# šŸ”¬ Building an AI Research Assistant with Crawl4AI: Smart URL Discovery [![Open In Colab](https://colab.research.google.com/assets/colab-badge.svg)](https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1QIwVYrQaZGPJQGHQBvMSbkdnc5usqoGw#scrollTo=xbV1w9YM4LkW) ## Welcome to the Research Pipeline Workshop! In this tutorial, we'll build an **AI-powered research assistant** that intelligently discovers, filters, and analyzes web content. Instead of blindly crawling hundreds of pages, we'll use Crawl4AI's URL Seeder to: - šŸ” **Discover all available URLs** without crawling them first - šŸŽÆ **Score and rank** them by relevance using AI - šŸ•·ļø **Crawl only the most relevant** content - šŸ¤– **Generate research insights** with proper citations By the end, you'll have a complete research pipeline that can analyze any topic across multiple websites efficiently. ## What You'll Build A **smart research assistant** that: 1. Takes any research query (e.g., "Premier League transfer news") 2. Discovers relevant articles from news sites 3. Ranks them by relevance using BM25 scoring 4. Crawls only the top-ranked articles 5. Synthesizes findings into a comprehensive report ## Prerequisites - Python 3.8+ environment - Basic understanding of async Python - API keys for LLM (Gemini or OpenAI recommended) ## Pipeline Overview ``` User Query → Query Enhancement → URL Discovery → Relevance Scoring → Smart Crawling → AI Synthesis → Research Report ``` Each step builds on the previous one, creating an efficient research system that saves time and resources. Let's begin! šŸš€ --- # cell 1 type:markdown ## Step 0: Environment Setup and Dependencies First, we'll set up our environment with all necessary libraries. We need Crawl4AI for intelligent web crawling, LiteLLM for AI integration, and Rich for beautiful terminal output. This foundation ensures our research assistant has all the tools it needs. # cell 2 type:code # Install required packages !pip install -q crawl4ai litellm rich # cell 3 type:code import asyncio import json import os from typing import List, Dict, Optional, Tuple from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict from datetime import datetime from pathlib import Path # Rich for beautiful console output from rich.console import Console from rich.panel import Panel from rich.table import Table from rich.progress import Progress, SpinnerColumn, TextColumn # Crawl4AI imports for intelligent crawling from crawl4ai import ( AsyncWebCrawler, BrowserConfig, CrawlerRunConfig, AsyncUrlSeeder, SeedingConfig, AsyncLogger ) from crawl4ai.content_filter_strategy import PruningContentFilter from crawl4ai.markdown_generation_strategy import DefaultMarkdownGenerator # LiteLLM for AI capabilities import litellm # Initialize Rich console for pretty output console = Console() print("āœ… Environment ready! All dependencies loaded successfully.") # cell 4 type:markdown ## Step 1: Configuration and Data Classes Here we define our research pipeline configuration. These dataclasses act as our control center, allowing us to fine-tune every aspect of the research process. Think of them as the settings panel for your research assistant - from discovery limits to AI model choices. # cell 5 type:code @dataclass class ResearchConfig: """Configuration for the research pipeline This class controls every aspect of our research assistant: - How many URLs to discover and crawl - Which scoring methods to use - Whether to use AI enhancement - Output preferences """ # Core settings domain: str = "www.bbc.com/sport" max_urls_discovery: int = 100 # Cast a wide net initially max_urls_to_crawl: int = 10 # But only crawl the best top_k_urls: int = 10 # Focus on top results # Scoring and filtering score_threshold: float = 0.3 # Minimum relevance score scoring_method: str = "bm25" # BM25 is great for relevance # AI and processing use_llm_enhancement: bool = True # Enhance queries with AI llm_model: str = "gemini/gemini-1.5-flash" # Fast and capable # URL discovery options extract_head_metadata: bool = True # Get titles, descriptions live_check: bool = False # Verify URLs are accessible force_refresh: bool = False # Bypass cache # Crawler settings max_concurrent_crawls: int = 5 # Parallel crawling timeout: int = 30000 # 30 second timeout headless: bool = True # No browser window # Output settings output_dir: Path = Path("research_results") verbose: bool = True @dataclass class ResearchQuery: """Container for research query and metadata""" original_query: str enhanced_query: Optional[str] = None search_patterns: List[str] = None timestamp: str = None @dataclass class ResearchResult: """Container for research results""" query: ResearchQuery discovered_urls: List[Dict] crawled_content: List[Dict] synthesis: str citations: List[Dict] metadata: Dict # Create default configuration config = ResearchConfig() console.print(Panel( f"[bold cyan]Research Configuration[/bold cyan]\n\n" f"🌐 Domain: {config.domain}\n" f"šŸ” Max Discovery: {config.max_urls_discovery} URLs\n" f"šŸ•·ļø Max Crawl: {config.max_urls_to_crawl} pages\n" f"šŸ¤– AI Model: {config.llm_model}", title="āš™ļø Settings" )) # cell 6 type:markdown ## Step 2: Query Enhancement with AI Not all search queries are created equal. Here we use AI to transform simple queries into comprehensive search strategies. The LLM analyzes your query, extracts key concepts, and generates related terms - turning "football news" into a rich set of search patterns. # cell 7 type:code async def enhance_query_with_llm(query: str, config: ResearchConfig) -> ResearchQuery: """ Transform simple queries into comprehensive search strategies Why enhance queries? - Users often use simple terms ("football news") - But relevant content might use varied terminology - AI helps capture all relevant variations """ console.print(f"\n[cyan]šŸ¤– Enhancing query: '{query}'...[/cyan]") try: # Ask AI to analyze and expand the query response = await litellm.acompletion( model=config.llm_model, messages=[{ "role": "user", "content": f"""Given this research query: "{query}" Extract: 1. Key terms and concepts (as a list) 2. Related search terms 3. A more specific/enhanced version of the query Return as JSON: {{ "key_terms": ["term1", "term2"], "related_terms": ["related1", "related2"], "enhanced_query": "enhanced version of query" }}""" }], temperature=0.3, # Low temperature for consistency response_format={"type": "json_object"} ) data = json.loads(response.choices[0].message.content) # Create search patterns from extracted terms # These patterns help the URL seeder find relevant pages all_terms = data["key_terms"] + data["related_terms"] patterns = [f"*{term.lower()}*" for term in all_terms] result = ResearchQuery( original_query=query, enhanced_query=data["enhanced_query"], search_patterns=patterns[:10], # Limit to 10 patterns timestamp=datetime.now().isoformat() ) # Show the enhancement console.print(Panel( f"[green]āœ… Enhanced Query:[/green] {result.enhanced_query}\n" f"[dim]Key terms: {', '.join(data['key_terms'])}[/dim]", title="šŸ” Query Enhancement" )) return result except Exception as e: console.print(f"[yellow]āš ļø Enhancement failed, using original query: {e}[/yellow]") # Fallback to simple tokenization words = query.lower().split() patterns = [f"*{word}*" for word in words if len(word) > 2] return ResearchQuery( original_query=query, enhanced_query=query, search_patterns=patterns, timestamp=datetime.now().isoformat() ) # Example usage test_query = "Premier League transfer news" enhanced = await enhance_query_with_llm(test_query, config) # cell 8 type:markdown ## Step 3: Smart URL Discovery with AsyncUrlSeeder This is where the magic begins! Instead of crawling pages to find links, AsyncUrlSeeder discovers URLs from sitemaps and Common Crawl data. It's like having a map of the entire website before you start exploring. We'll discover hundreds of URLs in seconds, complete with metadata. # cell 9 type:code async def discover_urls( domain: str, query: ResearchQuery, config: ResearchConfig ) -> List[Dict]: """ Discover and rank URLs without crawling them The URL Seeder is incredibly powerful because it: 1. Gets URLs from sitemaps (official site maps) 2. Gets URLs from Common Crawl (web-scale data) 3. Extracts metadata without full page loads 4. Scores relevance using BM25 algorithm This means we know which pages are worth crawling BEFORE we spend time crawling them! """ console.print(f"\n[cyan]šŸ” Discovering URLs from {domain}...