find-web-developer

Drive the ServiceGraph API (https://api.servicegraph.co) to find, shortlist, and enrich US web development firms. The catalog tags ~14k firms with service_provided:web-development under industry:it_services (web-development is the second-largest service tag in the catalog).

Always pin both industry:it_services and service_provided:web-development. Platforms (WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Next.js, etc.) and verticals (B2B, ecommerce, agency-vs- studio) are NOT separate tags — they're keyword substring matches on firm text.

Any HTTP client works (curl, fetch, requests). Examples below use curl.

Sibling skills — defer when scope is different

If the user's ask involves any of the following, defer:

• Custom backend / API / internal tools / mobile app / distributed systems → find-software-developer. The end-product is software beyond a standard website.
• Broader marketing strategy and execution beyond the site build (paid media, content strategy, full digital agency engagement) → find-marketing-agency.
• SEO-only work on an existing site → find-seo-agency. Web devs build sites; SEO agencies optimize them. Some overlap exists; if the user wants new pages built AND optimized, this skill is fine.

If unsure, this skill is correct for "build / rebuild / refresh a website" tasks. The deferral kicks in when the deliverable is non-website software or non-build marketing work.

MCP server (preferred for authed calls)

If your agent harness has the ServiceGraph MCP server loaded (https://mcp.servicegraph.co), prefer its tools for the authed tier (/search, /get, /stats). The MCP server uses OAuth 2.1 + PKCE — the host harness handles credentials in its own audited sandbox, so there's no .env.local, no shell dispatch, and no token value ever enters the LLM context.

For the anonymous tier (/tags, /check, /explore), MCP is not preferred — every MCP tool requires OAuth (the server has no anonymous tier), so plain curl against the REST URL is the simpler path for discovery calls. Use the REST patterns below for those.

The MCP tools 1:1-map to the public REST endpoints — same backend, same quota, same data:

MCP tool	REST endpoint	Anon?	Recommended path
list_tags	GET /v1/tags	yes	curl
check_filter	GET /v1/check	yes	curl
explore_firms	GET /v1/explore	yes	curl
search_firms	GET /v1/search	no	MCP if loaded, else curl + OTP
get_firm	GET /v1/get/:id	no	MCP if loaded, else curl + OTP
catalog_stats	GET /v1/stats	no	MCP if loaded, else curl + OTP

Detection: if you see any MCP tools with servicegraph in the name (the harness-specific prefix varies — agents pattern-match the substring), the ServiceGraph MCP server is loaded. Prefer those tools for the authed tier; complete any auth flow the harness initiates if needed. If no servicegraph MCP tools are present, fall through to the REST + OTP flow below for the authed tier.

The four-tier funnel

Tier	Auth	Cost	Use it for
GET /v1/tags	none	free	First call of every session. Discover legal field names, kinds, operators, values.
GET /v1/check?filter=...	none	free	Validate a filter before spending an explore/search call.
GET /v1/explore?filter=...	none	free, IP-throttled	Scope: count + breakdowns. Use to size the candidate pool before quota-spending.
GET /v1/search?filter=...	bearer	200 unique firms / month free	Brief firm cards. No url, no contact info. Use for ranking / shortlisting.
GET /v1/get/:id	bearer	50 unique firms / month free	Full bundle: url, phone, email, social, legal name, address. Only call for shortlisted firms.
POST /v1/research	paid	not in MVP	Deferred — skip.

Quota rule that matters: /search and /get charge per unique firm viewed per calendar month, not per call. Re-paging the same query is free. Two different filters that overlap charge once for the overlap. Re-fetching a firm you already pulled this month is free.

Session-start ritual

Before constructing any filter, call:

GET https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/tags?include_values=1

Cache the response for the conversation. Confirm web-development is present in the service_provided taxonomy. The parser silently accepts unknown tags and returns zero results, so verifying the tag name once per session prevents silent failures.

