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Agent skill

Flight Search Strategy

by borski in borski/travel-hacking-toolkit

Canonical multi-source flight search strategy. An agent skill from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Flight Search Strategy

skills CLI
$ npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill flight-search-strategy -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install borski/travel-hacking-toolkit flight-search-strategy --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/flight-search-strategy .claude/skills/flight-search-strategy && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
flight-search-strategy
GitHub stars
688
Token cost
~1.7k tokens
SKILL.md length
865 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
46
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Canonical multi-source flight search strategy. An agent skill from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.

  • Works in 2 steps: The round-trip fare on every source… → Two one-ways, searched independently —…
  • SKILL.md covers Search ALL Sources for EVERY…, The Standard Flight Search…, Round Trip vs One-Way… and For Southwest Specifically, plus 4 more sections
  • Calls docker and python3; needs SW_PASSWORD

What it does

Flight Search Strategy is an agent skill from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit. Canonical multi-source flight search strategy. Source priority (Duffel, Ignav, Google Flights, Skiplagged, Kiwi, Seats.aero, Southwest), parallel workflow, market selection for international price arbitrage.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.7k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It works with Model Context Protocol. The repository describes itself as: AI-powered travel hacking and search with cash, points, miles, and award flights. Drop-in skills and MCP servers for Claude, Codex, and OpenCode. The licence is MIT.

Example prompts

  • “/flight-search-strategy”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • Docker

Workflow steps

2 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. The round-trip fare on every source (Duffel, Ignav, Kiwi, Skiplagged, and Google Flights all quote returns).
  2. Two one-ways, searched independently — which also surfaces the mixed construction (outbound on carrier A, return on carrier B) that…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit db82131. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • docker
    • python3

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use docker, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • SW_PASSWORD

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Flight Search Strategy loads about 1.7k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 58 tokens; SKILL.md has 865 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~58
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.7k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit at commit db82131, republished under its MIT licence (© borski). 865 words, ~1,749 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/flight-search-strategy/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
flight-search-strategy
description
Canonical multi-source flight search strategy. Source priority (Duffel, Ignav, Google Flights, Skiplagged, Kiwi, Seats.aero, Southwest), parallel workflow, market selection for international price arbitrage.
category
reference
summary
The canonical multi-source search workflow. Source priority (Duffel > Ignav > Google Flights > others), market selection for international routes, source…

Flight Search Strategy

This is not a pick-one list. Each source returns different results, different prices, and different airlines. Missing a source means missing options. The priority order determines which price to trust when sources disagree, not which sources to skip.

PrioritySourceStrengthsBlind Spots
1Duffel (skill)Most accurate cash prices. Real GDS per-fare-class data. Bookable.No Southwest. No award pricing. Offers expire in 15-30 min.
2Ignav (skill)Fast REST API. Market selection for price arbitrage. Free.No Southwest. No award pricing.
3Google Flights (skill, agent-browser)Covers ALL airlines including Southwest cash prices. Free. Economy/business comparison.Prices can be inflated vs GDS. No points pricing.
4Skiplagged (MCP)Hidden city fares. Zero config.No Southwest. Can be noisy on small markets.
5Kiwi.com (MCP)Virtual interlining (creative cross-airline routings). Zero config.Returns garbage on small markets. No Southwest.
6Seats.aero (skill)Award flight availability across 25+ programs. The crown jewel for points.Cached data, not live. No cash prices. No Southwest.
7SerpAPI (skill, optional)Google Hotels search. Destination discovery (Google Travel Explore).NOT for flights (inflated prices). Hotels and "where should I go?" only.
8Southwest (skill, Patchright)Fare classes, points pricing, Companion Pass. All 4 fare classes, cash + points.Pre-built Docker image: ghcr.io/borski/sw-fares. Or local Patchright (headed mode). ~20s per search.

The Standard Flight Search Workflow

Run ALL of these in parallel: Duffel + Ignav + Google Flights + Skiplagged + Kiwi.

Skiplagged and Kiwi are keyless MCP servers — they are available in every properly launched session. Attempt the tool call before ever claiming MCP is unavailable, and never substitute improvised browser scraping for these sources (see fallback-and-resilience).

Always add Seats.aero for award comparison. Always run the Southwest skill if SW flies the route.

Don't skip sources. Don't assume one source has everything. Present the combined results with the best options highlighted regardless of which source found them.

For a single unified comparison, use the compare-flights skill which orchestrates all of the above in parallel and applies transfer partner optimization.

Round Trip vs One-Way Construction

When the trip has a return date, price BOTH constructions — proactively, without being asked:

  1. The round-trip fare on every source (Duffel, Ignav, Kiwi, Skiplagged, and Google Flights all quote returns).
  2. Two one-ways, searched independently — which also surfaces the mixed construction (outbound on carrier A, return on carrier B) that round-trip searches can't see.

Run all of it in the same parallel batch; it's two extra searches, not a second pass.

Which wins is route-dependent, so never assume:

  • Round trips often win internationally on legacy carriers, where return fares are discounted relative to two one-ways.
  • One-way pairs often win domestically, on ULCCs, and anywhere Southwest flies (SW prices every leg as a one-way). They also buy flexibility: each leg can be changed or canceled independently.
  • Mixed-carrier pairs frequently beat both when outbound and return are priced by different airlines' sale calendars.

