Openclaw tavily

Name: tavily
Author: openclaw

Tavily web search, content extraction, and research tools.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/extensions/tavily/skills/tavily" ~/.claude/skills/openclaw-openclaw-tavily && rm -rf "$T"

OpenClaw · Install into ~/.openclaw/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/skills && cp -r "$T/extensions/tavily/skills/tavily" ~/.openclaw/skills/openclaw-openclaw-tavily && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: extensions/tavily/skills/tavily/SKILL.md

Tavily Tools

When to use which tool

Need	Tool	When
Quick web search	`web_search`	Basic queries, no special options needed
Search with advanced options	`tavily_search`	Need depth, topic, domain filters, time ranges, or AI answers
Extract content from URLs	`tavily_extract`	Have specific URLs, need their content

web_search

Tavily powers this automatically when selected as the search provider. Use for straightforward queries where you don't need Tavily-specific options.

Parameter	Description
`query`	Search query string
`count`	Number of results (1-20)

tavily_search

Use when you need fine-grained control over search behavior.

Parameter	Description
`query`	Search query string (keep under 400 characters)
`search_depth`	`basic` (default, balanced) or `advanced` (highest relevance, slower)
`topic`	`general` (default), `news` (real-time updates), or `finance`
`max_results`	Number of results, 1-20 (default: 5)
`include_answer`	Include an AI-generated answer summary (default: false)
`time_range`	Filter by recency: `day` , `week` , `month` , or `year`
`include_domains`	Array of domains to restrict results to
`exclude_domains`	Array of domains to exclude from results

Search depth

Depth	Speed	Relevance	Best for
`basic`	Faster	High	General-purpose queries (default)
`advanced`	Slower	Highest	Precision, specific facts, detailed research

Tips

Keep queries under 400 characters — think search query, not prompt.
Break complex queries into sub-queries for better results.
Use
include_domains
to focus on trusted sources.
Use
time_range
for recent information (news, current events).
Use
include_answer
when you need a quick synthesized answer.

tavily_extract

Use when you have specific URLs and need their content. Handles JavaScript-rendered pages and returns clean markdown. Supports query-focused chunking for targeted extraction.

Parameter	Description
`urls`	Array of URLs to extract (1-20 per request)
`query`	Rerank extracted chunks by relevance to this query
`extract_depth`	`basic` (default, fast) or `advanced` (for JS-heavy pages, tables)
`chunks_per_source`	Chunks per URL, 1-5 (requires `query` )
`include_images`	Include image URLs in results (default: false)

Extract depth

Depth	When to use
`basic`	Simple pages — try this first
`advanced`	JS-rendered SPAs, dynamic content, tables, embedded content

Tips

Max 20 URLs per request — batch larger lists into multiple calls.
Use
query
+
chunks_per_source
to get only relevant content instead of full pages.
Try
basic
first, fall back to
```
advanced
```
if content is missing or incomplete.
If
```
tavily_search
```
results already contain the snippets you need, skip the extract step.

Choosing the right workflow

Follow this escalation pattern — start simple, escalate only when needed:

web_search
— Quick lookup, no special options needed.
tavily_search
— Need depth control, topic filtering, domain filters, time ranges, or AI answers.
tavily_extract
— Have specific URLs, need their full content or targeted chunks.

Combine search + extract when you need to find pages first, then get their full content.