Field kinds you'll use most:

• categorical: industry (always it_services), state, pricing_model, company_size_signal, geography_served — op :
• tag_set_with_evidence: service_provided (always include web-development, optionally with @high evidence) — op : with optional @evidence
• numeric: rating, review_count_total, founded_year — ops = >= <= > <
• presence: has:phone, has:clutch, has:rating, has:linkedin_company, …
• keyword: free-text substring across firm name / brand / title / meta / legal_name. Bareword in the filter becomes a keyword.

Auth

/tags, /check, and /explore are anonymous. /search and /get require a bearer token.

Security model — keep the token out of the LLM context.

• Never read .env, .env.local, or any other credential file into your context. The token's literal value should never appear in the conversation.
• Use shell dispatch for every authed request so the token flows directly from the user's environment / dotenv file into the Authorization header without round-tripping through the LLM.
• Always ask the user once per session before using a detected token, even if it's already in their shell or .env.local.

Resolution rule:

1. Detect whether a token is available — without reading its value. Run a shell check that only inspects exit codes:

   ( [ -n "${SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN:-}" ] \
     || grep -qs '^SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN=' .env.local \
     || grep -qs '^SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN=' .env )
   

   Exit code 0 = token is available somewhere; non-zero = no token.

2. Confirm with the user before the first authed call this session:

   "I found a SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN in your environment / .env.local. OK to use it for ServiceGraph API requests this session?"

   If the user says no, stay on the anonymous tiers (/tags, /check, /explore) and skip authed calls. Don't re-ask later unless the user asks for authed work.

3. Dispatch via shell — every authed call goes through a shell wrapper so the literal token never enters the conversation:

   # If exported in the shell environment:
   curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN" \
        'https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/search?filter=...'
   
   # If in .env.local — source it inside a subshell so it doesn't
   # leak into the parent shell either:
   ( set -a; . ./.env.local; set +a;
     curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN" \
          'https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/search?filter=...' )
   

   Capture the response body to a tmp file or jq-process it, but do NOT echo the request command with the token expanded.

4. OTP flow if no token is detected — capture the new token directly into .env.local without surfacing its value to the LLM:

   # 1. trigger the email — agent prompts the user for $EMAIL
   curl -fsS -X POST 'https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/auth/request-otp' \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -d "{\"email\":\"$EMAIL\"}"
   
   # 2. exchange the code — agent prompts the user for $CODE.
   #    The ?format=env query param returns SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN=<token>
   #    as plain text appended to .env.local — no jq needed. The -f
   #    flag makes curl exit non-zero on 4xx so a wrong code doesn't
   #    pollute the file (the error mirror is also a `# comment` line,
   #    safe to ignore even if it lands).
   curl -fsS -X POST 'https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/auth/verify-otp?format=env' \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -d "{\"email\":\"$EMAIL\",\"code\":\"$CODE\",\"name\":\"claude-cli\"}" \
     >> .env.local
   
   # 3. confirm capture without revealing the value
   grep -q '^SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN=' .env.local && echo "OTP token captured."
   

   After a successful capture, the user has implicitly consented (they just completed the flow), so proceed to dispatch (step 3). The token is now persistent in .env.local for future sessions.

5. If a /search or /get returns 401 unauthorized mid-session, the token expired or was revoked — re-run the OTP flow.

Filter DSL

One query parameter, GitHub-search-style.

filter   := orExpr
orExpr   := andExpr ("OR" andExpr)*
andExpr  := notExpr (("AND")? notExpr)*    # whitespace = implicit AND
notExpr  := ("NOT" | "-") notExpr | atom
atom     := "(" filter ")" | predicate
predicate:= IDENT op valueOrList | bareword
op       := ":" | "=" | ">=" | "<=" | ">" | "<"
valueOrList := value ("," value)*
value    := IDENT | NUMBER | tagAtEvidence
tagAtEvidence := IDENT "@" ("low"|"medium"|"high")
bareword := IDENT | NUMBER          # → keyword:<bareword>

Four rules that bite:

1. AND binds tighter than OR. a OR b c parses as a OR (b AND c). Use parens.
2. Comma list = OR within one predicate. state:CA,NY,TX matches any of the three.
3. Negation is -x or NOT x. Negative literals inside a comma list are not allowed: state:CA,-NY is rejected. Use state:CA -state:NY.
4. Bareword = keyword search. Any IDENT or NUMBER not followed by an operator becomes a free-text substring across name / brand / title / meta / legal_name. Multiple barewords AND.

