Tavily Search Skill

Use Tavily API for real-time web search and content extraction.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill when:

• "Search the web for [topic]"
• "Find recent information about [subject]"
• "Get current news about [topic]"
• "Research [topic] online"
• "Find up-to-date information"

When NOT to Use

❌ DON'T use this skill when:

• Simple URL fetching → use

  web_fetch

  tool
• No API key available → use

  web_fetch

  for specific URLs
• Historical/archival data → use specialized archives

Setup

1. Get a Tavily API key from https://tavily.com
2. Set the API key in environment or config

Configuration

Set your Tavily API key in one of these ways:

Environment variable:

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

OpenClaw config:

Add to your

openclaw.json

:

{
  "tavily": {
    "apiKey": "your-api-key-here"
  }
}

Usage Examples

Basic Search

# Search for a topic
curl -X POST "https://api.tavily.com/search" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TAVILY_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "query": "latest AI developments 2026",
    "search_depth": "basic",
    "max_results": 5
  }' | jq .

Research Query

# Get detailed research results
curl -X POST "https://api.tavily.com/search" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TAVILY_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "query": "climate change impact on agriculture 2026",
    "search_depth": "advanced",
    "max_results": 10,
    "include_answer": true,
    "include_images": false
  }' | jq .

News Search

# Search for recent news
curl -X POST "https://api.tavily.com/search" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TAVILY_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "query": "technology news today",
    "search_depth": "basic",
    "max_results": 5,
    "include_raw_content": false
  }' | jq .

API Parameters

• query

  : Search query string (required)

• search_depth

  : "basic" or "advanced" (default: "basic")

• max_results

  : Number of results (1-10, default: 5)

• include_answer

  : Include AI-generated answer (true/false)

• include_images

  : Include image URLs (true/false)

• include_raw_content

  : Include full page content (true/false)

Error Handling

• Check API key is set:

  echo $TAVILY_API_KEY

• Test connection: Use the basic search example above
• Rate limits: Tavily has usage limits based on your plan

Alternatives

If Tavily API is not available:

1. Use

   web_fetch

   for specific URLs
2. Use

   web_search

   with Kimi API (if configured)
3. Manual web browsing with

   browser

   tool