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Add keyless Parallel search for OfficeQA rollouts - #324

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George Pickett (georgeatparallel) wants to merge 3 commits into
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georgeatparallel:parallel-search-17a2c862-6eca-4453-985f-6adc74851275
Open

George Pickett (georgeatparallel) wants to merge 3 commits into
microsoft:mainfrom
georgeatparallel:parallel-search-17a2c862-6eca-4453-985f-6adc74851275

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@georgeatparallel

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Run OfficeQA web-research rollouts with Parallel Search MCP, powered by Fast mode, without an account, API key, or access to the internal custom-search service. Fresh auto configs use Parallel for openai_chat and qwen_chat when no custom service is configured; saved configs can select env.search_mode=parallel.

Explicit offline, Azure, and custom-service settings remain authoritative. Exec harnesses retain their tool permissions. Parallel uses different evidence from the paper's Google-backed search setting, so results are not directly comparable.

I work at Parallel.

@Yif-Yang

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Reviewed 3b90b41860eae9e5b9bb72d8a96902a4c56da088 with the official MCP 1.27.0 wheel and an isolated dependency tree. The real SDK/HTTP-transport boundary selection passes 40 checks, including evidence consumption, explicit saved modes, exec/no-tools controls, timeouts, cancellation and error handling. No live Parallel or model call was made. These results support the value of an optional provider.

The current default change is a separate blocker: a fresh auto configuration on openai_chat or qwen_chat selects Parallel and sends the complete task question as objective, in addition to generated queries, without an explicit provider choice. Please retain the offline default and make Parallel an explicit selection with that data boundary documented. Also separate or justify the core MCP dependency and unconditional OfficeQA import so the optional capability does not unnecessarily determine offline installation behavior.

The supplied official documentation describes an anonymous lower-rate free tier, not unlimited search. Parallel evidence is not directly comparable to the paper's Google-backed setting. Your affiliation disclosure is acknowledged; this scope decision is based on default behavior and data flow, not affiliation or an unmeasured performance claim. The present head is not recommended for merge as-is.

Addresses review feedback on the default selection and the core dependency.

Restore the offline default: configs/officeqa/default.yaml and
OfficeQAAdapter are byte-identical to main again, and rollout no longer
resolves an `auto` mode. `auto` (like any unrecognized value) normalizes to
`offline`, so a fresh configuration behaves exactly as it does on main.
Parallel is reached only through an explicit `env.search_mode=parallel`.

Move `mcp` out of core dependencies into a `parallel` extra and import the
Parallel client lazily, so OfficeQA imports and offline installs no longer
require it. Selecting the mode without the extra raises an error naming
`pip install 'skillopt[parallel]'`. CI installs `.[dev,parallel]` so the
provider stays covered.

Document the data boundary in docs/reference/config.md and the changelog:
selecting this mode sends the generated queries and the full task question
(as the MCP `objective`) to Parallel's hosted endpoint. Describe the keyless
tier as an anonymous, lower-rate free tier rather than unlimited search, and
keep the note that this evidence is not directly comparable to the paper's
Google-backed setting.

Tests cover that a fresh `auto` config does not select Parallel, that
explicit selection does, that the OfficeQA env imports with `mcp` absent,
and that selecting Parallel without the extra reports the install command.
MCP transport tests skip when the extra is not installed.

Co-authored-by: George Pickett <[email protected]>
@cursor
cursor Bot force-pushed the parallel-search-17a2c862-6eca-4453-985f-6adc74851275 branch from 3b90b41 to 83fff2a Compare October 18, 2026 17:52
@georgeatparallel

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Thanks for the thorough review, Yifan Yang (@Yif-Yang). I pushed 83fff2a to address it.

The offline default is back: configs/officeqa/default.yaml and the adapter match main again, and auto now resolves to offline, so Parallel only runs with an explicit env.search_mode=parallel. mcp moved into an optional parallel extra with a lazy import, so offline installs and the OfficeQA import don't need it, and picking the mode without the extra points to pip install 'skillopt[parallel]'.

The config reference and changelog now spell out the data boundary (generated queries plus the full task question go to Parallel's hosted endpoint), describe the keyless tier as an anonymous lower-rate free tier, and keep the note that it isn't directly comparable to the paper's Google-backed setup. New tests cover each of those cases.

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3 participants