Present the verdict explicitly with the delta: "Round trip $842 vs best one-way pair $918 — book the round trip, saves $76" (or the reverse). If the gap is under ~$50, mention the flexibility advantage of separate tickets before recommending the round trip.

Show full SKILL.md (337 more words)Show less

For Southwest Specifically

Use the southwest skill:

bash
docker run --rm ghcr.io/borski/sw-fares --origin SJC --dest DEN --depart 2026-05-15 --points

Or:

bash
python3 skills/southwest/scripts/search_fares.py --origin SJC --dest DEN --depart 2026-05-15 --points

Returns all 4 fare classes (Wanna Get Away, WGA+, Anytime, Business Select), cash and points pricing.

The google-flights skill is a faster fallback for SW cash prices only (no fare class breakdown, no points pricing).

Monitoring Existing Southwest Reservations

bash
docker run --rm -e SW_USERNAME -e SW_PASSWORD \
  ghcr.io/borski/sw-fares change --conf ABC123 --first Jane --last Doe --json

Logs in, selects both legs, and shows fare diffs for every available flight. Negative diffs = savings opportunity. Use --list to discover all upcoming confirmation numbers. Read-only. Never modifies reservations.

Market Selection Strategy

Different country markets return different prices for the same route. Searching from Thailand (&gl=TH) vs the US (&gl=US) can save hundreds of dollars.

Always try multiple markets for international flights:

  1. Departure country market first (e.g., &gl=US for flights from the US)
  2. Destination country market (e.g., &gl=JP for flights to Japan)
  3. Ask the user before trying more (e.g., third countries, VPN markets)

This applies to:

  • google-flights via the &gl=XX URL parameter
  • ignav via the market field in the search payload

Duffel and SerpAPI don't support market selection.

Source Accuracy Hierarchy

When sources disagree on cash prices:

Duffel > Airline website > SerpAPI > Skiplagged/Kiwi

  1. Duffel returns real GDS prices per fare class. These are bookable. Tested: Duffel showed $271 basic / $325 main. SerpAPI showed $541 for the same flight. The gap was consistent across multiple itineraries.
  2. SerpAPI (Google Flights) inflates prices. Often shows "main cabin" or bundled fares, not the cheapest bookable fare class. Useful for Google Hotels and destination discovery, but do not trust it as the sole source for flight cash prices.
  3. Kiwi returns garbage on small markets. Filter hard or skip Kiwi for domestic routes to small airports.

Common Failure Modes

  • Running only one source and missing better options on others.
  • Trusting SerpAPI prices as bookable (they're often inflated).
  • Skipping Southwest because "no GDS has it" — exactly why you need the SW skill.
  • Skipping Seats.aero because the user "doesn't have those points" — they may have them via transfer, see the partner-awards skill.
  • Single-market search on international routes (always try at least 2 markets).

© borski, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/flight-search-strategy of borski/travel-hacking-toolkit.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit db82131

Compare with similar skills

Flight Search Strategy next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Flight Search Strategy compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Flight Search Strategy this skillborski/travel-hacking-toolkit688—~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
MCP Server Builderanthropics/skills180k63 repos~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
MCP Server BuildershareAI-lab/learn-claude-code78k4 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
MCP Integration for Pluginsanthropics/claude-plugins-official38k11 repos~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Figma use_figma Plugin API Ruleswarpdotdev/warp65k4 repos~4.4kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Stitch to Remotion Walkthrough Videosgoogle-labs-code/stitch-skills8.5k6 repos~3.2kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0

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Works with

Questions about Flight Search Strategy

What does Flight Search Strategy do?

Canonical multi-source flight search strategy. An agent skill from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit. Flight Search Strategy is an agent skill from borski/travel-hacking-toolkit. Canonical multi-source flight search strategy.

How do I install Flight Search Strategy in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill flight-search-strategy -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/flight-search-strategy in borski/travel-hacking-toolkit) into .claude/skills/flight-search-strategy in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Flight Search Strategy in Codex?

Run `npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill flight-search-strategy -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/travel-hacking-toolkit/skills/flight-search-strategy in borski/travel-hacking-toolkit) into .agents/skills/flight-search-strategy in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Flight Search Strategy in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill flight-search-strategy -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/flight-search-strategy, .gemini/skills/flight-search-strategy, .github/skills/flight-search-strategy and .opencode/skills/flight-search-strategy in your project.

What does Flight Search Strategy need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Flight Search Strategy needs the command-line tools its instructions call (docker and python3) and credentials named SW_PASSWORD. Our summary lists: Python 3; Docker.

Does Flight Search Strategy access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use docker, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Flight Search Strategy safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Flight Search Strategy use?

Flight Search Strategy is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Flight Search Strategy use?

About 1.7k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Flight Search Strategy?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Flight Search Strategy: MCP Server Builder (anthropics/skills, 180k stars), MCP Server Builder (shareAI-lab/learn-claude-code, 78k stars), MCP Integration for Plugins (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars) and Figma use_figma Plugin API Rules (warpdotdev/warp, 65k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Flight Search Strategy?

borski (a GitHub user) maintains it in borski/travel-hacking-toolkit, which has 688 GitHub stars. The repository holds 46 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

Source: borski/travel-hacking-toolkit on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.