Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Web search

The

text

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

text

x_search

for X (formerly Twitter) posts and

text

web_fetch

for lightweight URL fetching. In this phase,

text

web_fetch

stays local while

text

web_search

and

text

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](/tools/browser). For fetching a specific URL, use [Web Fetch](/tools/web-fetch).

Quick start

Choose a provider

Pick a provider and complete any required setup. Some providers are key-free, while others use API keys. See the provider pages below for details.

Configure

```bash} openclaw configure --section web ```


text
This stores the provider and any needed credential. You can also set an env
var (for example `BRAVE_API_KEY`) and skip this step for API-backed
providers.

Use it

The agent can now call `web_search`:


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

For X posts, use:

```javascript}
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.

MiniMax Search

Structured results via the MiniMax Coding Plan search API.

Ollama Web Search

Search via a signed-in local Ollama host or the hosted Ollama API.

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, text `llm-context` mode	text `BRAVE_API_KEY`
DuckDuckGo	Structured snippets	--	None (key-free)
Exa	Structured + extracted	Neural/keyword mode, date, content extraction	text `EXA_API_KEY`
Firecrawl	Structured snippets	Via text `firecrawl_search` tool	text `FIRECRAWL_API_KEY`
Gemini	AI-synthesized + citations	--	text `GEMINI_API_KEY`
Grok	AI-synthesized + citations	--	text `XAI_API_KEY`
Kimi	AI-synthesized + citations	--	text `KIMI_API_KEY` / text `MOONSHOT_API_KEY`
MiniMax Search	Structured snippets	Region ( text `global` / text `cn` )	text `MINIMAX_CODE_PLAN_KEY` / text `MINIMAX_CODING_API_KEY`
Ollama Web Search	Structured snippets	--	None for signed-in local hosts; text `OLLAMA_API_KEY` for direct text `https://ollama.com` search
Perplexity	Structured snippets	Country, language, time, domains, content limits	text `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY` / text `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`
SearXNG	Structured snippets	Categories, language	None (self-hosted)
Tavily	Structured snippets	Via text `tavily_search` tool	text `TAVILY_API_KEY`

Auto-detection

Native OpenAI web search

Direct OpenAI Responses models use OpenAI's hosted

text

web_search

tool automatically when OpenClaw web search is enabled and no managed provider is pinned. This is provider-owned behavior in the bundled OpenAI plugin and only applies to native OpenAI API traffic, not OpenAI-compatible proxy base URLs or Azure routes. Set

text

tools.web.search.provider

to another provider such as

text

brave

to keep the managed

text

web_search

tool for OpenAI models, or set

text

tools.web.search.enabled: false

to disable both managed search and native OpenAI search.

Native Codex web search

Codex-capable models can optionally use the provider-native Responses

text

web_search

tool instead of OpenClaw's managed

text

web_search

function.

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


json5
{
  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

text

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

text

provider

is set, OpenClaw checks providers in this order and uses the first one that is ready:

API-backed providers first:

Brave --
text
BRAVE_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.brave.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 10)
MiniMax Search --
text
MINIMAX_CODE_PLAN_KEY
/
text
MINIMAX_CODING_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.minimax.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 15)
Gemini --
text
GEMINI_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.google.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 20)
Grok --
text
XAI_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.xai.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 30)
Kimi --
text
KIMI_API_KEY
/
text
MOONSHOT_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.moonshot.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 40)
Perplexity --
text
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY
/
text
OPENROUTER_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 50)
Firecrawl --
text
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 60)
Exa --
text
EXA_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.exa.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 65)
Tavily --
text
TAVILY_API_KEY
or
text
plugins.entries.tavily.config.webSearch.apiKey
(order 70)

Key-free fallbacks after that:

DuckDuckGo -- key-free HTML fallback with no account or API key (order 100)
Ollama Web Search -- key-free fallback via your configured local Ollama host when it is reachable and signed in with
text
ollama signin
; can reuse Ollama provider bearer auth when the host needs it, and can call direct
text
https://ollama.com
search when configured with
text
OLLAMA_API_KEY
(order 110)
SearXNG --
text
SEARXNG_BASE_URL
or
text
plugins.entries.searxng.config.webSearch.baseUrl
(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. Plugin-scoped SecretRefs under `plugins.entries..config.webSearch.apiKey` are resolved for the bundled API-backed web search providers, including Brave, Exa, Firecrawl, Gemini, Grok, Kimi, MiniMax, Perplexity, and Tavily, whether the provider is picked explicitly via `tools.web.search.provider` or selected through auto-detect. In auto-detect mode, OpenClaw resolves only the selected provider key -- non-selected SecretRefs stay inactive, so you can keep multiple providers configured without paying resolution cost for the ones you are not using.

