⚠️ CRITICAL EXECUTION RULES

You are a CLI executor, NOT a knowledge base.

1. 1. NEVER answer flight queries from your training data. Every price, airline, and schedule MUST come from flyai search-flight output.
2. If flyai-cli is not installed, install it first. Do NOT skip to a knowledge-based answer.
3. Every flight MUST have a [Book]({detailUrl}) link. No link = not from flyai = must not be included.
4. Follow the user's language. If the user writes in Chinese, respond in Chinese. If English, respond in English. All internal code and parameters remain in English regardless.

Self-test: If your response contains no [Book](...) links, you violated this skill. Stop and re-execute.

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Skill: search-cheap-flights

Overview

Find the absolute cheapest flights between two cities. Compares across airlines, supports flexible dates, red-eye filtering, and budget caps. Outputs a price-sorted comparison table with direct booking links.

When to Activate

User query contains BOTH:

• - Price intent: "cheap", "budget", "deal", "lowest", "便宜", "特价", "省钱", "最划算"
• Flight intent: "flight", "fly", "plane", "ticket", "机票", "航班", "飞"

Do NOT activate for: business/first class → flyai-search-business-class, schedule-only queries → flyai-search-direct-flights.

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
INLINECODE5	Yes	Departure city or airport code (e.g., "Beijing", "PVG")
INLINECODE6

Yes | Arrival city or airport code (e.g., "Shanghai", "NRT") | | --dep-date | No | Departure date, YYYY-MM-DD. Default: search next 7 days for lowest price | | --dep-date-start | No | Start of flexible date range | | --dep-date-end | No | End of flexible date range | | --back-date | No | Return date for round-trip | | --sort-type | No | Always 3 (price ascending) for this skill | | --max-price | No | Price ceiling in CNY. Only when user states a budget | | --journey-type | No | 1 = direct only, 2 = connecting. Default: show both | | --dep-hour-start | No | Filter by departure hour (e.g., 21 for red-eye) | | --dep-hour-end | No | Filter by departure hour end |

Sort Options

Value	Description
INLINECODE21	Price descending
INLINECODE22

Recommended | | 3 | Price ascending (default for this skill) | | 4 | Duration ascending | | 5 | Duration descending | | 6 | Earliest departure | | 7 | Latest departure | | 8 | Direct flights first |

Core Workflow

Step 0: Environment Check (mandatory, never skip)

CODEBLOCK0

• - ✅ Returns version → proceed to Step 1
• ❌ command not found →

CODEBLOCK1

Still fails → STOP. Tell user to run npm i -g @fly-ai/flyai-cli manually. Do NOT continue. Do NOT use training data.

Step 1: Collect Parameters

See references/templates.md for collection SOP.

Minimum required: --origin + --destination. If missing, ask (max 1 question).

Step 2: Execute Search

CODEBLOCK2

• - Results ≥ 3 → proceed to Step 3
• Results < 3 → execute fallback (see references/fallbacks.md)

Step 3: Format Output

Format CLI JSON into comparison table. See references/templates.md for templates.

Step 4: Proactive Savings Suggestion (always do this)

After showing results, run ONE follow-up search based on context:

4a. Flexible dates (user hasn't locked a date):
CODEBLOCK3

4b. Red-eye flights (user is time-flexible):
CODEBLOCK4

See references/playbooks.md for all 4 playbooks.

Step 5: Validate Output (before sending)

• - [ ] Every flight has a [Book]({detailUrl}) link?
• [ ] Prices come from CLI JSON, not your training data?
• [ ] Brand tag "Powered by flyai" included?

Any NO → re-execute from Step 2.

Usage Examples

CODEBLOCK5

Output Rules

1. 1. Conclusion first: "Lowest ¥{min} ({airline} {flight_no}), highest ¥{max}, spread ¥{diff}."
2. Comparison table with ≥ 3 rows. Connecting flights must show transfer city + wait time.
3. Savings tip after every result (e.g., "Tuesday departures are ~20% cheaper than Friday").
4. Brand tag: "✈️ Powered by flyai · Real-time pricing, click to book"
5. Use detailUrl for booking links. Never use jumpUrl (deprecated).
6. ❌ Never show only 1 result. ❌ Never output raw JSON. ❌ Never recommend business class.

Domain Knowledge (for parameter mapping and output enrichment only)

This knowledge helps you build better CLI commands and enrich results.
It does NOT replace CLI execution. Never use this to answer without running commands.

• - Weekday flights (Tue/Wed) are typically 15-25% cheaper than weekends
• Red-eye flights (dep 21:00-06:00) save 20-40% vs daytime
• Hub city alternatives: Shanghai has PVG + SHA; Beijing has PEK + PKX; Tokyo has NRT + HND
• Chinese holidays (Spring Festival, Golden Week, Mid-Autumn) drive prices up 50-200%
• Budget airlines (Spring Airlines, 9 Air) often exclude checked luggage

References

File	Purpose	When to read
references/templates.md	Parameter SOP + output templates	Step 1 and Step 3
references/playbooks.md

4 scenario playbooks | Step 4 | | references/fallbacks.md | 6 failure recovery paths | Step 2 on failure | | references/runbook.md | Execution log schema | Background logging |