SearXNG Tool for OpenClaw

Give OpenClaw a real web search tool without paying for search APIs.

This plugin connects OpenClaw to your own SearXNG instance, so your agent can search the web with zero per-query search cost, no Brave API key, no Serp API bill, and no vendor lock-in.

Why this plugin is worth using

Zero API cost

Most search integrations start charging the moment your agents become useful. This one does not. If you already run SearXNG, your OpenClaw agents can search the web without extra search-engine API fees.

No API keys to buy, rotate, or leak

No external search key. No paid quota. No “why did my search bill spike?” surprise.

Self-hosted and privacy-friendly

Your search traffic goes through your SearXNG instance. You decide the engines, filters, safety level, language, and deployment model.

Built for agent workflows

This plugin exposes a clean searxng_search tool inside OpenClaw, so agents can:

• gather live web results
• search news, general web, or specific engines
• control language, safe search, time range, and result count
• return structured results that agents can summarize quickly

Simple install, fast value

Clone it, point it at your SearXNG server, add one OpenClaw config block, and your agents gain live search.

What the tool provides

Tool name:

• searxng_search

Supported parameters:

• query
• categories
• language
• safesearch
• pageno
• time_range
• engines
• limit

Returned data includes:

• title
• URL
• snippet/content
• engine
• category
• score
• published date when available

Requirements

• OpenClaw
• A reachable SearXNG instance
• JSON output enabled in SearXNG settings

Example SearXNG setting:

search:
  formats:
    - html
    - json

Install

Option 1: install from npm through OpenClaw

Once this package is published, OpenClaw can install it directly from npm:

openclaw plugins install searxng-tool-for-openclaw

Option 2: install with npx

The package also exposes an installer binary so you can install it straight from npx:

npx searxng-tool-for-openclaw install

That command runs openclaw plugins install <package> for you and falls back to npx openclaw@latest if openclaw is not already on your PATH.

Option 3: clone into the global OpenClaw extensions folder

git clone https://github.com/barrontang/searxng-tool-for-openclaw.git ~/.openclaw/extensions/searxng-tool-for-openclaw

Option 4: clone into a workspace-local OpenClaw extensions folder

git clone https://github.com/barrontang/searxng-tool-for-openclaw.git .openclaw/extensions/searxng-tool-for-openclaw

OpenClaw config

Add this to your OpenClaw config:

{
  "tools": {
    "profile": "messaging",
    "alsoAllow": ["searxng-tool"]
  },
  "plugins": {
    "load": {
      "paths": [
        "/absolute/path/to/searxng-tool-for-openclaw"
      ]
    },
    "entries": {
      "searxng-tool": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "baseUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:8888",
          "timeoutSeconds": 20,
          "maxResults": 8,
          "defaultLanguage": "auto",
          "defaultCategories": "general",
          "defaultSafeSearch": 0
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace /absolute/path/to/searxng-tool-for-openclaw with the real clone path on your machine.

If you use a different tool profile, keep searxng-tool inside tools.alsoAllow or allow group:plugins.

Restart OpenClaw

openclaw config validate
openclaw gateway restart

Publish targets

Publish to npm

npm publish

The package includes openclaw.extensions, the plugin manifest, and an executable bin, so it is ready for openclaw plugins install <npm-spec> and npx searxng-tool-for-openclaw install.

Publish to ClawHub

This repo now ships a root SKILL.md, so it can be published as a ClawHub skill bundle as well:

npx clawhub@latest publish . \
  --slug searxng-tool-for-openclaw \
  --name "SearXNG Tool for OpenClaw" \
  --version 0.1.0 \
  --tags latest,openclaw,search \
  --changelog "Initial ClawHub release"

ClawHub publishes the documentation and install metadata bundle. The actual OpenClaw plugin installation still happens through npm or the included npx installer.

Example prompts

• Use searxng_search to find the top 5 tech news today.
• Search for the latest OpenClaw release notes and summarize the changes.
• Find recent AI model announcements from the last 7 days.
• Search news about self-hosted agents and compare the top 3 links.

Why users like it

Because it removes the most annoying part of agent search:

the bill.

With this plugin, OpenClaw gets a practical live-search tool that is:

• cheaper
• simpler
• more private
• more flexible
• easier to own

If you want OpenClaw web search without search API fees, this is the plugin.

License

MIT