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SerperScrapeWebsiteTool

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Description

This tool is designed to scrape website content and extract clean, readable text from any website URL. It utilizes the serper.dev scraping API to fetch and process web pages, optionally including markdown formatting for better structure and readability.

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Installation

To effectively use the SerperScrapeWebsiteTool, follow these steps:
  1. Package Installation: Confirm that the crewai[tools] package is installed in your Python environment.
  2. API Key Acquisition: Acquire a serper.dev API key by registering for an account at serper.dev.
  3. Environment Configuration: Store your obtained API key in an environment variable named SERPER_API_KEY to facilitate its use by the tool.
To incorporate this tool into your project, follow the installation instructions below: 
pip install 'crewai[tools]'

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Example

The following example demonstrates how to initialize the tool and scrape a website:
Code
from crewai_tools import SerperScrapeWebsiteTool

# Initialize the tool for website scraping capabilities
tool = SerperScrapeWebsiteTool()

# Scrape a website with markdown formatting
result = tool.run(url="https://example.com", include_markdown=True)

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Arguments

The SerperScrapeWebsiteTool accepts the following arguments:
  • url: Required. The URL of the website to scrape.
  • include_markdown: Optional. Whether to include markdown formatting in the scraped content. Defaults to True.

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Example with Parameters

Here is an example demonstrating how to use the tool with different parameters:
Code
from crewai_tools import SerperScrapeWebsiteTool

tool = SerperScrapeWebsiteTool()

# Scrape with markdown formatting (default)
markdown_result = tool.run(
    url="https://docs.crewai.com",
    include_markdown=True
)

# Scrape without markdown formatting for plain text
plain_result = tool.run(
    url="https://docs.crewai.com",
    include_markdown=False
)

print("Markdown formatted content:")
print(markdown_result)

print("\nPlain text content:")
print(plain_result)

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Use Cases

The SerperScrapeWebsiteTool is particularly useful for:
  • Content Analysis: Extract and analyze website content for research purposes
  • Data Collection: Gather structured information from web pages
  • Documentation Processing: Convert web-based documentation into readable formats
  • Competitive Analysis: Scrape competitor websites for market research
  • Content Migration: Extract content from existing websites for migration purposes

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Error Handling

The tool includes comprehensive error handling for:
  • Network Issues: Handles connection timeouts and network errors gracefully
  • API Errors: Provides detailed error messages for API-related issues
  • Invalid URLs: Validates and reports issues with malformed URLs
  • Authentication: Clear error messages for missing or invalid API keys

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Security Considerations

  • Always store your SERPER_API_KEY in environment variables, never hardcode it in your source code
  • Be mindful of rate limits imposed by the Serper API
  • Respect robots.txt and website terms of service when scraping content
  • Consider implementing delays between requests for large-scale scraping operations