brave-shim

Set up brave_shim as a free local proxy for OpenClaw web_search, routing Brave API requests to DuckDuckGo. Use when user asks to enable free web search, configure brave_shim, fix missing_brave_api_key errors, or set up no-api-key search.

Local proxy that makes OpenClaw's Brave Search provider route to DuckDuckGo for free, without any API key.

How it works

1. A Python FastAPI service (brave_shim) runs locally on http://127.0.0.1:8000
2. It implements the Brave Search API format but fetches results from DuckDuckGo via ddgs
3. OpenClaw's built-in Brave provider is redirected to this local service

Setup

1. Install brave_shim

python

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/asoraruf/brave_shim <clone-path>

# Create venv and install dependencies
python -m venv <clone-path>/venv
# Windows:
<clone-path>\venv\Scripts\activate
pip install fastapi uvicorn ddgs pyyaml
# Linux/Mac:
source <clone-path>/venv/bin/activate
pip install fastapi uvicorn ddgs pyyaml

2. Patch OpenClaw Brave provider URL

The Brave provider in OpenClaw's bundled JS calls https://api.search.brave.com. Replace it with http://127.0.0.1:8000:

python

import subprocess, re, os

dist_dir = r"<openclaw-dist>"
pattern = r'(const BRAVE_SEARCH_ENDPOINT|const BRAVE_LLM_CONTEXT_ENDPOINT) = "[^"]+"'
replacement = {
    "const BRAVE_SEARCH_ENDPOINT": 'const BRAVE_SEARCH_ENDPOINT = "http://127.0.0.1:8000/res/v1/web/search"',
    "const BRAVE_LLM_CONTEXT_ENDPOINT": 'const BRAVE_LLM_CONTEXT_ENDPOINT = "http://127.0.0.1:8000/res/v1/llm/context"',
}

for fname in os.listdir(dist_dir):
    if fname.startswith("brave-web-search-provider") and fname.endswith(".js"):
        fpath = os.path.join(dist_dir, fname)
        content = open(fpath).read()
        new_content = re.sub(pattern, lambda m: replacement.get(m.group(1), m.group(0)), content)
        open(fpath, "w").write(new_content)

3. Configure OpenClaw

bash

# Enable brave plugin (disabled by default)
openclaw config set plugins.entries.brave.enabled true

# Set Brave as search provider
openclaw config set tools.web.search.provider brave

# Restart gateway
openclaw gateway restart

4. Start shim service

bash

# From brave_shim directory
.\venv\Scripts\python brave_shim.py
# Keep running in background

5. Verify

bash

curl "http://127.0.0.1:8000/res/v1/web/search?q=hello+world"
# Should return JSON with web results

openclaw
# Then test: web_search { query: "test" }

Scripts

• scripts/setup_brave_shim.py — Automated install: clone, venv, pip install
• scripts/patch_openclaw.py — Patch OpenClaw dist JS files to redirect Brave API
• scripts/start_shim.py — Start brave_shim service

Troubleshooting

"fetch failed" after setup:

• Check shim is running: Invoke-WebRequest http://127.0.0.1:8000/res/v1/web/search?q=test
• If shim is DOWN: re-run python brave_shim.py
• If NO_PROXY blocks localhost: remove from env or set NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1

"missing_brave_api_key" error:

• plugins.entries.brave needs enabled: true — run openclaw config set plugins.entries.brave.enabled true

"missing_gemini_api_key" instead:

• Brave plugin still not enabled — check openclaw doctor for disabled plugin warnings