When to use

Use directory::registry::workers::list to search the public workers registry (api.workers.iii.dev) by free-text term and get back a list of PUBLISHED workers — the workers a user could install, regardless of whether any of them are currently connected to this engine.

This is the REMOTE counterpart to directory::engine::workers::list. Rows on both surfaces share a fixed set of core fields (name, description, version) so a parser that touches only those keys works against either; everything else is surface-specific (registry adds repo / author, directory adds runtime/connection state).

Inputs

{
  "search": "memory",   // required, non-empty; forwarded to GET /search?q=...
  "limit":  20          // optional, default 20, capped at 100
}

The registry doesn't currently expose an unscoped browse endpoint, so search MUST be non-empty. (Local directory::engine::workers::list allows empty search since it has access to all connected workers locally.)

Outputs

{
  "workers": [
    {
      "name":        "agent-memory",                            // shared core field
      "description": "Persistent memory tier for agents.",      // shared core field
      "version":     "0.4.0",                                   // shared core field (latest published)
      "repo":        "https://github.com/iii-hq/workers",
      "author":      { "name": "iii", "profile_picture": null, "is_verified": true }
    }
  ]
}

The first three fields (name, description, version) are shared with directory::engine::workers::list rows.

Caching

Each unique (search, limit) pair is cached for registry_cache_ttl_ms (default 60s). Repeat calls within the TTL window don't hit the registry — they return the same response from in-process memory.

Worked example

Find every published worker mentioning "memory":

{ "search": "memory" }

Top 5 results for "router":

{ "search": "router", "limit": 5 }

Related

• directory::registry::workers::info — full registry detail for one worker.
• directory::engine::workers::list — same row shape against connected workers.
• directory::skills::download — install a worker's skill bundle by name.