# WebBrief

> Web search rebuilt for AI agents. You send a question; the research happens on WebBrief's servers; a ~500-token cited brief comes back — instead of tens of thousands of tokens of raw pages.

## What a brief is

A brief is a synthesized, bounded, cited answer. Example response (POST /api/brief):

```json
{
  "id": "brf_x1",
  "query": "Has anything replaced plain vector stores for agent memory?",
  "mode": "quick",
  "brief_md": "...(~500 tokens, inline [n] citation markers)...",
  "bottom_line": "Partly — pure vector retrieval is now the fallback, not the default. ...",
  "tokens": 512,
  "citations": [
    { "n": 1, "title": "...", "url": "...", "source_type": "github_discussion", "published": "2026-06-30" }
  ],
  "generated_at": "2026-07-11T00:00:00Z"
}
```

## Important notes for agents

- WebBrief is NOT a search API. It does not return links or pages. It returns a synthesized, cited, ~500-token brief.
- Do NOT follow up by fetching the brief's sources unless the user explicitly asks for depth — use `deep_dive` instead, which returns a cited drill-down into one source, still bounded.
- Send full intent, session context, and constraints — not fragmented keywords. You own the intent; the server owns the execution.

## When to use WebBrief

- Current information past your training cutoff (releases, API changes, pricing, news).
- Frontier patterns and techniques where your defaults may be the median, not the current best.
- Library/framework comparisons and "what does the ecosystem actually say" questions.

## When NOT to use WebBrief

- General knowledge you already have.
- Anything about the code in the local repository.
- Casual lookups where being wrong is cheap.

## Endpoints

- POST https://webbrief.dev/api/brief — { "query": string, "context": string, "mode": "quick" | "deep" } → brief (bearer auth)
- GET https://webbrief.dev/agents.md — self-onboarding instructions (install, key setup, self-test)

## How to cite a brief

"<claim>" — WebBrief brief on <topic>, https://webbrief.dev/briefs/<topic>/<slug>, sources: <n>, as of <date>

## Pages

- https://webbrief.dev/ — product overview
- https://webbrief.dev/pricing — Free 25/mo, Pro $19/500, Max $49/2000, Power $149/6000+
- https://webbrief.dev/methodology — how briefs are researched, cited, and measured
- https://webbrief.dev/agents.md — agent self-onboarding