iFlow Search for OpenClaw

Connect Your AI Agent to the Real World.

iFlow Search (心流搜索) is a search API designed for AI applications. OpenClaw exposes it in two ways:

• as the web_search provider for the generic search tool
• as explicit plugin tools: iflow_web_search, iflow_image_search, iflow_web_fetch

iFlow returns structured results optimized for LLM consumption with Chinese-first indexing, structured snippets, image search, and web content extraction.

| Property | Value | | ------------- | ------------------------------------ | | Plugin id | iflow | | Auth | IFLOW_API_KEY or config apiKey | | Base URL | https://platform.iflow.cn (default)| | Bundled tools | iflow_web_search, iflow_image_search, iflow_web_fetch |

Getting started

1. Get an API key

Create an iFlow account at platform.iflow.cn, then generate an API key in the dashboard.

2. Install the plugin

openclaw plugins install @iflow-ai/[email protected]

3. Configure the plugin and provider

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      iflow: {
        enabled: true,
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "your-key-here", // optional if IFLOW_API_KEY is set
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "iflow",
      },
    },
    // Enable iFlow explicit tools alongside the coding profile
    alsoAllow: [
      "iflow_web_search",
      "iflow_image_search",
      "iflow_web_fetch"
    ],
  },
}

4. Verify search runs

Trigger a web_search from any agent, or call iflow_web_search directly.

Tip: Choosing iFlow in onboarding or openclaw configure --section web enables the plugin automatically.

Understanding provider vs explicit tools

The iFlow plugin exposes two capability layers:

Web Search Provider

When configured as tools.web.search.provider = "iflow", iFlow powers the built-in web_search tool. This tool is always visible in the coding profile — no extra configuration needed.

Explicit Tools

The plugin also registers three explicit tools with additional capabilities:

| Tool | Purpose | Why use it | |------|---------|-----------| | iflow_web_search | Web search with iFlow-specific controls | Direct access, independent of provider routing | | iflow_image_search | Image search — not available via web_search | The only way to search images through iFlow | | iflow_web_fetch | Fetch web page content | Direct access, independent of provider routing |

Important: iflow_image_search is not the OpenClaw built-in image tool (which is for image understanding/vision). It is a dedicated image search tool that returns image URLs, titles, and source pages.

Tool visibility and profiles

OpenClaw's tools.profile controls which tools are available to the agent:

| Profile | web_search (provider) | Explicit tools (iflow_*) | |---------|------------------------|---------------------------| | coding (default) | ✅ Always visible | ❌ Hidden by default | | full | ✅ Always visible | ✅ Visible | | coding + alsoAllow | ✅ Always visible | ✅ Visible |

To enable explicit tools with the coding profile, add alsoAllow to your tools config:

{
  tools: {
    profile: "coding",
    alsoAllow: [
      "iflow_web_search",
      "iflow_image_search",
      "iflow_web_fetch"
    ],
  },
}

Note: This is standard OpenClaw behavior — all plugin explicit tools (including Tavily's tavily_search and tavily_extract) follow the same profile rules.

Tool reference

iflow_web_search

Search the public web via iFlow Search (心流搜索). Returns titles, URLs, snippets, position, and (when available) publish date. Chinese-language results are first-class.

| Parameter | Type | Constraints / default | Description | | --------- | ------ | --------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | query | string | required | Search query string. | | count | number | 1–10, default 10 | Number of results to return. |

iflow_image_search

Search the public web for images via iFlow Search. Returns image URLs, titles, and source page URLs.

| Parameter | Type | Constraints / default | Description | | --------- | ------ | --------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | query | string | required | Image search query string. | | count | number | 1–20, default 10 | Number of images to return. |

iflow_web_fetch

Fetch the readable content of a single web page via iFlow Search. Returns title, plain-text/markdown content, and a cache hint.

| Parameter | Type | Constraints / default | Description | | --------- | ------ | --------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | url | string | required | HTTP(S) URL to fetch. |

Choosing the right tool

| Need | Tool | | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------- | | Quick web search, no special options | web_search | | iFlow-specific search with count control | iflow_web_search | | Image search | iflow_image_search| | Extract content from a specific URL | iflow_web_fetch |

Note: The generic web_search tool with iFlow as provider supports query and count (up to 10 results). For image search or web content extraction, use the explicit tools.

Advanced configuration

API key resolution order

The iFlow client looks up its API key in this order:

1. plugins.entries.iflow.config.webSearch.apiKey (resolved through SecretRefs).
2. IFLOW_API_KEY from the gateway environment.

All tools raise a setup error if neither is present.

Custom base URL

Override plugins.entries.iflow.config.webSearch.baseUrl if you front iFlow through a proxy. The default is https://platform.iflow.cn.

Config options

| Option | Default | Description | | ------------------------- | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | | webSearch.apiKey | IFLOW_API_KEY env var | API key (string or SecretRef). | | webSearch.baseUrl | https://platform.iflow.cn | API endpoint override. | | webSearch.timeoutSeconds| 30 | HTTP timeout per request in seconds. | | webSearch.cacheTtlMinutes| 15 | In-memory cache TTL in minutes. Set 0 to disable. |

Verify

openclaw plugins inspect iflow --runtime --json

Check toolNames contains all three tools and diagnostics is empty.

Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Fix | |---|---| | missing_api_key | Export IFLOW_API_KEY or set webSearch.apiKey in config. | | Provider not showing | Set tools.web.search.provider = "iflow" and restart gateway. | | Old version installed | Reinstall: openclaw plugins install @iflow-ai/[email protected] --force | | registerWebSearchProvider not exposed | Normal — plugin falls back to tools-only mode automatically. | | Explicit tools not in agent tool list | Add tools.alsoAllow: ["iflow_web_search", "iflow_image_search", "iflow_web_fetch"] to your config. Or set tools.profile = "full". See Tool visibility and profiles. | | plugins inspect shows empty tools:[] | Normal for factory-registered tools. Use --runtime flag to see toolNames. |

Security

• Never commit your API key — use env vars or SecretRef.
• Plugin only logs whether key is configured (boolean), never the key itself.
• Attribution headers (IFlow-Source, IFlow-Integration, IFlow-Integration-Version) contain no secrets.

Local Development

npm install
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run smoke        # optional, needs IFLOW_API_KEY

License

MIT