Web-dev examples (validate yours with /v1/check):

industry:it_services service_provided:web-development
industry:it_services service_provided:web-development@high state:CA webflow
industry:it_services service_provided:web-development shopify ecommerce
industry:it_services service_provided:web-development wordpress
industry:it_services service_provided:web-development headless next.js
industry:it_services service_provided:web-development@high rating>=4 has:clutch
industry:it_services service_provided:web-development b2b

When in doubt about whether a filter parses, hit /v1/check?filter=... first — it's free and returns the canonical normalized form.

Platform / vertical / framework → keyword mapping (none of these are structured tags — keyword them):

User mentions	Add as keyword
WordPress	wordpress
Webflow	webflow
Shopify / Shopify Plus	shopify
Squarespace / Wix	squarespace / wix
Headless / JAMstack / Next.js / Gatsby	headless, next.js, gatsby
Sanity / Contentful / Strapi	sanity, contentful, strapi
Ecommerce / D2C / DTC	ecommerce, d2c
B2B / SaaS / fintech	b2b, saas, fintech

firm_id contract

firm_id is a stable 12-hex-char handle:

firm_id = sha256(apex.lower().rstrip(".")).hexdigest()[:12]

apex is the registered domain (focuslabllc.com, not www.focuslabllc.com/work). Anyone with an apex list can compute firm_ids locally and call /v1/get/:id directly — no /search needed for BYO enrichment.

import hashlib
def firm_id(apex):
    return hashlib.sha256(apex.lower().rstrip(".").encode()).hexdigest()[:12]

echo -n "focuslabllc.com" | tr 'A-Z' 'a-z' \
  | openssl dgst -sha256 -hex | awk '{print substr($2,1,12)}'

Recipes

A. Marketing landing page (the baseline)

User: "Web developer to build our marketing landing page."

GET /v1/explore?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development
# → pool size + breakdowns

GET /v1/search?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development&limit=10
# → 10 brief cards; user picks 3

GET /v1/get/<firm_id>     # ×3
# → urls, phones, emails for outreach

B. Webflow agency in a state

User: "Three Webflow agencies in California for our marketing site."

webflow is a bareword (keyword), not a tag:

GET /v1/search?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development+webflow+state:CA&limit=10

C. Shopify ecommerce rebuild

User: "Rebuild our ecommerce site on Shopify with custom theme work."

GET /v1/search?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development+shopify+ecommerce

For Shopify Plus specifically, add plus as an additional bareword.

D. WordPress site refresh / maintenance

User: "WordPress dev shop to maintain and refresh our company site."

GET /v1/search?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development+wordpress

E. Headless CMS / Next.js

User: "Headless CMS implementation specialists for our Next.js site."

GET /v1/search?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development+headless+next.js

If the result is sparse, drop next.js first — headless alone captures the architectural pattern; specific frameworks vary.

F. Indirect intent — "redesign and rebuild our site"

User: "Our site is dated and slow — we need someone to redesign and rebuild it."

That's a web-dev procurement ask. Translate:

GET /v1/explore?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development
# → confirm pool + breakdowns

GET /v1/search?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development&limit=10&order_by=relevance

If the user gave a constraint elsewhere (location, platform, budget proxy via pricing_model), add it. Otherwise present top-10 by relevance and ask for constraints.

G. Quality threshold + platform

User: "Three web development studios with at least 4-star ratings, Shopify Plus experience."

GET /v1/search?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development@high+rating>=4+shopify+plus&limit=10

H. BYO apex list — enrich domains the user already has

User pastes 8–20 web-dev shop domains. For each:

1. Compute firm_id locally (see contract above).
2. GET /v1/get/<firm_id> — full bundle if in catalog, 404 (not charged) if not.
3. Aggregate, present, flag the not-found ones to the user. A 404 here often means the firm isn't tagged with web-development specifically — it might be in the catalog under another tag.

