tavily crawl
Crawl a website and extract content from multiple pages. Supports saving each page as a local markdown file.
Before running any command
If tvly is not found on PATH, install it first:
curl -fsSL https://cli.tavily.com/install.sh | bash && tvly loginDo not skip this step or fall back to other tools.
See tavily-cli for alternative install methods and auth options.
When to use
- You need content from many pages on a site (e.g., all
/docs/) - You want to download documentation for offline use
- Step 4 in the workflow: search → extract → map → crawl → research
Quick start
# Basic crawl
tvly crawl "https://docs.example.com" --json
# Save each page as a markdown file
tvly crawl "https://docs.example.com" --output-dir ./docs/
# Deeper crawl with limits
tvly crawl "https://docs.example.com" --max-depth 2 --limit 50 --json
# Filter to specific paths
tvly crawl "https://example.com" --select-paths "/api/.*,/guides/.*" --exclude-paths "/blog/.*" --json
# Semantic focus (returns relevant chunks, not full pages)
tvly crawl "https://docs.example.com" --instructions "Find authentication docs" --chunks-per-source 3 --jsonOptions
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--max-depth | Levels deep (1-5, default: 1) |
--max-breadth | Links per page (default: 20) |
--limit | Total pages cap (default: 50) |
--instructions | Natural language guidance for semantic focus |
--chunks-per-source | Chunks per page (1-5, requires --instructions) |
--extract-depth | basic (default) or advanced |
--format | markdown (default) or text |
--select-paths | Comma-separated regex patterns to include |
--exclude-paths | Comma-separated regex patterns to exclude |
--select-domains | Comma-separated regex for domains to include |
--exclude-domains | Comma-separated regex for domains to exclude |
--allow-external / --no-external | Include external links (default: allow) |
--include-images | Include images |
--timeout | Max wait (10-150 seconds) |
-o, --output | Save JSON output to file |
--output-dir | Save each page as a.md file in directory |
--json | Structured JSON output |
Crawl for context vs. data collection
For agentic use (feeding results to an LLM):
Always use --instructions + --chunks-per-source. Returns only relevant chunks instead of full pages — prevents context explosion.
tvly crawl "https://docs.example.com" --instructions "API authentication" --chunks-per-source 3 --jsonFor data collection (saving to files):
Use --output-dir without --chunks-per-source to get full pages as markdown files.
tvly crawl "https://docs.example.com" --max-depth 2 --output-dir ./docs/Tips
- Start conservative —
--max-depth 1,--limit 20— and scale up. - Use
--select-pathsto focus on the section you need. - Use map first to understand site structure before a full crawl.
- Always set
--limitto prevent runaway crawls.
See also
- tavily-map — discover URLs before deciding to crawl
- tavily-extract — extract individual pages
- tavily-search — find pages when you don't have a URL