139 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
139 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
---
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title: "Deep research agent using Vercel's AI SDK"
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sidebarTitle: "Deep research agent"
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description: "Deep research agent which generates comprehensive PDF reports using Vercel's AI SDK."
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---
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import RealtimeLearnMore from "/snippets/realtime-learn-more.mdx";
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<Info title="Acknowledgements">
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Acknowledgements: This example project is derived from the brilliant [deep research
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guide](https://aie-feb-25.vercel.app/docs/deep-research) by [Nico
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Albanese](https://x.com/nicoalbanese10).
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</Info>
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## Overview
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This full-stack project is an intelligent deep research agent that autonomously conducts multi-layered web research, generating comprehensive reports which are then converted to PDF and uploaded to storage.
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<video
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controls
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className="w-full aspect-video"
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src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/aa86d2b2-7aa7-4948-82ff-5e1e80cf8e37"
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></video>
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**Tech stack:**
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- **[Next.js](https://nextjs.org/)** for the web app
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- **[Vercel's AI SDK](https://sdk.vercel.ai/)** for AI model integration and structured generation
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- **[Trigger.dev](https://trigger.dev)** for task orchestration, execution and real-time progress updates
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- **[OpenAI's GPT-4o model](https://openai.com/gpt-4)** for intelligent query generation, content analysis, and report creation
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- **[Exa API](https://exa.ai/)** for semantic web search with live crawling
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- **[LibreOffice](https://www.libreoffice.org/)** for PDF generation
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- **[Cloudflare R2](https://developers.cloudflare.com/r2/)** to store the generated reports
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**Features:**
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- **Recursive research**: AI generates search queries, evaluates their relevance, asks follow-up questions and searches deeper based on initial findings.
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- **Real-time progress**: Live updates are shown on the frontend using Trigger.dev Realtime as research progresses.
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- **Intelligent source evaluation**: AI evaluates search result relevance before processing.
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- **Research report generation**: The completed research is converted to a structured HTML report using a detailed system prompt.
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- **PDF creation and uploading to Cloud storage**: The completed reports are then converted to PDF using LibreOffice and uploaded to Cloudflare R2.
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## GitHub repo
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<Card
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title="View the Vercel AI SDK deep research agent repo"
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icon="GitHub"
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href="https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/tree/main/vercel-ai-sdk-deep-research-agent"
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>
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Click here to view the full code for this project in our examples repository on GitHub. You can
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fork it and use it as a starting point for your own project.
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</Card>
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## How the deep research agent works
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### Trigger.dev orchestration
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The research process is orchestrated through three connected Trigger.dev tasks:
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1. `deepResearchOrchestrator` - Main task that coordinates the entire research workflow.
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2. `generateReport` - Processes research data into a structured HTML report using OpenAI's GPT-4o model
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3. `generatePdfAndUpload` - Converts HTML to PDF using LibreOffice and uploads to R2 cloud storage
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Each task uses `triggerAndWait()` to create a dependency chain, ensuring proper sequencing while maintaining isolation and error handling.
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### The deep research recursive function
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The core research logic uses a recursive depth-first search approach. A query is recursively expanded and the results are collected.
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**Key parameters:**
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- `depth`: Controls recursion levels (default: 2)
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- `breadth`: Number of queries per level (default: 2, halved each recursion)
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```
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Level 0 (Initial Query): "AI safety in autonomous vehicles"
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│
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├── Level 1 (depth = 1, breadth = 2):
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│ ├── Sub-query 1: "Machine learning safety protocols in self-driving cars"
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│ │ ├── → Search Web → Evaluate Relevance → Extract Learnings
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│ │ └── → Follow-up: "How do neural networks handle edge cases?"
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│ │
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│ └── Sub-query 2: "Regulatory frameworks for autonomous vehicle testing"
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│ ├── → Search Web → Evaluate Relevance → Extract Learnings
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│ └── → Follow-up: "What are current safety certification requirements?"
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│
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└── Level 2 (depth = 2, breadth = 1):
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├── From Sub-query 1 follow-up:
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│ └── "Neural network edge case handling in autonomous systems"
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│ └── → Search Web → Evaluate → Extract → DEPTH LIMIT REACHED
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│
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└── From Sub-query 2 follow-up:
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└── "Safety certification requirements for self-driving vehicles"
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└── → Search Web → Evaluate → Extract → DEPTH LIMIT REACHED
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```
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**Process flow:**
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1. **Query generation**: OpenAI's GPT-4o generates multiple search queries from the input
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2. **Web search**: Each query searches the web via the Exa API with live crawling
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3. **Relevance evaluation**: OpenAI's GPT-4o evaluates if results help answer the query
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4. **Learning extraction**: Relevant results are analyzed for key insights and follow-up questions
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5. **Recursive deepening**: Follow-up questions become new queries for the next depth level
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6. **Accumulation**: All learnings, sources, and queries are accumulated across recursion levels
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### Using Trigger.dev Realtime to trigger and subscribe to the deep research task
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We use the [`useRealtimeTaskTrigger`](/realtime/react-hooks/triggering#userealtimetasktrigger) React hook to trigger the `deep-research` task and subscribe to it's updates.
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**Frontend (React Hook)**:
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```typescript
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const triggerInstance = useRealtimeTaskTrigger<typeof deepResearchOrchestrator>("deep-research", {
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accessToken: triggerToken,
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});
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const { progress, label } = parseStatus(triggerInstance.run?.metadata);
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```
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As the research progresses, the metadata is set within the tasks and the frontend is kept updated with every new status:
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**Task Metadata**:
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```typescript
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metadata.set("status", {
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progress: 25,
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label: `Searching the web for: "${query}"`,
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});
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```
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## Relevant code
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- **Deep research task**: Core logic in [src/trigger/deepResearch.ts](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/vercel-ai-sdk-deep-research-agent/src/trigger/deepResearch.ts) - orchestrates the recursive research process. Here you can change the model, the depth and the breadth of the research.
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- **Report generation**: [src/trigger/generateReport.ts](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/vercel-ai-sdk-deep-research-agent/src/trigger/generateReport.ts) - creates structured HTML reports from research data. The system prompt is defined in the code - this can be updated to be more or less detailed.
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- **PDF generation**: [src/trigger/generatePdfAndUpload.ts](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/vercel-ai-sdk-deep-research-agent/src/trigger/generatePdfAndUpload.ts) - converts reports to PDF and uploads to R2. This is a simple example of how to use LibreOffice to convert HTML to PDF.
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- **Research agent UI**: [src/components/DeepResearchAgent.tsx](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/vercel-ai-sdk-deep-research-agent/src/components/DeepResearchAgent.tsx) - handles form submission and real-time progress display using the `useRealtimeTaskTrigger` hook.
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- **Progress component**: [src/components/progress-section.tsx](https://github.com/triggerdotdev/examples/blob/main/deep-research-agent/src/components/progress-section.tsx) - displays live research progress.
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<RealtimeLearnMore />
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