
content-harvest
Extract and parse article content from web sources. Retrieves text, metadata, and structured information from articles while preserving formatting and context.
- Installs
- 135
- Last 24h
- —
- Trending rank
- —
- Security
- Not audited
Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills --skill content-harvest- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads content-harvest automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Article Extractor
This skill extracts the main content from web articles and blog posts, removing navigation, ads, newsletter signups, and other clutter. Saves clean, readable text.
When to Use This Skill
Activate when the user:
- Provides an article/blog URL and wants the text content
- Asks to "download this article"
- Wants to "extract the content from [URL]"
- Asks to "save this blog post as text"
- Needs clean article text without distractions
How It Works
Priority Order:
- Check if tools are installed (reader or trafilatura)
- Download and extract article using best available tool
- Clean up the content (remove extra whitespace, format properly)
- Save to file with article title as filename
- Confirm location and show preview
Installation Check
Check for article extraction tools in this order:
Option 1: reader (Recommended - Mozilla's Readability)
command -v reader
If not installed:
npm install -g @mozilla/readability-cli
# or
npm install -g reader-cli
Option 2: trafilatura (Python-based, very good)
command -v trafilatura
If not installed:
pip3 install trafilatura
Option 3: Fallback (curl + simple parsing)
If no tools available, use basic curl + text extraction (less reliable but works)
Extraction Methods
Method 1: Using reader (Best for most articles)
# Extract article
reader "URL" > article.txt
Pros:
- Based on Mozilla's Readability algorithm
- Excellent at removing clutter
- Preserves article structure
Method 2: Using trafilatura (Best for blogs/news)
# Extract article
trafilatura --URL "URL" --output-format txt > article.txt
# Or with more options
trafilatura --URL "URL" --output-format txt --no-comments --no-tables > article.txt
Pros:
- Very accurate extraction
- Good with various site structures
- Handles multiple languages
Options:
--no-comments: Skip comment sections--no-tables: Skip data tables--precision: Favor precision over recall--recall: Extract more content (may include some noise)
Method 3: Fallback (curl + basic parsing)
# Download and extract basic content
curl -s "URL" | python3 -c "
from html.parser import HTMLParser
import sys
class ArticleExtractor(HTMLParser):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.in_content = False
self.content = []
self.skip_tags = {'script', 'style', 'nav', 'header', 'footer', 'aside'}
self.current_tag = None
def handle_starttag(self, tag, attrs):
if tag not in self.skip_tags:
if tag in {'p', 'article', 'main', 'h1', 'h2', 'h3', 'h4', 'h5', 'h6'}:
self.in_content = True
self.current_tag = tag
def handle_data(self, data):
if self.in_content and data.strip():
self.content.append(data.strip())
def get_content(self):
return '\n\n'.join(self.content)
parser = ArticleExtractor()
parser.feed(sys.stdin.read())
print(parser.get_content())
" > article.txt
Note: This is less reliable but works without dependencies.
Getting Article Title
Extract title for filename:
Using reader:
# reader outputs markdown with title at top
TITLE=$(reader "URL" | head -n 1 | sed 's/^# //')
Using trafilatura:
# Get metadata including title
TITLE=$(trafilatura --URL "URL" --json | python3 -c "import json, sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['title'])")
Using curl (fallback):
TITLE=$(curl -s "URL" | grep -oP '<title>\K[^<]+' | sed 's/ - .*//' | sed 's/ | .*//')
Filename Creation
Clean title for filesystem:
# Get title
TITLE="Article Title from Website"
# Clean for filesystem (remove special chars, limit length)
FILENAME=$(echo "$TITLE" | tr '/' '-' | tr ':' '-' | tr '?' '' | tr '"' '' | tr '<' '' | tr '>' '' | tr '|' '-' | cut -c 1-100 | sed 's/ *$//')
# Add extension
FILENAME="${FILENAME}.txt"
Complete Workflow
ARTICLE_URL="https://example.com/article"
# Check for tools
if command -v reader &> /dev/null; then
TOOL="reader"
echo "Using reader (Mozilla Readability)"
elif command -v trafilatura &> /dev/null; then
TOOL="trafilatura"
echo "Using trafilatura"
else
TOOL="fallback"
echo "Using fallback method (may be less accurate)"
fi
# Extract article
case $TOOL in
reader)
# Get content
reader "$ARTICLE_URL" > temp_article.txt