[/cyan]") # Use context manager for automatic cleanup async with AsyncUrlSeeder(logger=AsyncLogger(verbose=config.verbose)) as seeder: # Configure the discovery process seeding_config = SeedingConfig( # Data sources source="sitemap+cc", # Use both sitemap AND Common Crawl # Metadata extraction extract_head=config.extract_head_metadata, # Get titles, descriptions # Relevance scoring query=query.enhanced_query or query.original_query, scoring_method=config.scoring_method, # BM25 scoring score_threshold=config.score_threshold, # Minimum score # Limits and performance max_urls=config.max_urls_discovery, live_check=config.live_check, # Verify URLs work force=config.force_refresh, # Bypass cache if needed # Performance tuning concurrency=20, # Parallel workers ) try: # Discover URLs - this is FAST! urls = await seeder.urls(domain, seeding_config) # Results are already sorted by relevance # thanks to BM25 scoring top_urls = urls[:config.top_k_urls] # Show discovery results console.print(f"[green]āœ… Discovered {len(urls)} URLs, selected top {len(top_urls)}[/green]") # Display a sample of what we found if top_urls: table = Table(title="šŸŽÆ Top Discovered URLs") table.add_column("Score", style="cyan") table.add_column("Title", style="green") table.add_column("URL", style="dim") for url in top_urls[:5]: score = f"{url.get('relevance_score', 0):.3f}" title = "N/A" if url.get('head_data') and url['head_data'].get('title'): title = url['head_data']['title'][:50] + "..." url_str = url['url'][:60] + "..." table.add_row(score, title, url_str) console.print(table) return top_urls except Exception as e: console.print(f"[red]āŒ URL discovery failed: {e}[/red]") return [] # Example discovery discovered = await discover_urls(config.domain, enhanced, config) # cell 10 type:markdown ## Step 4: Intelligent Content Crawling Now we crawl only the most relevant URLs. This is where our smart filtering pays off - instead of crawling hundreds of pages, we focus on the top 10-20 most relevant ones. We use content filtering to extract only the meaningful text, removing ads and navigation. # cell 11 type:code async def crawl_selected_urls( urls: List[Dict], query: ResearchQuery, config: ResearchConfig ) -> List[Dict]: """ Crawl only the most relevant URLs with smart content filtering Key optimizations: 1. We already know these URLs are relevant (from scoring) 2. We crawl them in parallel for speed 3. We extract only meaningful content (no ads/nav) 4. We generate clean markdown for analysis """ # Extract URLs from discovery results url_list = [u['url'] for u in urls if 'url' in u][:config.max_urls_to_crawl] if not url_list: console.print("[red]āŒ No URLs to crawl[/red]") return [] console.print(f"\n[cyan]šŸ•·ļø Crawling {len(url_list)} URLs...[/cyan]") # Configure intelligent content extraction # This removes ads, navigation, and other noise md_generator = DefaultMarkdownGenerator( content_filter=PruningContentFilter( threshold=0.48, # Content relevance threshold threshold_type="dynamic", # Adapts to page structure min_word_threshold=10 # Ignore tiny text blocks ), ) # Configure the crawler crawler_config = CrawlerRunConfig( markdown_generator=md_generator, exclude_external_links=True, # Focus on content, not links excluded_tags=['nav', 'header', 'footer', 'aside'], # Skip UI elements ) # Create crawler with browser config async with AsyncWebCrawler( config=BrowserConfig( headless=config.headless, verbose=config.verbose ) ) as crawler: # Crawl URLs in parallel for speed # arun_many handles concurrency automatically results = await crawler.arun_many( url_list, config=crawler_config, max_concurrent=config.max_concurrent_crawls ) # Process successful results crawled_content = [] for url, result in zip(url_list, results): if result.success: # Extract the content we need content_data = { 'url': url, 'title': result.metadata.get('title', 'No title'), 'markdown': result.markdown.fit_markdown or result.markdown.raw_markdown, 'metadata': result.metadata } crawled_content.append(content_data) console.print(f" [green]āœ“[/green] Crawled: {url[:60]}...") else: console.print(f" [red]āœ—[/red] Failed: {url[:50]}... - {result.error}") console.print(f"[green]āœ… Successfully crawled {len(crawled_content)} pages[/green]") return crawled_content # Example crawling crawled = await crawl_selected_urls(discovered[:5], enhanced, config) # cell 12 type:markdown ## Step 5: AI-Powered Research Synthesis This is where we transform raw content into insights. The AI analyzes all crawled articles, identifies key themes, and generates a comprehensive synthesis with proper citations. It's like having a research assistant read everything and write you a summary. # cell 13 type:code async def generate_research_synthesis( query: ResearchQuery, crawled_content: List[Dict], config: ResearchConfig ) -> Tuple[str, List[Dict]]: """ Use AI to synthesize findings from multiple sources The synthesis process: 1. Sends all content to the LLM 2. Asks for key findings and analysis 3. Ensures proper citation of sources 4. Generates actionable insights """ if not crawled_content: return "No content available for synthesis.", [] console.print("\n[cyan]šŸ¤– Generating research synthesis...