1---
2name: researching-with-rumilo
3description: Dispatches AI research subagents via rumilo to search the web or explore git repositories. Use when the user asks to research a topic, look up library usage, explore a codebase, read documentation from the web, or when you need information from an external repository or website to complete a task.
4license: AGPL-3.0-or-later
5metadata:
6 author: Amolith <amolith@secluded.site>
7---
8
9`rumilo` spawns disposable AI subagents for two kinds of research: **web search** and **repo exploration**. Each mode runs in isolation and returns a synthesised answer on stdout.
10
11## Modes
12
13### Web mode
14
15Search the internet or ask questions about a specific page.
16
17```bash
18# Open-ended search (no URL)
19rumilo web "what is the current stable version of Zig"
20
21# Question about a specific page (URL pre-fetched into context)
22rumilo web "how does the slog package handle log levels" -u "https://pkg.go.dev/log/slog"
23```
24
25- Without `-u`, the agent searches the web on its own.
26- With `-u`, the URL is fetched first and injected into the agent's context alongside the query, so it can answer questions _about_ that page.
27
28### Repo mode
29
30Clone a git repository into a temp directory, spawn an agent inside it, and let it explore the source to answer questions.
31
32```bash
33# Public repo
34rumilo repo -u "https://github.com/owner/repo" "How does the routing system work?"
35
36# Private repo (works with any clonable URI — SSH, HTTPS with auth, etc.)
37rumilo repo -u "git@git.sr.ht:~user/repo" "What does the Config struct look like?"
38```
39
40The `-u` flag is **required** in repo mode — it needs something to clone.
41
42## Flags
43
44| Flag | Modes | Effect |
45| -------------------------- | ----- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
46| `-u <url>` | both | Seed URL (web) or clone URI (repo) |
47| `--model <provider:model>` | both | Override the configured default model |
48| `--ref <ref>` | repo | Checkout a branch, tag, or commit after cloning (requires --full) |
49| `--full` | repo | Full clone instead of shallow (depth 1) |
50| `--no-cleanup` | both | Keep the temp workspace after exit |
51| `--verbose` | both | Print tool calls and results to stderr |
52
53## Choosing a mode
54
55- Need to find or learn about a library? **Web** to locate it, then **repo** to explore its source.
56- Need to understand how a dependency works in detail? **Repo** with the dependency's clone URL.
57- Need current docs, release notes, or general knowledge? **Web**, optionally with the URL of a relevant page.