Release : Shandu - OpenAI DeepResearch alternative, An AI-driven research system that performs comprehensive, iterative research on any topic using multiple search engines and LLMs.
Key Features
Iterative Research: Recursively explores topics through multiple search engines with thematic organization
Ethical Web Scraping: Respects robots.txt rules and implements caching to minimize server impact
Comprehensive Reports: Generates 7000+ word detailed, well-structured markdown research reports
Configurable Parameters: Fine-tune research depth and breadth to suit your specific needs
Source Evaluation: Automatically assesses reliability and credibility of information sources
Parallel Processing: Optimized with concurrent operations for more efficient execution
Lightweight Search: Quick AI-powered search alternative with the aisearch command
Target Audience
People who don't want to pay 20$ for 10 queries a month to OpenAI or 200$ (for a Pro plan).
Comparison
It usually finishes report on any topic before OpenAI with usually much more sources. I didn't still check money it takes but it's usually like cents. You can also use any model, even locally run ones (but report will be worse, of course). You can run it with cheap api like DeepSeek.
How it works
Initial Setup
Takes user query and research parameters (breadth & depth)
Generates follow-up questions to understand research needs better
Deep Research Process
Generates multiple SERP queries based on research goals
Processes search results to extract key learnings
Generates follow-up research directions
Recursive Exploration
If depth > 0, takes new research directions and continues exploration
Each iteration builds on previous learnings
Maintains context of research goals and findings
Report Generation
Compiles all findings into a comprehensive markdown report
Includes all sources and references
Organizes information in a clear, readable format
Examples: Check examples/ folder.
Typical report (note this is with model of 72b params, you can achive much better results with o3 mini/o3-mini-high , just put openrouter api base,key, and model name). https://github.com/jolovicdev/shandu/blob/main/examples/qwen72b-instruct-test_nsa_esa_cnsa.md
GitHub repository: https://github.com/jolovicdev/shandu