Web Search (Brave API)

Web search lets your agent look things up, research prospects, find contact information, and stay current on topics. OpenClaw integrates Brave Search natively — no bridge service needed.

Get an API Key

1. Go to brave.com/search/api
2. Sign up for the Data for AI plan
3. The free tier includes 2,000 queries/month — sufficient for most use cases
4. Paid tiers start at $3/1,000 queries for higher volume

Configure in OpenClaw

Add the API key to openclaw.json under tools.web.search:

{
  "tools": {
    "web": {
      "search": {
        "apiKey": "BSA..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart OpenClaw:

systemctl restart openclaw

Per-Agent Access Control

Web search is a tool — you can allow or deny it per agent using the tool policy in openclaw.json.

To deny web search for public-chat (recommended):

{
  "id": "public-chat",
  "tools": {
    "deny": ["web", "search", "brave"]
  }
}

To allow only web search for content-writer (no exec or file writes):

{
  "id": "content-writer",
  "tools": {
    "deny": ["exec", "write", "edit", "gateway", "nodes", "process"]
  }
}

The main agent typically gets full web access with no restrictions.

How Agents Use It

Once configured, agents can search the web using the built-in search tool — no extra code needed. The agent calls the tool, gets results back, and incorporates them into its response.

Typical uses:

• Research a prospect before outreach (outreach-agent)
• Look up documentation or error messages (main)
• Find recent news on a topic for a blog post (content-writer)

Query Volume

Track your usage in the Brave dashboard. Each tool call = one query. A single research task might use 3–10 queries. At 2,000/month free, you have room for ~200 research tasks before hitting limits.

If you're running out, consider:

• Caching common queries in the agent's notes
• Restricting search access to agents that actually need it
• Upgrading to a paid tier