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.

Quick start

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

For X posts, use:

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

Choosing a provider

Provider comparison

Auto-detection

Native OpenAI web search

Direct OpenAI Responses models use OpenAI's hosted 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 tools.web.search.provider to another provider such as brave to keep the managed web_search tool for OpenAI models, or set 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 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.

Network safety

Managed web_search provider calls use OpenClaw's guarded fetch path. For trusted provider API hosts, OpenClaw allows Surge, Clash, and sing-box fake-IP DNS answers in 198.18.0.0/15 and fc00::/7 only for that provider hostname. Other private, loopback, link-local, and metadata destinations remain blocked.

This automatic allowance does not apply to arbitrary web_fetch URLs. For web_fetch, enable tools.web.fetch.ssrfPolicy.allowRfc2544BenchmarkRange and tools.web.fetch.ssrfPolicy.allowIpv6UniqueLocalRange explicitly only when your trusted proxy owns those synthetic ranges.

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 providers in this order and uses the first one that is ready:

API-backed providers first:

1. Brave -- BRAVE_API_KEY or plugins.entries.brave.config.webSearch.apiKey (order 10)
2. MiniMax Search -- MINIMAX_CODE_PLAN_KEY / MINIMAX_CODING_API_KEY / MINIMAX_OAUTH_TOKEN / MINIMAX_API_KEY or plugins.entries.minimax.config.webSearch.apiKey (order 15)
3. Gemini -- plugins.entries.google.config.webSearch.apiKey, GEMINI_API_KEY, or models.providers.google.apiKey (order 20)
4. Grok -- XAI_API_KEY or plugins.entries.xai.config.webSearch.apiKey (order 30)
5. Kimi -- KIMI_API_KEY / MOONSHOT_API_KEY or plugins.entries.moonshot.config.webSearch.apiKey (order 40)
6. Perplexity -- PERPLEXITY_API_KEY / OPENROUTER_API_KEY or plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.apiKey (order 50)
7. Firecrawl -- FIRECRAWL_API_KEY or plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webSearch.apiKey (order 60)
8. Exa -- EXA_API_KEY or plugins.entries.exa.config.webSearch.apiKey; optional plugins.entries.exa.config.webSearch.baseUrl overrides the Exa endpoint (order 65)
9. Tavily -- TAVILY_API_KEY or plugins.entries.tavily.config.webSearch.apiKey (order 70)

Key-free fallbacks after that:

10. DuckDuckGo -- key-free HTML fallback with no account or API key (order 100)
11. Ollama Web Search -- key-free fallback via your configured local Ollama host when it is reachable and signed in with ollama signin; can reuse Ollama provider bearer auth when the host needs it, and can call direct https://ollama.com search when configured with OLLAMA_API_KEY (order 110)
12. SearXNG -- SEARXNG_BASE_URL or 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).

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.*. Gemini can also reuse models.providers.google.apiKey and models.providers.google.baseUrl as lower-priority fallbacks after its dedicated web-search config and GEMINI_API_KEY. See the provider pages for examples.

tools.web.search.provider is validated against the web-search provider ids declared by bundled and installed plugin manifests. A typo such as "brvae" fails config validation instead of silently falling back to auto-detection. If a configured provider only has stale plugin evidence, such as a leftover plugins.entries.<plugin> block after uninstalling a third-party plugin, OpenClaw keeps startup resilient and reports a warning so you can reinstall the plugin or run openclaw doctor --fix to clean up the stale config.

web_fetch fallback provider selection is separate:

• choose it with tools.web.fetch.provider
• or omit that field and let OpenClaw auto-detect the first ready web-fetch provider from available credentials
• non-sandboxed web_fetch can use installed plugin providers that declare contracts.webFetchProviders; sandboxed fetches stay bundled-only
• today the bundled web-fetch provider is Firecrawl, configured under plugins.entries.firecrawl.config.webFetch.*

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

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

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

```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

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.

x_search config

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      xai: {
        config: {
          xSearch: {
            enabled: true,
            model: "grok-4-1-fast-non-reasoning",
            baseUrl: "https://api.x.ai/v1", // optional, overrides webSearch.baseUrl
            inlineCitations: false,
            maxTurns: 2,
            timeoutSeconds: 30,
            cacheTtlMinutes: 15,
          },
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "xai-...", // optional if XAI_API_KEY is set
            baseUrl: "https://api.x.ai/v1", // optional shared xAI Responses base URL
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

x_search posts to <baseUrl>/responses when plugins.entries.xai.config.xSearch.baseUrl is set. If that field is omitted, it falls back to plugins.entries.xai.config.webSearch.baseUrl, then the legacy tools.web.search.grok.baseUrl, and finally the public xAI endpoint.

x_search parameters

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
• Ollama Web Search -- key-free web search through your Ollama host