Google Search (Serper.dev)

Google Search powered by Serper.dev API — 9 search types: web, news, images, videos, places, shopping, scholar, patents, autocomplete. Returns Knowledge Graph, Answer Box, People Also Ask, and Related Searches. Use when asked to Google something, search the web for current info, find news, look up images, research academic papers, find local places, or when the user needs richer search results than basic web search. Also use when Brave Search results are insufficient or the user explicitly wants Google results.

Google Search Skill

Google Search powered by Serper.dev API. Replaces Brave Search with richer results including Knowledge Graph, Answer Box, People Also Ask, and specialized search types.

When to Use

Use this skill for any Google search request. Auto-detect intent:

• Default → search
• "news about X" / "latest X" → news
• "images of X" / "pictures of X" → images
• "videos of X" / "how to X video" → videos
• "restaurants near X" / "X near me" → places
• "how much does X cost" / "buy X" → shopping (⚠️ 2 credits — only when explicitly requested)
• "papers on X" / "research about X" → scholar
• "patents for X" → patents
• "suggestions for X" → suggest

Usage

bash

SCRIPT_DIR="~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/google-search/scripts"

# Web search (default)
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts search "query" [--num 10] [--time day|week|month|year] [--country us] [--lang en]

# Specialized
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts news "query" [--num 10]
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts images "query"
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts videos "query"
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts places "query"
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts shopping "query"
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts scholar "query" [--year 2023]
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts patents "query"
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts suggest "query"
npx tsx $SCRIPT_DIR/google-search.ts credits

Add --json to any command for raw JSON output.

Setup

Requires a free API key from Serper.dev:

1. Sign up at https://serper.dev (2,500 free searches included)
2. Copy your API key from the dashboard
3. Add to your environment: export SERPER_API_KEY=your_key_here

If the key is missing, remind the user to sign up at serper.dev — it's free and takes 30 seconds.

Workflow

1. Run the appropriate search command
2. Parse the formatted output
3. If deeper content is needed, use web_fetch on promising links
4. Credit balance is shown in every response — monitor usage
5. Shopping costs 2 credits — only use when user explicitly asks for prices/shopping

Time Filters

--time accepts: hour, day, week, month, year (or h, d, w, m, y)

Notes

• Rate limit: 5 req/sec on free tier
• All searches cost 1 credit except shopping (2 credits)
• Results include rich data: Knowledge Graph, Answer Box, People Also Ask, Related Searches