--- summary: "Web search + fetch tools (Brave, Gemini, Grok, Kimi, and Perplexity providers)" read_when: - You want to enable web_search or web_fetch - You need provider API key setup - You want to use Gemini with Google Search grounding title: "Web Tools" --- # Web tools OpenClaw ships two lightweight web tools: - `web_search` — Search the web using Brave Search API, Gemini with Google Search grounding, Grok, Kimi, or Perplexity Search API. - `web_fetch` — HTTP fetch + readable extraction (HTML → markdown/text). These are **not** browser automation. For JS-heavy sites or logins, use the [Browser tool](/tools/browser). ## How it works - `web_search` calls your configured provider and returns results. - Results are cached by query for 15 minutes (configurable). - `web_fetch` does a plain HTTP GET and extracts readable content (HTML → markdown/text). It does **not** execute JavaScript. - `web_fetch` is enabled by default (unless explicitly disabled). See [Brave Search setup](/brave-search) and [Perplexity Search setup](/perplexity) for provider-specific details. ## Choosing a search provider | Provider | Result shape | Provider-specific filters | Notes | API key | | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------- | | **Brave Search API** | Structured results with snippets | `country`, `language`, `ui_lang`, time | Supports Brave `llm-context` mode | `BRAVE_API_KEY` | | **Gemini** | AI-synthesized answers + citations | — | Uses Google Search grounding | `GEMINI_API_KEY` | | **Grok** | AI-synthesized answers + citations | — | Uses xAI web-grounded responses | `XAI_API_KEY` | | **Kimi** | AI-synthesized answers + citations | — | Uses Moonshot web search | `KIMI_API_KEY` / `MOONSHOT_API_KEY` | | **Perplexity Search API** | Structured results with snippets | `country`, `language`, time, `domain_filter` | Supports content extraction controls; OpenRouter uses Sonar compatibility path | `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY` / `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` | ### Auto-detection The table above is alphabetical. If no `provider` is explicitly set, runtime auto-detection checks providers in this order: 1. **Brave** — `BRAVE_API_KEY` env var or `tools.web.search.apiKey` config 2. **Gemini** — `GEMINI_API_KEY` env var or `tools.web.search.gemini.apiKey` config 3. **Grok** — `XAI_API_KEY` env var or `tools.web.search.grok.apiKey` config 4. **Kimi** — `KIMI_API_KEY` / `MOONSHOT_API_KEY` env var or `tools.web.search.kimi.apiKey` config 5. **Perplexity** — `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY`, `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`, or `tools.web.search.perplexity.apiKey` config If no keys are found, it falls back to Brave (you'll get a missing-key error prompting you to configure one). Runtime SecretRef behavior: - Web tool SecretRefs are resolved atomically at gateway startup/reload. - In auto-detect mode, OpenClaw resolves only the selected provider key. Non-selected provider SecretRefs stay inactive until selected. - If the selected provider SecretRef is unresolved and no provider env fallback exists, startup/reload fails fast. ## Setting up web search Use `openclaw configure --section web` to set up your API key and choose a provider. ### Brave Search 1. Create a Brave Search API account at [brave.com/search/api](https://brave.com/search/api/) 2. In the dashboard, choose the **Search** plan and generate an API key. 3. Run `openclaw configure --section web` to store the key in config, or set `BRAVE_API_KEY` in your environment. Each Brave plan includes **\$5/month in free credit** (renewing). The Search plan costs \$5 per 1,000 requests, so the credit covers 1,000 queries/month. Set your usage limit in the Brave dashboard to avoid unexpected charges. See the [Brave API portal](https://brave.com/search/api/) for current plans and pricing. ### Perplexity Search 1. Create a Perplexity account at [perplexity.ai/settings/api](https://www.perplexity.ai/settings/api) 2. Generate an API key in the dashboard 3. Run `openclaw configure --section web` to store the key in config, or set `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY` in your environment. For legacy Sonar/OpenRouter compatibility, set `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` instead, or configure `tools.web.search.perplexity.apiKey` with an `sk-or-...