[/cyan]") # Prepare content for the AI # We include source info for proper citations content_sections = [] for i, content in enumerate(crawled_content, 1): section = f""" SOURCE {i}: Title: {content['title']} URL: {content['url']} Content Preview: {content['markdown'][:1500]}... """ content_sections.append(section) combined_content = "\n---\n".join(content_sections) try: # Generate comprehensive synthesis response = await litellm.acompletion( model=config.llm_model, messages=[{ "role": "user", "content": f"""Research Query: "{query.original_query}" Based on the following sources, provide a comprehensive research synthesis. {combined_content} Please provide: 1. An executive summary (2-3 sentences) 2. Key findings (3-5 bullet points) 3. Detailed analysis (2-3 paragraphs) 4. Future implications or trends Format your response with clear sections and cite sources using [Source N] notation. Keep the total response under 800 words.""" }], temperature=0.7 # Some creativity for synthesis ) synthesis = response.choices[0].message.content # Extract citations from the synthesis citations = [] for i, content in enumerate(crawled_content, 1): # Check if this source was cited if f"[Source {i}]" in synthesis or f"Source {i}" in synthesis: citations.append({ 'source_id': i, 'title': content['title'], 'url': content['url'] }) return synthesis, citations except Exception as e: console.print(f"[red]āŒ Synthesis generation failed: {e}[/red]") # Fallback to simple summary summary = f"Research on '{query.original_query}' found {len(crawled_content)} relevant articles:\n\n" for content in crawled_content[:3]: summary += f"- {content['title']}\n {content['url']}\n\n" return summary, [] # Example synthesis synthesis, citations = await generate_research_synthesis(enhanced, crawled, config) console.print(Panel(synthesis[:500] + "...", title="šŸ“ Research Synthesis Preview")) # cell 14 type:markdown ## Step 6: Complete Research Pipeline Now let's put it all together! This orchestrator function manages the entire research pipeline from query to final report. It coordinates all the components we've built, handling errors gracefully and providing progress updates. # cell 15 type:code async def research_pipeline( query: str, config: ResearchConfig = None ) -> ResearchResult: """ Main research pipeline orchestrator This brings together all components: 1. Query enhancement (AI-powered) 2. URL discovery (AsyncUrlSeeder) 3. Smart crawling (AsyncWebCrawler) 4. AI synthesis (LiteLLM) Returns a complete research result """ if config is None: config = ResearchConfig() start_time = datetime.now() # Display pipeline header console.print(Panel( f"[bold cyan]Research Pipeline[/bold cyan]\n\n" f"[dim]Query:[/dim] {query}\n" f"[dim]Domain:[/dim] {config.domain}", title="šŸš€ Starting Research", border_style="cyan" )) # Step 1: Enhance query console.print(f"\n[bold cyan]šŸ“ Step 1: Query Processing[/bold cyan]") if config.use_llm_enhancement: research_query = await enhance_query_with_llm(query, config) else: # Simple fallback without AI research_query = ResearchQuery( original_query=query, enhanced_query=query, search_patterns=[f"*{word}*" for word in query.lower().split()], timestamp=datetime.now().isoformat() ) # Step 2: Discover URLs console.print(f"\n[bold cyan]šŸ” Step 2: URL Discovery[/bold cyan]") discovered_urls = await discover_urls( domain=config.domain, query=research_query, config=config ) if not discovered_urls: # No URLs found - return empty result return ResearchResult( query=research_query, discovered_urls=[], crawled_content=[], synthesis="No relevant URLs found for the given query.", citations=[], metadata={'duration': str(datetime.now() - start_time)} ) # Step 3: Crawl selected URLs console.print(f"\n[bold cyan]šŸ•·ļø Step 3: Content Crawling[/bold cyan]") crawled_content = await crawl_selected_urls( urls=discovered_urls, query=research_query, config=config ) # Step 4: Generate synthesis console.print(f"\n[bold cyan]šŸ¤– Step 4: Synthesis Generation[/bold cyan]") synthesis, citations = await