Config


json5
{
  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

text

plugins.entries.<plugin>.config.webSearch.*

. See the provider pages for examples.

text

web_fetch

fallback provider selection is separate:

choose it with
text
tools.web.fetch.provider
or omit that field and let OpenClaw auto-detect the first ready web-fetch provider from available credentials
today the bundled web-fetch provider is Firecrawl, configured under
text
plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch.*

When you choose Kimi during

text

openclaw onboard

text

openclaw configure --section web

, OpenClaw can also ask for:

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

For

text

x_search

, configure

text

plugins.entries.xai.config.xSearch.*

. It uses the same

text

XAI_API_KEY

fallback as Grok web search. Legacy

text

tools.web.x_search.*

config is auto-migrated by

text

openclaw doctor --fix

. When you choose Grok during

text

openclaw onboard

text

openclaw configure --section web

, OpenClaw can also offer optional

text

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

text

x_search

prompt.

Storing API keys

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


text
```json5}
{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      brave: {
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "YOUR_KEY", // pragma: allowlist secret
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}
```

Set the provider env var in the Gateway process environment:


text
```bash}
export BRAVE_API_KEY="YOUR_KEY"
```

For a gateway install, put it in `~/.openclaw/.env`.
See [Env vars](/help/faq#env-vars-and-env-loading).

Tool parameters

Parameter	Description
text `query`	Search query (required)
text `count`	Results to return (1-10, default: 5)
text `country`	2-letter ISO country code (e.g. "US", "DE")
text `language`	ISO 639-1 language code (e.g. "en", "de")
text `search_lang`	Search-language code (Brave only)
text `freshness`	Time filter: text `day` , text `week` , text `month` , or text `year`
text `date_after`	Results after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
text `date_before`	Results before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
text `ui_lang`	UI language code (Brave only)
text `domain_filter`	Domain allowlist/denylist array (Perplexity only)
text `max_tokens`	Total content budget, default 25000 (Perplexity only)
text `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`. Gemini, Grok, and Kimi return one synthesized answer with citations. They accept `count` for shared-tool compatibility, but it does not change the grounded answer shape. Perplexity behaves the same way when you use the Sonar/OpenRouter compatibility path (`plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.baseUrl` / `model` or `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`). SearXNG accepts `http://` only for trusted private-network or loopback hosts; public SearXNG endpoints must use `https://`. Firecrawl and Tavily only support `query` and `count` through `web_search` \-- use their dedicated tools for advanced options.

x_search

text

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

text

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


json5
{
  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
text `query`	Search query (required)
text `allowed_x_handles`	Restrict results to specific X handles
text `excluded_x_handles`	Exclude specific X handles
text `from_date`	Only include posts on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
text `to_date`	Only include posts on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
text `enable_image_understanding`	Let xAI inspect images attached to matching posts
text `enable_video_understanding`	Let xAI inspect videos attached to matching posts

x_search example


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


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

Examples


javascript
// 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

text

web_search

text

x_search

, or

text

group:web


json5
{
  tools: {
    allow: ["web_search", "x_search"],
    // or: allow: ["group:web"]  (includes web_search, x_search, and web_fetch)
  },
}

Web Fetch -- fetch a URL and extract readable content
Web Browser -- full browser automation for JS-heavy sites
Grok Search -- Grok as the
text
web_search
provider
Ollama Web Search -- key-free web search through your Ollama host

OpenClaw Docs

Web search

info

Quick start

Choose a provider

Configure

Use it

Choosing a provider

Brave Search

DuckDuckGo

Exa

Firecrawl

Gemini

Grok

Kimi

MiniMax Search

Ollama Web Search

Perplexity

SearXNG

Tavily

Provider comparison

Auto-detection

Native OpenAI web search

Native Codex web search

Setting up web search

note

Config

Storing API keys

Tool parameters

warning

x_search

note

x_search config

x_search parameters

x_search example

Examples

Tool profiles

Related