glim-mcp — Claude Code skill: live-data research via glim.sh

---
name: glim-mcp
description: Live-data research via the glim.sh MCP - web search, full page extraction, X/Twitter, Reddit, GitHub, Amazon, and YouTube transcripts - synthesized into a cited digest. Pay-per-call from the connected account balance; OAuth Connect via the dashboard MCP panel.
metadata:
  title: Glim MCP
  mode: read-only
  category: basics
  var: ""
  tags:
    - research
    - data
    - mcp
  mcp:
    - glim
  capabilities:
    - external_api
    - sends_notifications
---
> **${var}** — the research question or task, e.g. `what are people saying about MCP servers this week` or `pull the top HN + Reddit takes on <topic>`. Append `--deep` for a wider sweep. Required. If empty, log `GLIM_NO_QUERY` and exit cleanly (no notify).

Answer one research question with **live data** through the glim.sh MCP server (`glim.sh/mcp`): web search, full-page extraction, and platform-native access to X/Twitter, Reddit, GitHub, Amazon, and YouTube transcripts. Every call draws from the operator's prepaid glim balance — spend is real, so the sweep is bounded.

## Detection & auth

The server is wired by the dashboard MCP panel's one-click **Connect** (OAuth with `offline_access`; tokens stored as `MCP_GLIM_TOKEN` + `MCP_GLIM_OAUTH`, refreshed each run by `scripts/mcp-oauth-refresh.sh`). Its tools surface as `mcp__glim__*` — discover them from the server; the tool descriptions are the source of truth, don't assume a fixed list.

- **No `mcp__glim__*` tool callable** → the server isn't connected (or its secrets are missing, in which case the workflow logged a `::warning::` and skipped MCP). Log `GLIM_NOT_CONNECTED`, notify once pointing the operator at the dashboard → MCP → Connect glim.sh, and exit.
- **Tools exist but return 401/invalid-token** → the OAuth refresh failed (see `docs/mcp-oauth.md`). Log `GLIM_AUTH_STALE`, notify the operator to re-connect the server once in the dashboard, and exit.
- **Payment-required / insufficient-balance errors** → log `GLIM_NO_BALANCE`, notify the operator to top up their glim account, and exit with whatever partial results already came back (clearly marked partial).

## Steps

### 1. Plan the sweep

Parse `${var}` into 2–4 sub-questions and pick the glim tools that fit each — platform tools (X, Reddit, GitHub, YouTube, Amazon) when the question names a platform or the answer obviously lives there; web search + page extraction otherwise. Don't fan out for its own sake: a question one search answers gets one search.

**Spend budget:** ≤ 10 tool calls per run, ≤ 25 with `--deep`. Count as you go; when the budget is spent, synthesize from what's in hand rather than making "one more" call. This is a hard cap (STRATEGY: stay within configured spend limits).

### 2. Fetch

Run the planned calls. Extract full pages only for the 2–3 sources that actually anchor the answer — search snippets carry most questions. Skip retries beyond one per failed call.

### 3. Synthesize

Write the digest: a 2–3 sentence answer up top, then the supporting evidence grouped by sub-question, each claim traceable to a fetched source. Distinguish observed fact from inference. Include the source URL next to every claim that rests on it.

### 4. Notify

Deliver via `./notify -f <file>` (ordinary Markdown): the answer, the evidence, a `Sources` list of clickable URLs, and a final line `calls: N/<budget>`. This skill is on-demand — a completed run always notifies (unlike monitors, silence isn't signal here).

**Exactly one `./notify` call per run.** Each call overwrites `$AEON_PENDING_DIR/.pending-<skill>.md` (last-writer-wins), which becomes the chain artifact `output/.chains/glim-mcp.md` that `consume:` steps and the feed read — a follow-up "headline" ping would replace the digest with a stub. Everything goes in the single `-f` file.

### 5. Result record

This skill is `read-only`, so the workflow's read-only guard writes its `### glim-mcp` log entry from your captured output; a self-written entry would be a duplicate. Don't append to `memory/logs/` yourself - put this record in your **final output**; the workflow persists it to `memory/logs/` and `output/.chains/glim-mcp.md` on your behalf after the run:

```
### glim-mcp
- Query: <${var}, truncated>
- Result: GLIM_OK | GLIM_NO_QUERY | GLIM_NOT_CONNECTED | GLIM_AUTH_STALE | GLIM_NO_BALANCE | GLIM_ERROR
- Calls: N (budget 10|25) | sources cited: M
```

If the answer is durable knowledge about a tracked topic (a token, a protocol, a watched repo), it can't be folded into `memory/topics/` from a read-only run — surface it clearly in the output so the operator (or a write-mode skill) can persist it to `memory/topics/`.

## Constraints

- Cite or drop: a claim with no fetched source behind it doesn't ship.
- Respect the call budget even when results are thin — say the evidence was thin instead of overspending.
- No paywalled-content laundering: if extraction returns a stub, report the stub, don't reconstruct the article from memory.