Openclaw Tavily Search

Web search and data retrieval via Tavily API. Use when you need to search the web, get news, find answers, or look up sources. Supports 5 modes: search (general), news (fresh headlines), qna (Q&A), images, and context. Returns structured results with title, URL, snippet, and optional AI answer summary.

Tavily Search — Enhanced Edition

Tavily is a search API optimized for AI applications — returns structured results with relevance scores and optional AI-generated summaries.

Quick Start

bash

# Standard search (default, 5 results, ~brave format)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "..." --format md

# Include AI short answer
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "..." --include-answer

# Advanced search (higher quality, slower)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "..." --search-depth advanced

Output Formats

Format	Description	Best For
--format md	Human-readable Markdown	Direct user display
--format brave	title/url/snippet JSON	Structured processing (default)
--format raw	Full JSON with all fields	Debugging / advanced use

Modes

--mode search (default)

General web search. Good for research, finding links, fact-checking.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "OpenAI GPT-5 release" --mode search

--mode news

Fresh news headlines (past N days). Good for current events, breaking news.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "US Iran war" --mode news --days 7

--mode qna

Direct Q&A — asks Tavily to answer a specific question from web sources.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "What happened at Nvidia GTC 2026?" --mode qna

--mode images

Image search results.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "Tesla Cybertruck" --mode images

--mode context

Research-oriented — includes related topics, better for deep dives.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "Claude AI agent architecture" --mode context

Common Options

Flag	Default	Description
--max-results N	5	Number of results (max 10)
--include-answer	off	Add AI-generated short answer
--search-depth	basic	basic (fast) or advanced (better quality)
--days N	3	Freshness for news mode (1-7)
--domains	none	Restrict to domain(s), e.g. --domains reuters.com bbc.com

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
TAVILY_API_KEY	API key (from tavily.io)
TAVILY_SEARCH_DEPTH	Default: basic or advanced

Examples

text

# Quick fact-check
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "Charlie Kirk death September 2025" --include-answer

# Latest news on a topic
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "AI agents March 2026" --mode news --days 7 --format md

# Deep research with related topics
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "Claude Opus 4.6 capabilities" --mode context --search-depth advanced

# Domain-restricted search
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "China EV market 2026" --domains reuters.com bloomberg.com

Notes

• Keep --max-results small (3–5) by default to reduce token/reading load
• Prefer --format md when displaying results directly to users
• Use --include-answer for quick summaries without reading all results
• Dev plan: 1000 searches/month. Pro plan: unlimited.