generate_research_synthesis( query=research_query, crawled_content=crawled_content, config=config ) # Create final result result = ResearchResult( query=research_query, discovered_urls=discovered_urls, crawled_content=crawled_content, synthesis=synthesis, citations=citations, metadata={ 'duration': str(datetime.now() - start_time), 'domain': config.domain, 'timestamp': datetime.now().isoformat(), 'total_discovered': len(discovered_urls), 'total_crawled': len(crawled_content), 'total_cited': len(citations) } ) # Display summary duration = datetime.now() - start_time console.print(Panel( f"[bold green]āœ… Research completed in {duration}[/bold green]\n\n" f"šŸ“Š Discovered: {len(discovered_urls)} URLs\n" f"šŸ•·ļø Crawled: {len(crawled_content)} pages\n" f"šŸ“š Citations: {len(citations)} sources", title="šŸŽ‰ Pipeline Complete", border_style="green" )) return result # Example: Run complete pipeline result = await research_pipeline("Champions League latest results", config) # cell 16 type:markdown ## Step 7: Beautiful Output Formatting A good research report needs clear presentation. Here we format our results into a professional report with executive summary, key findings, and proper citations. This makes the research actionable and easy to share. # cell 17 type:code def format_research_output(result: ResearchResult) -> None: """ Create a beautifully formatted research report Good formatting makes insights actionable: - Clear structure with sections - Highlighted key findings - Proper source attribution - Easy to scan and understand """ # Header console.print("\n" + "=" * 60) console.print("[bold cyan]šŸ”¬ RESEARCH REPORT[/bold cyan]") console.print("=" * 60) # Query information console.print(f"\n[bold]Query:[/bold] {result.query.original_query}") if result.query.enhanced_query != result.query.original_query: console.print(f"[dim]Enhanced: {result.query.enhanced_query}[/dim]") # Statistics stats_table = Table(show_header=False, box=None) stats_table.add_column(style="cyan") stats_table.add_column() stats_table.add_row("šŸ“Š URLs Discovered", str(result.metadata['total_discovered'])) stats_table.add_row("šŸ•·ļø Pages Crawled", str(result.metadata['total_crawled'])) stats_table.add_row("šŸ“š Sources Cited", str(result.metadata['total_cited'])) stats_table.add_row("ā±ļø Processing Time", result.metadata['duration']) console.print("\n[bold]Statistics:[/bold]") console.print(stats_table) # Synthesis console.print("\n[bold]šŸ“ SYNTHESIS[/bold]") console.print("-" * 60) console.print(result.synthesis) # Citations if result.citations: console.print("\n[bold]šŸ“š SOURCES[/bold]") console.print("-" * 60) for citation in result.citations: console.print(f"\n[{citation['source_id']}] [cyan]{citation['title']}[/cyan]") console.print(f" [dim]{citation['url']}[/dim]") # Top discovered URLs console.print("\n[bold]šŸ” TOP DISCOVERED URLS[/bold]") console.print("-" * 60) urls_table = Table() urls_table.add_column("Score", style="cyan") urls_table.add_column("Title") urls_table.add_column("URL", style="dim") for url_data in result.discovered_urls[:5]: score = f"{url_data.get('relevance_score', 0):.3f}" title = "N/A" if url_data.get('head_data') and url_data['head_data'].get('title'): title = url_data['head_data']['title'][:40] + "..." url = url_data['url'][:50] + "..." urls_table.add_row(score, title, url) console.print(urls_table) # Display the formatted report format_research_output(result) # cell 18 type:markdown ## Step 8: Save Research Results Finally, let's save our research for future reference. We'll create both JSON (for data analysis) and Markdown (for reading) formats. This ensures your research is preserved and shareable. # cell 19 type:code async def save_research_results( result: ResearchResult, config: ResearchConfig ) -> Tuple[Path, Path]: """ Save research results in multiple formats Why save in multiple formats? - JSON: Perfect for further analysis or automation - Markdown: Human-readable, great for sharing """ # Create output directory config.output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True) # Generate filename based on query and timestamp timestamp = datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d_%H%M%S") query_slug = result.query.original_query[:30].replace(" ", "_").replace("/", "_") base_filename = f"{timestamp}_{query_slug}" # Save JSON json_path = config.output_dir / f"{base_filename}.json" with open(json_path, 'w') as f: json.dump(asdict(result), f, indent=2, default=str) # Create