Portal Agent includes a built-in web research capability. When you ask it to look something up, find references, or build a research board, it searches the web, fetches content from the results, and places everything on your canvas as cards — complete with source citations. You never leave the workspace to do research.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.asquareportal.com/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
How web search works
When you ask the agent to research a topic, it runs a web search and fetches content from the top results. For each result, it extracts the title, a summary snippet, and the source URL. The agent then places each result on the canvas as a card showing the title, snippet, source domain, and a link back to the original article. The agent can fetch up to 10 results per search query. By default it retrieves 5.Ask the agent to research a topic
Type a research request in the agent chat. You can be as specific or broad as you like — the agent will form its own search query.
The agent searches and fetches content
The agent calls
web_search with a tailored query. You will see the tool call appear in the chat as the agent works. It fetches titles, snippets, and source URLs from multiple results simultaneously.web_search tool parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
query | string | Yes | The search query to execute |
numResults | number | No | Number of results to fetch (default: 5, max: 10) |
create_article_card tool parameters
The agent creates one card per result usingcreate_article_card:
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
title | string | Yes | Article headline |
snippet | string | Yes | Summary text |
url | string | Yes | Source URL |
thumbnail | string | No | Optional thumbnail image URL |
x | number | No | Optional world-space X placement |
y | number | No | Optional world-space Y placement |
Image search
Portal Agent can find real images from the web and add them to your canvas. Use image search when you need visual references, moodboard assets, or design inspiration. Theimage_search tool searches multiple sources and falls back automatically if one service is unavailable or throttled.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
query | string | Yes | What to search for |
maxResults | number | No | Maximum images to return (default: 8, max: 12) |
image_search finds existing images on the web. To generate a new AI image, use generate_image instead.Example image search prompts
YouTube search
The agent can search YouTube and add video result cards to the canvas usingyoutube_search and create_youtube_result_card.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
query | string | Yes | Search terms for YouTube |
maxResults | number | No | Number of results (default: 3, max: 6) |
Research workflow example
The agent can combine web search, image search, and card creation into a single multi-step workflow from one prompt.- Call
web_searchto find articles on sustainable architecture - Call
image_searchto find visual references - Create article cards for each result with citations
- Place image cards alongside the article cards
- Arrange everything into a coherent layout
Combining search results with applets
After running a web search, you can ask the agent to visualize the data it found as an interactive applet.create_applet to build the visualization — no manual data entry needed.