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Kimi search

OpenClaw supports Kimi as a web_search provider, using Moonshot web search to produce AI-synthesized answers with citations.

Get an API key

Section titled “Get an API key”

  1. Create a key

    Get an API key from Moonshot AI.

  2. Store the key

    Set KIMI_API_KEY or MOONSHOT_API_KEY in the Gateway environment, or configure via:

    Terminal window
    openclaw configure --section web

When you choose Kimi during openclaw onboard or openclaw configure --section web, OpenClaw can also ask for:

  • the Moonshot API region:
    • https://api.moonshot.ai/v1
    • https://api.moonshot.cn/v1
  • the default Kimi web-search model (defaults to kimi-k2.6)

Config

Section titled “Config”
{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      moonshot: {
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "sk-...", // optional if KIMI_API_KEY or MOONSHOT_API_KEY is set
            baseUrl: "https://api.moonshot.ai/v1",
            model: "kimi-k2.6",
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "kimi",
      },
    },
  },
}

If you use the China API host for chat (models.providers.moonshot.baseUrl: https://api.moonshot.cn/v1), OpenClaw reuses that same host for Kimi web_search when tools.web.search.kimi.baseUrl is omitted, so keys from platform.moonshot.cn do not hit the international endpoint by mistake (which often returns HTTP 401). Override with tools.web.search.kimi.baseUrl when you need a different search base URL.

Environment alternative: set KIMI_API_KEY or MOONSHOT_API_KEY in the Gateway environment. For a gateway install, put it in ~/.openclaw/.env.

If you omit baseUrl, OpenClaw defaults to https://api.moonshot.ai/v1. If you omit model, OpenClaw defaults to kimi-k2.6.

How it works

Section titled “How it works”

Kimi uses Moonshot web search to synthesize answers with inline citations, similar to Gemini and Grok’s grounded response approach.

OpenClaw treats Kimi web_search as successful only after Moonshot returns native web-search grounding evidence, such as a replayable $web_search tool payload, search_results, or citation URLs. If Kimi stops immediately with a plain chat answer like “I cannot browse the internet” and no grounding evidence, OpenClaw returns a structured kimi_web_search_ungrounded error instead of wrapping that text as a search result. Retry the query, switch to a structured provider such as Brave, or use web_fetch / the browser tool when you already have a target URL.

Supported parameters

Section titled “Supported parameters”

Kimi search supports query.

count is accepted for shared web_search compatibility, but Kimi still returns one synthesized answer with citations rather than an N-result list.

Provider-specific filters are not currently supported.

Section titled “Related”