markdown report md_content = [ f"# Research Report: {result.query.original_query}", f"\n**Generated on:** {result.metadata.get('timestamp', 'N/A')}", f"\n**Domain:** {result.metadata.get('domain', 'N/A')}", f"\n**Processing time:** {result.metadata.get('duration', 'N/A')}", "\n---\n", "## Query Information", f"- **Original Query:** {result.query.original_query}", f"- **Enhanced Query:** {result.query.enhanced_query or 'N/A'}", "\n## Statistics", f"- **URLs Discovered:** {result.metadata['total_discovered']}", f"- **Pages Crawled:** {result.metadata['total_crawled']}", f"- **Sources Cited:** {result.metadata['total_cited']}", "\n## Research Synthesis\n", result.synthesis, "\n## Sources\n" ] # Add citations for citation in result.citations: md_content.extend([ f"### [{citation['source_id']}] {citation['title']}", f"- **URL:** [{citation['url']}]({citation['url']})", "" ]) # Add discovered URLs md_content.extend([ "\n## Discovered URLs (Top 10)\n", "| Score | Title | URL |", "|-------|-------|-----|" ]) for url_data in result.discovered_urls[:10]: score = url_data.get('relevance_score', 0) title = 'N/A' if url_data.get('head_data') and url_data['head_data'].get('title'): title = url_data['head_data']['title'][:50] + '...' url = url_data['url'][:60] + '...' md_content.append(f"| {score:.3f} | {title} | {url} |") # Save markdown md_path = config.output_dir / f"{base_filename}.md" with open(md_path, 'w') as f: f.write('\n'.join(md_content)) console.print(f"\n[green]šŸ’¾ Results saved:[/green]") console.print(f" JSON: {json_path}") console.print(f" Markdown: {md_path}") return json_path, md_path # Save our results json_path, md_path = await save_research_results(result, config) # cell 20 type:markdown ## šŸŽÆ Putting It All Together: Interactive Research Assistant Now let's create an interactive version where you can research any topic! This brings together everything we've learned into a user-friendly tool. # cell 21 type:code async def interactive_research_assistant(): """ Interactive research assistant with example queries This demonstrates how to build a user-friendly interface for your research pipeline. """ # Welcome message console.print(Panel.fit( "[bold cyan]šŸ”¬ AI Research Assistant[/bold cyan]\n\n" "Powered by Crawl4AI's intelligent URL discovery\n" "[dim]• Discover without crawling\n" "• Score by relevance\n" "• Crawl only what matters\n" "• Generate AI insights[/dim]", title="Welcome", border_style="cyan" )) # Example queries examples = [ "Premier League transfer news and rumors", "Champions League match results and analysis", "Tennis grand slam tournament updates", "Formula 1 race results and standings", "NBA playoff predictions and analysis" ] # Display examples console.print("\n[bold]šŸ“‹ Example queries:[/bold]") for i, example in enumerate(examples, 1): console.print(f" {i}. {example}") # Get user input console.print("\n[bold]Enter a number (1-5) or type your own query:[/bold]") user_input = input("šŸ” > ").strip() # Determine query if user_input.isdigit() and 1 <= int(user_input) <= len(examples): query = examples[int(user_input) - 1] else: query = user_input if user_input else examples[0] console.print(f"\n[cyan]Selected query: {query}[/cyan]") # Configuration options console.print("\n[bold]Choose configuration:[/bold]") console.print(" 1. Quick (5 URLs, fast)") console.print(" 2. Standard (10 URLs, balanced)") console.print(" 3. Comprehensive (20 URLs, thorough)") config_choice = input("āš™ļø > ").strip() # Create configuration if config_choice == "1": config = ResearchConfig(max_urls_to_crawl=5, top_k_urls=5) elif config_choice == "3": config = ResearchConfig(max_urls_to_crawl=20, top_k_urls=20) else: config = ResearchConfig() # Standard # Run research result = await research_pipeline(query, config) # Display results format_research_output(result) # Save results save_choice = input("\nšŸ’¾ Save results? (y/n): ").strip().lower() if save_choice == 'y': await save_research_results(result, config) # Run the interactive assistant await interactive_research_assistant() # cell 22 type:markdown ## šŸš€ Advanced Tips and Best Practices ### 1. Domain-Specific Research Customize the pipeline for specific domains: # cell 23 type:code # Research across multiple sports sites async def multi_domain_research(query: str): """Research across multiple sports websites""" domains = [ "www.bbc.com/sport", "www.espn.com", "www.skysports.com" ] all_results = [] for domain in domains: config = ResearchConfig( domain=domain, max_urls_to_crawl=5 # 5 per domain ) console.print(f"\n[cyan]Researching {domain}...