114 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
114 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
---
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summary: "Web search + fetch tools (Brave Search API)"
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read_when:
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- You want to enable web_search or web_fetch
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- You need Brave Search API key setup
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---
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# Web tools
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Clawdbot ships two lightweight web tools:
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- `web_search` — Brave Search API queries (fast, structured results).
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- `web_fetch` — HTTP fetch + readable extraction (HTML → markdown/text).
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These are **not** browser automation. For JS-heavy sites or logins, use the
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[Browser tool](/tools/browser).
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## How it works
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- `web_search` calls Brave’s Search API and returns structured results
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(title, URL, snippet). No browser is involved.
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- Results are cached by query for 15 minutes (configurable).
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- `web_fetch` does a plain HTTP GET and extracts readable content
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(HTML → markdown/text). It does **not** execute JavaScript.
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- `web_fetch` is enabled by default (unless explicitly disabled).
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## Getting a Brave API key
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1) Create a Brave Search API account at https://brave.com/search/api/
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2) In the dashboard, choose the **Data for Search** plan (not “Data for AI”) and generate an API key.
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3) Run `clawdbot configure --section web` to store the key in config (recommended), or set `BRAVE_API_KEY` in your environment.
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Brave provides a free tier plus paid plans; check the Brave API portal for the
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current limits and pricing.
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### Where to set the key (recommended)
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**Recommended:** run `clawdbot configure --section web`. It stores the key in
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`~/.clawdbot/clawdbot.json` under `tools.web.search.apiKey`.
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**Environment alternative:** set `BRAVE_API_KEY` in the Gateway process
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environment. For a daemon install, put it in `~/.clawdbot/.env` (or your
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service environment). See [Env vars](/start/faq#how-does-clawdbot-load-environment-variables).
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## web_search
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Search the web with Brave’s API.
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### Requirements
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- `tools.web.search.enabled` must not be `false` (default: enabled)
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- Brave API key (recommended: `clawdbot configure --section web`, or set `BRAVE_API_KEY`)
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### Config
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```json5
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{
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tools: {
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web: {
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search: {
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enabled: true,
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apiKey: "BRAVE_API_KEY_HERE", // optional if BRAVE_API_KEY is set
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maxResults: 5,
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timeoutSeconds: 30,
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cacheTtlMinutes: 15
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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### Tool parameters
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- `query` (required)
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- `count` (1–10; default from config)
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## web_fetch
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Fetch a URL and extract readable content.
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### Requirements
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- `tools.web.fetch.enabled` must not be `false` (default: enabled)
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### Config
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```json5
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{
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tools: {
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web: {
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fetch: {
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enabled: true,
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maxChars: 50000,
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timeoutSeconds: 30,
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cacheTtlMinutes: 15,
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userAgent: "clawdbot/2026.1.14-1"
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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### Tool parameters
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- `url` (required, http/https only)
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- `extractMode` (`markdown` | `text`)
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- `maxChars` (truncate long pages)
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Notes:
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- `web_fetch` is best-effort extraction; some sites will need the browser tool.
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- Responses are cached (default 15 minutes) to reduce repeated fetches.
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- If you use tool profiles/allowlists, add `web_search`/`web_fetch` or `group:web`.
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- If the Brave key is missing, `web_search` returns a short setup hint with a docs link.
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