bug(search): documented --pretty option is rejected
Nobody has claimed this yet.
Assessment
- Difficulty
- 2/5
- Estimated time
- 1-3 hours
- Newbie friendliness
- 76/100
- Issue type
- Bug
- Clarity
- Clearly specified
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Tech stack
- typescript
- Domain
- cli
Research direction
Start in src/index.ts at the Search command's option registration, then read src/types/search.ts and src/commands/search.ts to confirm the existing pretty-output path. Add command-level coverage for help, option parsing, and indented JSON output, and consider the issue complete when firecrawl search --help lists --pretty and the command reaches the handler without rejecting it.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Description
Summary
firecrawl search documents and internally supports a --pretty output option, but the command does not register the flag. The released CLI therefore rejects documented Search examples before making an API request.
Reproduction
Environment:
firecrawl-cli@1.19.29- Node.js
v24.18.0 - npm
11.16.0
Run:
npm exec --yes --package firecrawl-cli@1.19.29 -- \
firecrawl search "test" --pretty
Actual result:
error: unknown option '--pretty'
No API key is needed to reproduce this because argument parsing fails before any request. firecrawl search --help lists --json but not --pretty.
Expected behavior
firecrawl search ... --pretty should emit indented JSON, consistent with the documented contract, the Search option type, the Search output handler, and other CLI commands that expose --pretty.
Current source
At firecrawl/cli@c0560791deb920e45fe9ccde26f7e7973c92a5f2 (package.json version 1.19.29):
src/index.tscomments out the Search--prettyregistration but registers--json.- The same command still passes
options.prettyintohandleSearchCommand. src/types/search.tsincludespretty?: boolean.src/commands/search.tsalready formats indented JSON whenoptions.prettyis true.
Current Firecrawl documentation still advertises Search --pretty in the CLI option table and multiple Search snippets, including the basic example.
Suggested fix
Restore the Search -p, --pretty registration and add command-level coverage proving that:
firecrawl search --helplists--pretty.firecrawl search "test" --prettyreaches the Search handler instead of failing option parsing.- Pretty mode emits indented JSON and implies JSON output.
If the option was intentionally removed, the alternative is to remove the remaining pretty handler/type path and update every affected documentation snippet. Given that implementation support already exists and other commands expose the same option, restoring the registration appears to be the smaller consistency fix.
Duplicate check
No matching open or closed issue was found in firecrawl/cli using repository issue searches for pretty search and the broader term pretty on 2026-08-06.
- Dominant language
- TypeScript
- Stars
- 635
- Forks
- 106
- Avg merge
- 1h 33m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 43
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