[/cyan]") result = await research_pipeline(query, config) all_results.append(result) # Combine insights from all domains console.print("\n[bold green]āœ… Multi-domain research complete![/bold green]") return all_results # Example usage # results = await multi_domain_research("World Cup 2024") # cell 24 type:markdown ### 2. Performance Optimization Tips for faster research: # cell 25 type:code # Optimized configuration for speed speed_config = ResearchConfig( # Reduce discovery scope max_urls_discovery=50, # Don't discover too many # Skip live checking (trust the sitemap) live_check=False, # Increase parallelism max_concurrent_crawls=10, # Skip AI enhancement for simple queries use_llm_enhancement=False, # Use faster model llm_model="gemini/gemini-1.5-flash" ) console.print(Panel( "[green]⚔ Speed Optimizations:[/green]\n\n" "• Reduced discovery scope\n" "• Disabled live URL checking\n" "• Increased parallelism\n" "• Using faster AI model", title="Performance Tips" )) # cell 26 type:markdown ### 3. Caching Strategy The URL Seeder automatically caches results for efficiency: # cell 27 type:code # Cache demonstration console.print("[bold]šŸ—„ļø Understanding Caching:[/bold]\n") console.print("1. [cyan]First run:[/cyan] Fetches fresh data") console.print(" - Discovers URLs from sitemap/Common Crawl") console.print(" - Extracts metadata") console.print(" - Caches results for 7 days") console.print("\n2. [cyan]Subsequent runs:[/cyan] Uses cache (instant!)") console.print(" - No network requests needed") console.print(" - Same query returns cached results") console.print("\n3. [cyan]Force refresh:[/cyan] Bypass cache when needed") console.print(" - Set `force_refresh=True` in config") console.print(" - Useful for breaking news or updates") # Example with cache control cache_config = ResearchConfig( force_refresh=True # Always get fresh data ) # cell 28 type:markdown ## Agentic Design Patterns We've implemented a linear pipeline: Query → Enhance → Discover → Filter → Crawl → Synthesize. This is one of many possible agentic patterns. ### Example: Reflection Pipeline Here's an advanced pattern with iterative refinement: ```mermaid graph TD A[šŸ” User Query] --> B[šŸ¤– Generate Multiple
Search Strategies] B --> C1[Query 1] B --> C2[Query 2] B --> C3[Query N] C1 --> D[🌐 Parallel URL
Discovery] C2 --> D C3 --> D D --> E[šŸŽÆ Aggregate &
Score All URLs] E --> F[šŸ•·ļø Smart Crawling] F --> G{šŸ“Š Sufficient
Information?} G -->|No| H[šŸ”„ Analyze Gaps] H --> B G -->|Yes| K[🧠 AI Synthesis] K --> L[šŸ“„ Comprehensive
Report] ``` This design: - Generates multiple search angles - Evaluates information completeness - Iteratively refines queries based on gaps - Continues until sufficient information is gathered Other patterns to consider: - **Comparative Analysis**: Research across multiple domains - **Fact Verification**: Cross-reference multiple sources - **Trend Detection**: Time-based discovery and analysis # cell 29 type:markdown ## šŸŽ“ Summary & Next Steps ### What You've Learned You've built a complete AI research assistant that: āœ… **Discovers URLs intelligently** - No blind crawling āœ… **Scores by relevance** - Focus on what matters āœ… **Crawls efficiently** - Parallel processing āœ… **Generates insights** - AI-powered synthesis āœ… **Saves results** - JSON and Markdown formats ### Key Advantages 1. **Efficiency**: Discover 1000s of URLs in seconds, crawl only the best 2. **Intelligence**: BM25 scoring ensures relevance 3. **Scalability**: Works across multiple domains 4. **Flexibility**: Configurable for any use case ### Next Steps 1. **Customize for your domain**: Adapt the pipeline for your specific needs 2. **Add persistence**: Store results in a database 3. **Build an API**: Turn this into a web service 4. **Schedule updates**: Monitor topics over time 5. **Enhance with more AI**: Add summarization, sentiment analysis, etc. ### Resources - šŸ™ **GitHub**: [github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai](https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai) - šŸ“š **Documentation**: [crawl4ai.com/docs](https://crawl4ai.com/docs) - šŸ’¬ **Discord**: [Join our community](https://discord.gg/crawl4ai) Thank you for learning with Crawl4AI! šŸ™ Happy researching! šŸš€šŸ”¬