` key. Setting `tools.web.search.perplexity.baseUrl` or `model` also opts Perplexity back into the chat-completions compatibility path. See [Perplexity Search API Docs](https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/search-quickstart) for more details. ### Where to store the key **Via config:** run `openclaw configure --section web`. It stores the key under the provider-specific config path: - Brave: `tools.web.search.apiKey` - Gemini: `tools.web.search.gemini.apiKey` - Grok: `tools.web.search.grok.apiKey` - Kimi: `tools.web.search.kimi.apiKey` - Perplexity: `tools.web.search.perplexity.apiKey` All of these fields also support SecretRef objects. **Via environment:** set provider env vars in the Gateway process environment: - Brave: `BRAVE_API_KEY` - Gemini: `GEMINI_API_KEY` - Grok: `XAI_API_KEY` - Kimi: `KIMI_API_KEY` or `MOONSHOT_API_KEY` - Perplexity: `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY` or `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` For a gateway install, put these in `~/.openclaw/.env` (or your service environment). See [Env vars](/help/faq#how-does-openclaw-load-environment-variables). ### Config examples **Brave Search:** ```json5 { tools: { web: { search: { enabled: true, provider: "brave", apiKey: "YOUR_BRAVE_API_KEY", // optional if BRAVE_API_KEY is set // pragma: allowlist secret }, }, }, } ``` **Brave LLM Context mode:** ```json5 { tools: { web: { search: { enabled: true, provider: "brave", apiKey: "YOUR_BRAVE_API_KEY", // optional if BRAVE_API_KEY is set // pragma: allowlist secret brave: { mode: "llm-context", }, }, }, }, } ``` `llm-context` returns extracted page chunks for grounding instead of standard Brave snippets. In this mode, `country` and `language` / `search_lang` still work, but `ui_lang`, `freshness`, `date_after`, and `date_before` are rejected. **Perplexity Search:** ```json5 { tools: { web: { search: { enabled: true, provider: "perplexity", perplexity: { apiKey: "pplx-...", // optional if PERPLEXITY_API_KEY is set }, }, }, }, } ``` **Perplexity via OpenRouter / Sonar compatibility:** ```json5 { tools: { web: { search: { enabled: true, provider: "perplexity", perplexity: { apiKey: "", // optional if OPENROUTER_API_KEY is set baseUrl: "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1", model: "perplexity/sonar-pro", }, }, }, }, } ``` ## Using Gemini (Google Search grounding) Gemini models support built-in [Google Search grounding](https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/grounding), which returns AI-synthesized answers backed by live Google Search results with citations. ### Getting a Gemini API key 1. Go to [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/apikey) 2. Create an API key 3. Set `GEMINI_API_KEY` in the Gateway environment, or configure `tools.web.search.gemini.apiKey` ### Setting up Gemini search ```json5 { tools: { web: { search: { provider: "gemini", gemini: { // API key (optional if GEMINI_API_KEY is set) apiKey: "AIza...", // Model (defaults to "gemini-2.5-flash") model: "gemini-2.5-flash", }, }, }, }, } ``` **Environment alternative:** set `GEMINI_API_KEY` in the Gateway environment. For a gateway install, put it in `~/.openclaw/.env`. ### Notes - Citation URLs from Gemini grounding are automatically resolved from Google's redirect URLs to direct URLs. - Redirect resolution uses the SSRF guard path (HEAD + redirect checks + http/https validation) before returning the final citation URL. - Redirect resolution uses strict SSRF defaults, so redirects to private/internal targets are blocked. - The default model (`gemini-2.5-flash`) is fast and cost-effective. Any Gemini model that supports grounding can be used. ## web_search Search the web using your configured provider. ### Requirements - `tools.web.search.enabled` must not be `false` (default: enabled) - API key for your chosen provider: - **Brave**: `BRAVE_API_KEY` or `tools.web.search.apiKey` - **Gemini**: `GEMINI_API_KEY` or `tools.web.search.gemini.apiKey` - **Grok**: `XAI_API_KEY` or `tools.web.search.grok.apiKey` - **Kimi**: `KIMI_API_KEY`, `MOONSHOT_API_KEY`, or `tools.web.search.kimi.apiKey` - **Perplexity**: `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY`, `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`, or `tools.web.search.perplexity.apiKey` - All provider key fields above support SecretRef objects. ### Config ```json5 { tools: { web: { search: { enabled: true, apiKey: "BRAVE_API_KEY_HERE", // optional if BRAVE_API_KEY is set maxResults: 5, timeoutSeconds: 30, cacheTtlMinutes: 15, }, }, }, } ``` ### Tool parameters All parameters work for Brave and for native Perplexity Search API unless noted. Perplexity's OpenRouter / Sonar compatibility path supports only `query` and `freshness`. If you set `tools.web.search.perplexity.baseUrl` / `model`, use `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`, or configure an `sk-or-...` key, Search API-only filters return explicit errors. | 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) | **Examples:** ```javascript // German-specific search await web_search({ query: "TV online schauen", country: "DE", language: "de", }); // Recent results (past week) await web_search({ query: "TMBG interview", freshness: "week", }); // Date range search await web_search({ query: "AI developments", date_after: "2024-01-01", date_before: "2024-06-30", }); // Domain filtering (Perplexity only) await web_search({ query: "climate research", domain_filter: ["nature.com", "science.org", ".edu"], }); // Exclude domains (Perplexity only) await web_search({ query: "product reviews", domain_filter: ["-reddit.com", "-pinterest.com"], }); // More content extraction (Perplexity only) await web_search({ query: "detailed AI research", max_tokens: 50000, max_tokens_per_page: 4096, }); ``` When Brave `llm-context` mode is enabled, `ui_lang`, `freshness`, `date_after`, and `date_before` are not supported. Use Brave `web` mode for those filters. ## web_fetch Fetch a URL and extract readable content. ### web_fetch requirements - `tools.web.fetch.enabled` must not be `false` (default: enabled) - Optional Firecrawl fallback: set `tools.web.fetch.firecrawl.apiKey` or `FIRECRAWL_API_KEY`. - `tools.web.fetch.firecrawl.apiKey` supports SecretRef objects. ### web_fetch config ```json5 { tools: { web: { fetch: { enabled: true, maxChars: 50000, maxCharsCap: 50000, maxResponseBytes: 2000000, timeoutSeconds: 30, cacheTtlMinutes: 15, maxRedirects: 3, userAgent: "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 14_7_2) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/122.0.0.0 Safari/537.36", readability: true, firecrawl: { enabled: true, apiKey: "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY_HERE", // optional if FIRECRAWL_API_KEY is set baseUrl: "https://api.firecrawl.dev", onlyMainContent: true, maxAgeMs: 86400000, // ms (1 day) timeoutSeconds: 60, }, }, }, }, } ``` ### web_fetch tool parameters - `url` (required, http/https only) - `extractMode` (`markdown` | `text`) - `maxChars` (truncate long pages) Notes: - `web_fetch` uses Readability (main-content extraction) first, then Firecrawl (if configured). If both fail, the tool returns an error. - Firecrawl requests use bot-circumvention mode and cache results by default. - Firecrawl SecretRefs are resolved only when Firecrawl is active (`tools.web.fetch.enabled !== false` and `tools.web.fetch.firecrawl.enabled !== false`). - If Firecrawl is active and its SecretRef is unresolved with no `FIRECRAWL_API_KEY` fallback, startup/reload fails fast. - `web_fetch` sends a Chrome-like User-Agent and `Accept-Language` by default; override `userAgent` if needed. - `web_fetch` blocks private/internal hostnames and re-checks redirects (limit with `maxRedirects`). - `maxChars` is clamped to `tools.web.fetch.maxCharsCap`. - `web_fetch` caps the downloaded response body size to `tools.web.fetch.maxResponseBytes` before parsing; oversized responses are truncated and include a warning. - `web_fetch` is best-effort extraction; some sites will need the browser tool. - See [Firecrawl](/tools/firecrawl) for key setup and service details. - Responses are cached (default 15 minutes) to reduce repeated fetches. - If you use tool profiles/allowlists, add `web_search`/`web_fetch` or `group:web`. - If the API key is missing, `web_search` returns a short setup hint with a docs link.