Arena Research

General-purpose agentic research over Are.na. Decompose any research question into targeted searches, explore channels, follow the connection graph to discover adjacent ideas, identify key curators, deep-dive linked content, and synthesize into a sourced briefing.

For API details (endpoints, auth, response format): read references/arena-api.md.

When to Use Arena vs Other Sources

• Are.na — curated references, visual research, design thinking, cultural analysis, reading lists, how people organize ideas. High signal, human-curated, long-tail.
• X/Twitter (x-research) — real-time reactions, dev discourse, product launches, breaking news, expert hot takes. Fast-moving, high volume.
• Web search — factual answers, documentation, current events, specific URLs.

Are.na is a library, not a firehose. The value isn't just what people saved — it's how they organized it and what else they connected it to.

CLI Tool

All commands run from this skill directory:

cd ~/clawd/skills/arena-research
source ~/.config/env/global.env

Search

bun run arena-search.ts search "<query>" [options]

Options:

• --type Channel|Block|Text|Image|Link|User|Group — filter result type (default: all)
• --sort score|created|updated|connections|random — sort order (default: score)
• --scope all|my|following — search scope (default: all, my/following require auth)
• --per N — results per page (default: 24, max: 100)
• --page N — page number
• --quick — quick mode: 10 results, 1hr cache, channels only, sort by connections
• --save — save to ~/clawd/drafts/arena-research-{slug}-{date}.md
• --json — raw JSON output
• --markdown — formatted markdown output

Examples:

bun run arena-search.ts search "tools for thought" --type Channel --sort connections
bun run arena-search.ts search "brutalist web design" --quick
bun run arena-search.ts search "cybernetics" --type Link --per 50
bun run arena-search.ts search "spatial computing" --scope my

Channel

bun run arena-search.ts channel <slug-or-id> [options]

Options:

• --sort position|created|updated — content sort (default: position)
• --type Text|Image|Link|Attachment|Embed|Channel — filter content type
• --per N / --page N — pagination
• --connections — show channels that share blocks with this one (graph traversal)
• --save / --json / --markdown

Examples:

bun run arena-search.ts channel arena-influences
bun run arena-search.ts channel arena-influences --type Link --per 50
bun run arena-search.ts channel arena-influences --connections

Block

bun run arena-search.ts block <id> [options]

Options:

• --connections — show which channels this block appears in (graph traversal)
• --json

Examples:

bun run arena-search.ts block 3235876
bun run arena-search.ts block 3235876 --connections

User