# Get title (first line after # in markdown)
TITLE=$(head -n 1 temp_article.txt | sed 's/^# //')
;;
trafilatura)
# Get title from metadata
METADATA=$(trafilatura --URL "$ARTICLE_URL" --json)
TITLE=$(echo "$METADATA" | python3 -c "import json, sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('title', 'Article'))")
# Get clean content
trafilatura --URL "$ARTICLE_URL" --output-format txt --no-comments > temp_article.txt
;;
fallback)
# Get title
TITLE=$(curl -s "$ARTICLE_URL" | grep -oP '<title>\K[^<]+' | head -n 1)
TITLE=${TITLE%% - *} # Remove site name
TITLE=${TITLE%% | *} # Remove site name (alternate)
# Get content (basic extraction)
curl -s "$ARTICLE_URL" | python3 -c "
from html.parser import HTMLParser
import sys
class ArticleExtractor(HTMLParser):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.in_content = False
self.content = []
self.skip_tags = {'script', 'style', 'nav', 'header', 'footer', 'aside', 'form'}
def handle_starttag(self, tag, attrs):
if tag not in self.skip_tags:
if tag in {'p', 'article', 'main'}:
self.in_content = True
if tag in {'h1', 'h2', 'h3'}:
self.content.append('\n')
def handle_data(self, data):
if self.in_content and data.strip():
self.content.append(data.strip())
def get_content(self):
return '\n\n'.join(self.content)
parser = ArticleExtractor()
parser.feed(sys.stdin.read())
print(parser.get_content())
" > temp_article.txt
;;
esac
# Clean filename
FILENAME=$(echo "$TITLE" | tr '/' '-' | tr ':' '-' | tr '?' '' | tr '"' '' | tr '<>' '' | tr '|' '-' | cut -c 1-80 | sed 's/ *$//' | sed 's/^ *//')
FILENAME="${FILENAME}.txt"
# Move to final filename
mv temp_article.txt "$FILENAME"
# Show result
echo "✓ Extracted article: $TITLE"
echo "✓ Saved to: $FILENAME"
echo ""
echo "Preview (first 10 lines):"
head -n 10 "$FILENAME"
Error Handling
Common Issues
1. Tool not installed
- Try alternate tool (reader → trafilatura → fallback)
- Offer to install: "Install reader with: npm install -g reader-cli"
2. Paywall or login required
- Extraction tools may fail
- Inform user: "This article requires authentication. Cannot extract."
3. Invalid URL
- Check URL format
- Try with and without redirects
4. No content extracted
- Site may use heavy JavaScript
- Try fallback method
- Inform user if extraction fails
5. Special characters in title
- Clean title for filesystem
- Remove:
/,:,?,",<,>,| - Replace with
-or remove
Output Format
Saved File Contains:
- Article title (if available)
- Author (if available from tool)
- Main article text
- Section headings
- No navigation, ads, or clutter
What Gets Removed:
- Navigation menus
- Ads and promotional content
- Newsletter signup forms
- Related articles sidebars
- Comment sections (optional)
- Social media buttons
- Cookie notices
Tips for Best Results
1. Use reader for most articles
- Best all-around tool
- Based on Firefox Reader View
- Works on most news sites and blogs
2. Use trafilatura for:
- Academic articles
- News sites
- Blogs with complex layouts
- Non-English content
3. Fallback method limitations:
- May include some noise
- Less accurate paragraph detection
- Better than nothing for simple sites
4. Check extraction quality:
- Always show preview to user
- Ask if it looks correct
- Offer to try different tool if needed
Example Usage
Simple extraction:
# User: "Extract https://example.com/article"
reader "https://example.com/article" > temp.txt
TITLE=$(head -n 1 temp.txt | sed 's/^# //')
FILENAME="$(echo "$TITLE" | tr '/' '-').txt"
mv temp.txt "$FILENAME"
echo "✓ Saved to: $FILENAME"
With error handling:
if ! reader "$URL" > temp.txt 2>/dev/null; then
if command -v trafilatura &> /dev/null; then
trafilatura --URL "$URL" --output-format txt > temp.txt
else
echo "Error: Could not extract article. Install reader or trafilatura."
exit 1
fi
fi
Best Practices
- ✅ Always show preview after extraction (first 10 lines)
- ✅ Verify extraction succeeded before saving
- ✅ Clean filename for filesystem compatibility
- ✅ Try fallback method if primary fails
- ✅ Inform user which tool was used
- ✅ Keep filename length reasonable (< 100 chars)
After Extraction
Display to user:
- "✓ Extracted: [Article Title]"
- "✓ Saved to: [filename]"
- Show preview (first 10-15 lines)
- File size and location
Ask if needed:
- "Would you like me to also create a Ship-Learn-Next plan from this?" (if using ship-learn-next skill)
- "Should I extract another article?"
FAQ
What does the content-harvest skill do?
Extract and parse article content from web sources. Retrieves text, metadata, and structured information from articles while preserving formatting and context.