Gotchas

• Always pin both industry:it_services AND service_provided:web-development. Without the industry pin, web-development as a tag also appears on some marketing-agency rows; without the service pin, you'd return all IT-services firms.
• Defer to find-software-developer for non-website software. Internal tools, custom CRMs, mobile apps (iOS/Android), backend/API work, distributed systems — these are software-developer territory. The boundary: is the end-product a public website, or something else?
• Defer to find-marketing-agency for full marketing engagements. "Build our site AND run our marketing" is broader than this skill — fire find-marketing-agency, which has web-design as a sub-service tag too.
• Platforms (WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Next.js) are NOT structured tags. Keyword them.
• Frameworks (React, Vue, Astro, Gatsby) are NOT structured tags either. Keyword them.
• looks_not_pro_services 404 is not a bug. A firm_id may exist in /search but 404 on /get if it's been flagged. Skip and continue; not charged.
• /v1/explore k=20 suppression. When fewer than 20 firms match, the response is {"count": "<20", "suppressed": true, "breakdowns": {}}. Drilling further makes the count smaller. Broaden or escalate to /v1/search.
• Briefs from /search do NOT include apex, url, phone_primary, email_primary, legal_name, or address. If the user asks for contact info, you must /get/:id. Do not pretend to have it from the brief.
• Catalog is US-only B2B. Refuse offshore asks ("Manila", "Karachi"), individual freelancers, and DIY/code-help asks ("debug this CSS").
• CMS/hosting/builder product comparisons aren't procurement. "WordPress vs Webflow vs Squarespace" is a knowledge question, not a firm shortlist.
• Multi-word phrases must be split into separate barewords. headless cms parses as two AND'd keywords.
• Quota is per-user-per-month, deduped on first view. Re-views are free; re-pagination is free.

Errors

All errors return JSON: {"error": {"code": "...", "message": "..."}}.

Status	Code	What to do
400	filter_parse_error	Payload includes position. Fix the filter, re-validate with /v1/check.
400	filter_required	Empty filter where one is required.
400	invalid_firm_id	firm_id must be 12 lowercase hex chars. Re-derive.
401	unauthorized	Token missing/expired. Re-run OTP.
404	not_found	Firm not in catalog or flagged. Not charged. Skip and continue.
429	rate_limited	Honor Retry-After header / retry_after field.
429	monthly_quota_exhausted	Switch to /v1/explore-only mode for the rest of the month. Tell the user.

Authed responses carry X-RateLimit-* and X-Quota-* headers. Surface the remaining-month value to the user when it gets low so they can budget.

End-to-end example

User: "Three Webflow agencies in California for our marketing site, ideally with at least a 4-star rating and a Clutch profile."

# 1. Discover fields (once per session)
GET /v1/tags?include_values=1
# Confirms 'web-development' is a valid service_provided tag.

# 2. Validate the filter and scope the pool (free, no auth)
GET /v1/check?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development@high+webflow+state:CA+rating>=4+has:clutch
# → {"valid": true, "normalized": "..."}

GET /v1/explore?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development@high+webflow+state:CA+rating>=4+has:clutch
# → {"count": 18, "breakdowns": {...}}
# Note: count<20 → suppressed. Broaden by dropping has:clutch or rating>=4.

GET /v1/explore?filter=industry:it_services+service_provided:web-development+webflow+state:CA+rating>=4
# → {"count": 41, "breakdowns": {...}}

# 3. Search briefs
GET /v1/search?filter=...&limit=10
# Header: Authorization: Bearer $SERVICEGRAPH_TOKEN
# → 10 brief cards.

# 4. Present briefs to user, get their pick of 3.

# 5. Pull full bundles for the 3 picks
GET /v1/get/<firm_id>     # ×3
# → urls, phones, emails for outreach

End of session: report X-Quota-Remaining-Month so the user knows how much budget is left.