Zhipu Z.ai web search

Use ZHIPU AI's Web Search API to search the web (optimized for Chinese, supports 4 engines). Use when user asks to search, especially for Chinese content.

Tyduss@tyduss

Install

openclaw skills install @tyduss/zai-web-search

Z.AI Web Search API Skill

Search the web using ZHIPU AI's Web Search API —— an LLM-optimized search engine that returns structured results (title, URL, snippet, site name, icon) with intent recognition.

Overview

This skill provides AI-powered web search with support for multiple Chinese search engines. It's particularly optimized for Chinese-language content and LLM processing.

Search Engines Available

Engine	Provider	Description
`search_std`	智谱 AI	基础版，快速响应
`search_pro`	智谱 AI	高阶版，最佳质量
`search_pro_sogou`	搜狗	搜狗搜索结果
`search_pro_quark`	夸克	夸克搜索结果

Pricing

See the official pricing page: https://open.bigmodel.cn/pricing

Web Search API uses token-based pricing
Different engines have different rates
Check the official page for the latest rates

Comparison with Other Search Tools

Feature	This Skill (Z.AI)	Brave Search
Chinese Support	✅ Excellent	⚠️ Limited
Intent Recognition	✅ Yes	❌ No
Multiple Engines	✅ 4 engines	❌ 1 engine
Time Filters	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Domain Filter	✅ Yes	❌ No

First-Time Setup (For Users)

When you use this skill for the first time in OpenClaw, you'll be asked to configure it.

Configuration Steps

Get an API Key: Visit https://open.bigmodel.cn to register and get your API key
Choose Configuration Method:
- Create config.json in this skill folder (recommended)
- Set ZAI_API_KEY environment variable
- Use user config at ~/.config/zai-web-search/config.json
Replace Other Search Skills (Optional)

This skill can potentially replace other search-related skills:
- Brave Search (OpenClaw built-in): Replace for better Chinese search
- Other web search skills: Compare features before replacing
When asked, indicate if you want this skill to be your primary search tool.

Default Behavior

After setup, this skill will:

Use search_std engine by default
Return 10 results
Apply no time filter
Use medium content summary

You can override these defaults via CLI arguments or config file.

When to Use

The user asks to search the web (especially in Chinese)
You need up-to-date information from Chinese-language sources
web_search (Brave) is unavailable or insufficient
You want intent-enhanced search with better results for LLM processing

Agent Instructions (For First-Time Use)

When the user invokes this skill for the first time:

Display an Overview:

text

Z.AI Web Search API Skill
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
This skill provides AI-powered web search with 4 Chinese search engines.

Available Engines:
• search_std (智谱基础版) - Fast, default
• search_pro (智谱高阶版) - Best quality
• search_pro_sogou (搜狗) - Sogou search
• search_pro_quark (夸克) - Quark search

Pricing: https://open.bigmodel.cn/pricing

Check Configuration Status:
- Verify if config.json exists or ZAI_API_KEY is set
- If not configured, guide the user through setup

Ask About Replacing Other Search Tools:

text

This skill can potentially replace your current search setup:

1. Brave Search (OpenClaw built-in) - Replace for better Chinese support?
2. Other search skills - Check which ones are installed and ask

Would you like to:
[1] Use this as your primary search tool
[2] Keep your current search setup and use this as needed
[3] See more details first

Check for Other Search Skills (if user chooses option 3 or asks for details):
- Use Glob to search for other search-related skills
- Compare features and present options to the user
After Configuration:
- Confirm the setup is complete
- Show a quick example usage

Prerequisites

API Key: A Z.AI (智谱) API key from https://open.bigmodel.cn
Config: Set via environment variable ZAI_API_KEY or create config.json in this skill folder

Quick Setup

Option 1: Config file in skill folder (recommended, easy to share)

bash

# Copy example and edit
cp config.json.example config.json
# Edit config.json with your settings

Important: config.json.example contains comments for reference only. Your config.json must be valid JSON without any comments. Remove all // comments before saving.

