSupportedMacros } = require('./lib/macros');
console.log(getSupportedMacros());
// ['@google_search', '@youtube_search', ...]

Special characters handling

Macros automatically handle special characters:

Spaces

# Query with spaces
{"macro": "@google_search", "query": "new york weather"}
# Expands to: ?q=new%20york%20weather

Ampersands

# Query with &
{"macro": "@amazon_search", "query": "pots & pans"}
# Expands to: ?k=pots%20%26%20pans

Unicode

# Query with emoji
{"macro": "@twitter_search", "query": "🔥 trending"}
# Expands to: ?q=%F0%9F%94%A5%20trending

Quotes

# Query with quotes
{"macro": "@google_search", "query": '"exact phrase search"'}
# Expands to: ?q=%22exact%20phrase%20search%22

Error handling

Unknown macro

If macro doesn’t exist:

POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{
  "userId": "agent1",
  "macro": "@nonexistent",
  "query": "test",
  "url": "https://google.com"  # Fallback
}

Behavior: Falls back to url parameter. If no url provided, returns error: “url or macro required”.

Empty query

From lib/macros.js:2:

'@google_search': (query) => `https://www.google.com/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(query || '')}`

Empty queries are allowed:

{"macro": "@google_search", "query": ""}
# Expands to: https://www.google.com/search?q=

This navigates to the search homepage.

Workflow examples

Multi-site research

# 1. Google search
POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{"userId": "researcher", "macro": "@google_search", "query": "climate change effects"}

GET /tabs/:tabId/snapshot?userId=researcher
# Parse top result link (e.g., e5)

POST /tabs/:tabId/click
{"userId": "researcher", "ref": "e5"}

# 2. YouTube search
POST /tabs/:tabId2/navigate
{"userId": "researcher", "macro": "@youtube_search", "query": "climate change documentary"}

GET /tabs/:tabId2/snapshot?userId=researcher
# Get video thumbnails and titles

# 3. Reddit discussion
POST /tabs/:tabId3/navigate
{"userId": "researcher", "macro": "@reddit_search", "query": "climate change"}

GET /tabs/:tabId3/snapshot?userId=researcher
# Parse JSON directly - no need for element refs

E-commerce price comparison

# Search Amazon
POST /tabs/:tabId1/navigate
{"userId": "shopper", "macro": "@amazon_search", "query": "coffee maker"}

GET /tabs/:tabId1/snapshot?userId=shopper
# Extract prices from snapshot

# Search alternative site (no macro - use URL)
POST /tabs/:tabId2/navigate
{"userId": "shopper", "url": "https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=coffee+maker"}

GET /tabs/:tabId2/snapshot?userId=shopper
# Compare prices

# Twitter trending
POST /tabs/:tabId1/navigate
{"userId": "monitor", "macro": "@twitter_search", "query": "#AI"}

# Instagram hashtag
POST /tabs/:tabId2/navigate
{"userId": "monitor", "macro": "@instagram_search", "query": "AI"}

# TikTok search
POST /tabs/:tabId3/navigate
{"userId": "monitor", "macro": "@tiktok_search", "query": "AI tutorial"}

Adding custom macros

Custom macros require modifying lib/macros.js - there’s no runtime registration API.

To add a new macro:

Edit lib/macros.js:

const MACROS = {
  // ... existing macros ...
  '@custom_search': (query) => `https://example.com/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(query || '')}`,
};

Restart server:

npm start

Use new macro:

POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{"userId": "agent1", "macro": "@custom_search", "query": "test"}

Performance notes

Macro expansion cost

Macro expansion is synchronous and lightweight:

const targetUrl = expandMacro(macro, query);  // ~0.1ms

No measurable performance impact compared to direct URL usage.

Reddit JSON performance

JSON responses are typically faster than HTML:

Smaller payload (25 posts ≈ 50KB JSON vs 500KB+ HTML)
No need to wait for page hydration
Direct parsing without accessibility tree traversal

For Reddit data extraction, always use @reddit_search or @reddit_subreddit macros to get JSON directly.

Debugging

See expanded URL

Check server logs for expanded URL:

npm start

# In another terminal
POST /tabs/:tabId/navigate
{"userId": "test", "macro": "@google_search", "query": "test"}

# Server logs:
# {"level":"info","msg":"navigated","tabId":"...","url":"https://www.google.com/search?q=test"}

List all macros

From AGENTS.md:87-100:

| Macro | Site |
|-------|------|
| `@google_search` | Google |
| `@youtube_search` | YouTube |
...

Or programmatically:

const { getSupportedMacros } = require('./lib/macros');
console.log(getSupportedMacros());

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Advanced

What are search macros?

Why macros exist

Complete macro list

Usage in navigate endpoint

Real expansion examples

Google search

YouTube search

Amazon search

Wikipedia search

LinkedIn search

Reddit JSON behavior

@reddit_search

@reddit_subreddit

Implementation details

Macro expansion function

Available macros lookup

Special characters handling

Spaces

Ampersands

Unicode

Quotes

Error handling

Unknown macro

Empty query

Workflow examples

Multi-site research

E-commerce price comparison

Adding custom macros

Performance notes

Macro expansion cost

Reddit JSON performance

Debugging

See expanded URL

List all macros

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Advanced

​What are search macros?

​Why macros exist

​Complete macro list

​Usage in navigate endpoint

​Real expansion examples

​Google search

​YouTube search

​Amazon search

​Wikipedia search

​LinkedIn search

​Reddit JSON behavior

​@reddit_search

​@reddit_subreddit

​Implementation details

​Macro expansion function

​Available macros lookup

​Special characters handling

​Spaces

​Ampersands

​Unicode

​Quotes

​Error handling

​Unknown macro

​Empty query

​Workflow examples

​Multi-site research

​E-commerce price comparison

​Social media monitoring

​Adding custom macros

​Performance notes

​Macro expansion cost

​Reddit JSON performance

​Debugging

​See expanded URL

​List all macros

What are search macros?

Why macros exist

Complete macro list

Usage in navigate endpoint

Real expansion examples

Google search

YouTube search

Amazon search

Wikipedia search

LinkedIn search

Reddit JSON behavior

@reddit_search

@reddit_subreddit

Implementation details

Macro expansion function

Available macros lookup

Special characters handling

Spaces

Ampersands

Unicode

Quotes

Error handling

Unknown macro

Empty query

Workflow examples

Multi-site research

E-commerce price comparison

Social media monitoring

Adding custom macros

Performance notes

Macro expansion cost

Reddit JSON performance

Debugging

See expanded URL

List all macros