Web-grounded search via Perplexity Sonar Pro. Returns synthesized answer text plus a structured sources[] array (url + title) the caller can evaluate per the research.foundation four-tier source ladder. Optional recency_filter (hour/day/week/month/year) for fast-decay topics. Optional search_domain_filter (up to 10 domains) for triangulating against known-authoritative sources.
Use this whenever a specialist needs current, web-grounded information — landscape scans, trend research, evidence queries, counter-evidence checks, named-entity lookups. Pair with the research.foundation skill (always-on craft baseline) and the research.methodologies.desk-synthesis skill (6-phase workflow) for production-grade output.
The agent decomposes the brief into sub-questions BEFORE calling this — one focused query per call, not a multi-question batch. Cost is real (~$0.005-0.015 per query); the agent should budget calls per research.foundation §6 (fact-check 1-3, single comparison 3-8, landscape scan 8-20).
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