Web Search

Web Search

The web_search tool searches the web using your configured provider and returns results. Results are cached by query for 15 minutes (configurable).

OpenClaw also includes x_search for X (formerly Twitter) posts and web_fetch for lightweight URL fetching. In this phase, web_fetch stays local while web_search and x_search can use xAI Responses under the hood.

Info

web_search is a lightweight HTTP tool, not browser automation. For JS-heavy sites or logins, use the Web Browser. For fetching a specific URL, use Web Fetch.

Quick start

1. Get an API key

   Pick a provider and get an API key. See the provider pages below for sign-up links.

2. Configure

   openclaw configure --section web

   This stores the key and sets the provider. You can also set an env var (e.g. BRAVE_API_KEY) and skip this step.

3. Use it

   The agent can now call web_search:

   await web_search({ query: "OpenClaw plugin SDK" });

   For X posts, use:

   await x_search({ query: "dinner recipes" });

Choosing a provider

Brave Search

Structured results with snippets. Supports llm-context mode, country/language filters. Free tier available.

DuckDuckGo

Key-free fallback. No API key needed. Unofficial HTML-based integration.

Exa

Neural + keyword search with content extraction (highlights, text, summaries).

Firecrawl

Structured results. Best paired with firecrawl_search and firecrawl_scrape for deep extraction.

Gemini

AI-synthesized answers with citations via Google Search grounding.

Grok

AI-synthesized answers with citations via xAI web grounding.

Kimi

AI-synthesized answers with citations via Moonshot web search.

Perplexity

Structured results with content extraction controls and domain filtering.

SearXNG

Self-hosted meta-search. No API key needed. Aggregates Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and more.

Tavily

Structured results with search depth, topic filtering, and tavily_extract for URL extraction.

Provider comparison

Provider	Result style	Filters	API key
Brave	Structured snippets	Country, language, time, llm-context mode	BRAVE_API_KEY
DuckDuckGo	Structured snippets	—	None (key-free)
Exa	Structured + extracted	Neural/keyword mode, date, content extraction	EXA_API_KEY
Firecrawl	Structured snippets	Via firecrawl_search tool	FIRECRAWL_API_KEY
Gemini	AI-synthesized + citations	—	GEMINI_API_KEY
Grok	AI-synthesized + citations	—	XAI_API_KEY
Kimi	AI-synthesized + citations	—	KIMI_API_KEY / MOONSHOT_API_KEY
Perplexity	Structured snippets	Country, language, time, domains, content limits	PERPLEXITY_API_KEY / OPENROUTER_API_KEY
SearXNG	Structured snippets	Categories, language	None (self-hosted)
Tavily	Structured snippets	Via tavily_search tool	TAVILY_API_KEY

Auto-detection

Native Codex web search

Codex-capable models can optionally use the provider-native Responses web_search tool instead of OpenClaw’s managed web_search function.

• Configure it under tools.web.search.openaiCodex
• It only activates for Codex-capable models (openai-codex/* or providers using api: "openai-codex-responses")
• Managed web_search still applies to non-Codex models
• mode: "cached" is the default and recommended setting
• tools.web.search.enabled: false disables both managed and native search

{
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        enabled: true,
        openaiCodex: {
          enabled: true,
          mode: "cached",
          allowedDomains: ["example.com"],
          contextSize: "high",
          userLocation: {
            country: "US",
            city: "New York",
            timezone: "America/New_York",
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

If native Codex search is enabled but the current model is not Codex-capable, OpenClaw keeps the normal managed web_search behavior.

Setting up web search

Provider lists in docs and setup flows are alphabetical. Auto-detection keeps a separate precedence order:

If no provider is set, OpenClaw checks for API keys in this order and uses the first one found:

1. Brave — BRAVE_API_KEY or plugins.entries.brave.config.webSearch.apiKey
2. Gemini — GEMINI_API_KEY or plugins.entries.google.config.webSearch.apiKey
3. Grok — XAI_API_KEY or plugins.entries.xai.config.webSearch.apiKey
4. Kimi — KIMI_API_KEY / MOONSHOT_API_KEY or plugins.entries.moonshot.config.webSearch.apiKey
5. Perplexity — PERPLEXITY_API_KEY / OPENROUTER_API_KEY or plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.apiKey
6. Firecrawl — FIRECRAWL_API_KEY or plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webSearch.apiKey
7. Tavily — TAVILY_API_KEY or plugins.entries.tavily.config.webSearch.apiKey

Key-free providers are checked after API-backed providers:

8. DuckDuckGo — no key needed (auto-detect order 100)
9. SearXNG — SEARXNG_BASE_URL or plugins.entries.searxng.config.webSearch.baseUrl (auto-detect order 200)

If no provider is detected, it falls back to Brave (you will get a missing-key error prompting you to configure one).