How do I install content-harvest?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills --skill content-harvest in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/content-harvest/ (personal) or .claude/skills/content-harvest/ (project).
Which AI agents can use content-harvest?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is content-harvest safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains content-harvest?
It is published by qodex-ai in qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills. It has 135 recorded installs.
More from qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills
word-document-processor
qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills
Comprehensive word document processing with full format support. Handles creation, editing, formatting preservation, tracked changes, and metadata management.
multi-agent-orchestration
qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills
Design and coordinate multi-agent systems where specialized agents work together to solve complex problems. Covers agent communication, task delegation, workflow orchestration, and result aggregation. Use when building coordinated agent teams, complex workflows, or systems requiring specialized expertise across domains.
financial-analysis-agent
qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills
Create agents for financial analysis, investment research, and portfolio management. Covers financial data processing, risk analysis, and recommendation generation. Use when building investment analysis tools, robo-advisors, portfolio trackers, or financial intelligence systems.
legal-document-analyzer
qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills
Build agents for legal document analysis, contract review, and compliance checking. Handles document parsing, risk identification, and legal research. Use when creating contract analysis tools, legal research assistants, compliance checkers, or document review systems.
ecommerce-platform-specialist
qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills
Provide expert guidance on Shopify e-commerce platform. Advises on store setup, products, customization, and optimization.
spreadsheet-processor
qodex-ai/ai-agent-skills
Process and manipulate spreadsheet documents. Creates, edits, analyzes, and transforms Excel files with formula and formatting support.
Popular ai & agents skills
google-agents-cli-publish
google/agents-cli
This skill should be used when the user wants to "publish an agent", "publish my ADK agent", "register an agent with Gemini", "publish to Gemini" (formerly Gemini Enterprise), or needs guidance on the agents-cli publish gemini command. Also use when the user wants to "manage agents in Agent Registry", "list/update/delete registered agents", or "register an MCP server". Covers ADK vs A2A registration modes, programmatic and interactive usage, flag reference, auto-detection from deployment metadata, Agent Registry fleet management, and troubleshooting. Part of the agents-cli skills suite. Do NOT use for deployment (use google-agents-cli-deploy).
google-agents-cli-eval
google/agents-cli
This skill should be used when the user wants to "run an evaluation", "evaluate my agent", "evaluate my ADK agent", "write an eval dataset", "analyze eval failures", "compare eval results", "optimize agent", or needs guidance on the Gemini platform eval methodology and the Quality Flywheel. Covers eval metrics, dataset schema, LLM-as-judge scoring, and common failure causes. Applies to any agents-cli project, whatever framework the agent is written in. Do NOT use for agent API code patterns (ADK: use google-agents-cli-adk-code), deployment (use google-agents-cli-deploy), or project scaffolding (use google-agents-cli-scaffold).
skill-creator
anthropics/skills
Create new skills, modify and improve existing skills, and measure skill performance. Use when users want to create a skill from scratch, edit, or optimize an existing skill, run evals to test a skill, benchmark skill performance with variance analysis, or optimize a skill's description for better triggering accuracy.
codex-pet
prime-skills/runcomfy-agent-skills
Codex Pet generator on RunComfy. Build a Codex-compatible Codex Pet spritesheet.webp + pet.json from a single reference image, drop it into ${CODEXHOME:-$HOME/.codex}/pets/ / and Codex picks it up as a custom Codex Pet next to the 8 built-ins. This skill produces the exact Codex Pet atlas Codex expects (1536x1872 PNG/WebP, 8 cols x 9 rows, 192x208 cells, 9 animation states — idle, running-right, running-left, waving, jumping, failed, waiting, running, review). Calls OpenAI GPT Image 2 edit ONCE via the local RunComfy CLI as runcomfy run openai/gpt-image-2/edit to produce a canonical Codex Pet pose, then assembles all 9 animation rows programmatically with ImageMagick micro-transforms — no Codex Pro, no $imagegen, no OPENAIAPIKEY required, only RUNCOMFYTOKEN. Triggers on "codex pet", "create codex pet", "make codex pet", "hatch codex pet", "/hatch image", "desktop pet codex", "codex pets", "spritesheet.webp", or any explicit ask to build a custom pet for OpenAI Codex.
full-output-enforcement
leonxlnx/taste-skill
Overrides default LLM truncation behavior. Enforces complete code generation, bans placeholder patterns, and handles token-limit splits cleanly. Apply to any task requiring exhaustive, unabridged output.
executing-plans
obra/superpowers
Use when executing an implementation plan in the current session as the implementer yourself — your human partner chose inline execution, or no subagent tool is available