The config.json supports all search parameters:

json

{
  "apiKey": "your-api-key-here",
  "engine": "search_std",
  "intent": false,
  "count": 10,
  "recency": "noLimit",
  "content": "medium",
  "domain": ""
}

See config.json.example for detailed parameter descriptions and available values.

Option 2: Environment variable

bash

export ZAI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Option 3: User config file (overrides skill folder config)

bash

mkdir -p ~/.config/zai-web-search
# Copy the example from skill folder
cp config.json.example ~/.config/zai-web-search/config.json
# Edit with your settings

Config Priority

Command-line arguments (highest priority)
Environment variable ZAI_API_KEY
~/.config/zai-web-search/config.json (user config)
config.json in skill folder (lowest priority)

Add export ZAI_API_KEY="..." to your shell profile for persistence.

CLI Usage

The skill provides a CLI script zai-search:

Basic Search

bash

# Default: search_std engine, 10 results
zai-search "哈尔滨冰雪大世界 2026"

# Specify engine
zai-search "北京天气预报" --engine search_pro

# Intent-aware search (recommended for ambiguous queries)
zai-search "今天吃什么" --intent

# More results
zai-search "人工智能最新进展" --count 20

# Recent results only
zai-search "乒乓球比赛" --recency oneWeek

# Detailed content (high instead of medium summary)
zai-search "React 19 new features" --content high

# Filter to specific domains
zai-search "OpenClaw documentation" --domain docs.openclaw.ai

Output Formats

bash

# Markdown (default, human-readable)
zai-search "query"

# JSON (for scripting / parsing)
zai-search "query" --json

# Compact (title + URL only)
zai-search "query" --compact

Available Engines

Engine	Description
`search_std`	智谱基础版 (default)
`search_pro`	智谱高阶版 (best quality)
`search_pro_sogou`	搜狗搜索
`search_pro_quark`	夸克搜索

Other Options

Flag	Short	Values	Default
`--engine`	`-e`	search_std, search_pro, search_pro_sogou, search_pro_quark	search_std
`--intent`	`-i`	flag (enable intent recognition)	false
`--count`	`-c`	1-50	10
`--recency`	`-r`	oneDay, oneWeek, oneMonth, oneYear, noLimit	noLimit
`--content`	`-s`	medium, high	medium
`--domain`	`-d`	domain string	(none)
`--json`	`-j`	flag (JSON output)	false
`--compact`	`-k`	flag (compact output)	false

Agent Integration

You can also call the API directly via curl:

bash

curl -s https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4/web_search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZAI_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "search_query": "search term",
    "search_engine": "search_pro",
    "search_intent": false,
    "count": 10
  }' | jq .

Response Format (JSON)

json

{
  "id": "search-task-id",
  "created": 1740000000,
  "request_id": "req-xxx",
  "search_intent": [
    {
      "query": "original query",
      "intent": "SEARCH_ALL",
      "keywords": "rewritten keywords"
    }
  ],
  "search_result": [
    {
      "title": "Page Title",
      "content": "Summary snippet...",
      "link": "https://example.com/page",
      "media": "Example Site",
      "icon": "https://example.com/favicon.ico",
      "refer": "1",
      "publish_date": "2026-01-15"
    }
  ]
}

Error Codes

Code	Description
1701	Concurrent search limit reached, retry later
1702	No search engine available
1703	Search engine returned no valid data

Notes

Search query should not exceed 70 characters
count for search_pro_sogou only supports 10, 20, 30, 40, 50
search_domain_filter only works with search_std, search_pro, search_pro_sogou
The API is optimized for Chinese-language search but works for English too
Rate limits apply; don't burst too many requests

Script Location

The CLI script lives at: scripts/zai-search.js (relative to this skill directory).

Zhipu Z.ai web search

Install

Z.AI Web Search API Skill

Overview

Search Engines Available

Pricing

Comparison with Other Search Tools

First-Time Setup (For Users)

Configuration Steps

Default Behavior

When to Use

Agent Instructions (For First-Time Use)

Prerequisites

Quick Setup

Config Priority

CLI Usage

Basic Search

Output Formats

Available Engines

Other Options

Agent Integration

Response Format (JSON)

Error Codes

Notes

Script Location

Related skills