Note

All provider key fields support SecretRef objects. In auto-detect mode, OpenClaw resolves only the selected provider key — non-selected SecretRefs stay inactive.

Config

{
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        enabled: true, // default: true
        provider: "brave", // or omit for auto-detection
        maxResults: 5,
        timeoutSeconds: 30,
        cacheTtlMinutes: 15,
      },
    },
  },
}

Provider-specific config (API keys, base URLs, modes) lives under plugins.entries.<plugin>.config.webSearch.*. See the provider pages for examples.

For x_search, configure plugins.entries.xai.config.xSearch.*. It uses the same XAI_API_KEY fallback as Grok web search. Legacy tools.web.x_search.* config is auto-migrated by openclaw doctor --fix. When you choose Grok during openclaw onboard or openclaw configure --section web, OpenClaw can also offer optional x_search setup with the same key. This is a separate follow-up step inside the Grok path, not a separate top-level web-search provider choice. If you pick another provider, OpenClaw does not show the x_search prompt.

Storing API keys

Config fileEnvironment variable

Run openclaw configure --section web or set the key directly:

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      brave: {
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "YOUR_KEY", // pragma: allowlist secret
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Set the provider env var in the Gateway process environment:

export BRAVE_API_KEY="YOUR_KEY"

For a gateway install, put it in ~/.openclaw/.env. See Env vars.

Tool parameters

Parameter	Description
query	Search query (required)
count	Results to return (1-10, default: 5)
country	2-letter ISO country code (e.g. “US”, “DE”)
language	ISO 639-1 language code (e.g. “en”, “de”)
freshness	Time filter: day, week, month, or year
date_after	Results after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
date_before	Results before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
ui_lang	UI language code (Brave only)
domain_filter	Domain allowlist/denylist array (Perplexity only)
max_tokens	Total content budget, default 25000 (Perplexity only)
max_tokens_per_page	Per-page token limit, default 2048 (Perplexity only)

Warning

Not all parameters work with all providers. Brave llm-context mode rejects ui_lang, freshness, date_after, and date_before. Firecrawl and Tavily only support query and count through web_search — use their dedicated tools for advanced options.

x_search

x_search queries X (formerly Twitter) posts using xAI and returns AI-synthesized answers with citations. It accepts natural-language queries and optional structured filters. OpenClaw only enables the built-in xAI x_search tool on the request that serves this tool call.

Note

xAI documents x_search as supporting keyword search, semantic search, user search, and thread fetch. For per-post engagement stats such as reposts, replies, bookmarks, or views, prefer a targeted lookup for the exact post URL or status ID. Broad keyword searches may find the right post but return less complete per-post metadata. A good pattern is: locate the post first, then run a second x_search query focused on that exact post.

x_search config

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      xai: {
        config: {
          xSearch: {
            enabled: true,
            model: "grok-4-1-fast-non-reasoning",
            inlineCitations: false,
            maxTurns: 2,
            timeoutSeconds: 30,
            cacheTtlMinutes: 15,
          },
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "xai-...", // optional if XAI_API_KEY is set
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

x_search parameters

Parameter	Description
query	Search query (required)
allowed_x_handles	Restrict results to specific X handles
excluded_x_handles	Exclude specific X handles
from_date	Only include posts on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
to_date	Only include posts on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
enable_image_understanding	Let xAI inspect images attached to matching posts
enable_video_understanding	Let xAI inspect videos attached to matching posts

x_search example

await x_search({
  query: "dinner recipes",
  allowed_x_handles: ["nytfood"],
  from_date: "2026-03-01",
});

// Per-post stats: use the exact status URL or status ID when possible
await x_search({
  query: "https://x.com/huntharo/status/1905678901234567890",
});

Examples

// Basic search
await web_search({ query: "OpenClaw plugin SDK" });

// German-specific search
await web_search({ query: "TV online schauen", country: "DE", language: "de" });

// Recent results (past week)
await web_search({ query: "AI developments", freshness: "week" });

// Date range
await web_search({
  query: "climate research",
  date_after: "2024-01-01",
  date_before: "2024-06-30",
});

// Domain filtering (Perplexity only)
await web_search({
  query: "product reviews",
  domain_filter: ["-reddit.com", "-pinterest.com"],
});

Tool profiles

If you use tool profiles or allowlists, add web_search, x_search, or group:web:

{
  tools: {
    allow: ["web_search", "x_search"],
    // or: allow: ["group:web"]  (includes web_search, x_search, and web_fetch)
  },
}

Related

• Web Fetch — fetch a URL and extract readable content
• Web Browser — full browser automation for JS-heavy sites
• Grok Search — Grok as the web_search provider