Search & Pull EDSL Objects from Expected Parrot

Search, browse, and retrieve EDSL objects stored on the Expected Parrot cloud using the Coop API.

Usage

/search-objects customer survey
/search-objects 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000
/search-objects surveys about hiring
/search-objects

Workflow

1. Parse the Input

Determine what the user provided:

• •UUID (36-char hex with dashes, pattern 8-4-4-4-12): go directly to step 4 (Retrieve)
• •URL (starts with http): extract UUID or alias, go to step 4
• •Search query with type hint (e.g., "surveys about hiring", "results for experiment"): extract the object type and search keywords, go to step 2
• •Search query without type hint (e.g., "customer satisfaction"): search across all types, go to step 2
• •Nothing or vague: use AskUserQuestion to ask:

Question: "What are you looking for?"
Header: "Search"
Options:
  - "Browse my objects" / "See your own objects on Expected Parrot"
  - "Search community" / "Search public objects shared by others"
  - "Pull by UUID" / "Retrieve a specific object by its UUID or URL"

Then follow up with type/keyword questions as needed.

2. Search

Run a Python script to search using Coop().list():

from edsl import Coop

coop = Coop()

# Search with filters
objects = coop.list(
    object_type=None,        # or "survey", "results", etc.
    search_query="keyword",  # searches description field
    visibility=None,         # "private", "public", "unlisted", or None for all
    community=False,         # True to search public objects by others
    page=1,
    page_size=10,
    sort_ascending=False,    # newest first by default
)

# Pagination info
print(f"Page {objects.current_page} of {objects.total_pages} ({objects.total_count} total)")

# Display results as a table
print(f"{'#':<4} {'Type':<15} {'Description':<50} {'Owner':<15} {'Visibility':<10} {'UUID':<36}")
print("-" * 130)
for i, obj in enumerate(objects, 1):
    desc = (obj.get("description") or "")[:50]
    print(f"{i:<4} {obj['object_type']:<15} {desc:<50} {obj.get('owner_username',''):<15} {obj['visibility']:<10} {obj['uuid']}")

Type extraction hints — map natural language to object_type:

• •"survey(s)" → "survey"
• •"result(s)" → "results"
• •"agent(s)" / "agent list(s)" → "agent_list" (or "agent" for single)
• •"scenario(s)" / "scenario list(s)" → "scenario_list" (or "scenario" for single)
• •"question(s)" → "question"
• •"model(s)" → "model" or "model_list"
• •"cache(s)" → "cache"
• •"notebook(s)" → "notebook"
• •"macro(s)" → "macro" or "composite_macro"

Supported object types (all 13): agent, agent_list, cache, model, model_list, notebook, question, results, scenario, scenario_list, survey, macro, composite_macro

3. Select

If multiple results are returned, present them to the user with AskUserQuestion:

• •Show up to 4 options (the top results) with description snippets as labels and type/owner as descriptions
• •Include a "Search again" option if the results don't look right
• •If there are more pages, mention it: "Showing page 1 of N (M total results)"

If only one result, confirm with the user before pulling, or proceed directly if the match is clearly what they asked for.

4. Retrieve

Pull the selected object using the class-level .pull() method. First determine the correct class from the object type:

from edsl.coop.utils import ObjectRegistry

# Get the EDSL class for the object type
edsl_class = ObjectRegistry.get_edsl_class_by_object_type(object_type)

# Pull the object
obj = edsl_class.pull(uuid)

Or use Coop().pull() directly:

from edsl import Coop
coop = Coop()
obj = coop.pull(uuid, expected_object_type=object_type)

After pulling, display a summary based on the object type:

Summary examples:

# Survey
print(f"Survey with {len(obj)} questions: {obj.question_names}")

# Results
df = obj.to_pandas()
answer_cols = [c for c in df.columns if c.startswith('answer.')]
agent_cols = [c for c in df.columns if c.startswith('agent.')]
scenario_cols = [c for c in df.columns if c.startswith('scenario.')]
print(f"Results: {len(df)} rows, {len(answer_cols)} questions, {len(agent_cols)} agent traits, {len(scenario_cols)} scenario vars")

# AgentList
print(f"AgentList with {len(obj)} agents, traits: {obj.trait_names}")

# ScenarioList
print(f"ScenarioList with {len(obj)} scenarios, keys: {list(obj[0].keys()) if len(obj) > 0 else []}")

5. Save

Ask the user if and where to save locally:

Question: "Save this object locally?"
Header: "Save"
Options:
  - "Yes, default filename" / "Save as {slug}.json.gz in current directory"
  - "Yes, custom filename" / "Choose a filename and location"
  - "No" / "Don't save, just inspect"

Generate a default filename from the description:

import re

def slugify(text, max_length=60):
    text = text.lower().strip()
    text = re.sub(r'[^\w\s-]', '', text)
    text = re.sub(r'[\s_]+', '-', text)
    text = text.strip('-')
    if len(text) > max_length:
        text = text[:max_length].rsplit('-', 1)[0]
    return text

filename = slugify(description) + ".json.gz"

Save using the .save() method:

obj.save(filename)
print(f"Saved to: {filename}")

If "custom filename", use AskUserQuestion to get the desired filename, then save.

6. Report

Summarize what was done:

• •What was found (object type, description, owner)
• •File path if saved
• •Quick-reference for loading it back:

# To load this object later:
from edsl import {ClassName}
obj = {ClassName}.load("{filename}")

# Or pull fresh from the cloud:
obj = {ClassName}.pull("{uuid}")

Class Name Mapping

Map object types to import names for the load-back reference:

Pagination

If there are multiple pages of results:

# Check pagination
if objects.total_pages > 1:
    print(f"\nShowing page {objects.current_page} of {objects.total_pages} ({objects.total_count} total)")
    print("Use /search-objects to search again or ask for 'next page'")

To get the next page, re-run with page=page+1.

Error Handling

• •No results found: Suggest broadening the search (remove type filter, try different keywords, try community=True)
• •UUID not found: Check if it's a valid UUID format, suggest searching by description instead
• •Authentication error: Remind user to set up their Expected Parrot API key (EXPECTED_PARROT_API_KEY env var or run edsl config)
• •Network error: Suggest checking internet connection and trying again

Examples

Search for surveys about customers

/search-objects surveys about customers

→ Extracts type="survey", query="customers" → runs coop.list(object_type="survey", search_query="customers") → shows results → user picks one → pulls and summarizes → offers to save

Pull by UUID

/search-objects 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000

→ Detects UUID → runs coop.pull(uuid) → shows summary → offers to save

Browse community objects

/search-objects

→ No input → asks what user is looking for → user picks "Search community" → asks for type/keywords → searches with community=True → shows results