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DuckDuckGo Search: Key-Free Web Search Provider for OpenClaw

This page covers how to configure and use DuckDuckGo as a key-free web search provider in OpenClaw. It is intended for developers who need an experimental, HTML-based search integration without an API key.

Read this when

  • You want a web search provider that requires no API key
  • You want to use DuckDuckGo for web_search
  • You want an explicitly selected key-free search provider

OpenClaw supports DuckDuckGo as a key-free web_search provider. You do not need an API key or account.

Warning

DuckDuckGo is an experimental, unofficial integration that scrapes DuckDuckGo's non-JavaScript HTML search pages, not an official API. Expect occasional breakage from bot-challenge pages or HTML changes.

Setup

DuckDuckGo is never auto-selected, because auto-detection only considers providers with usable credentials. Set it explicitly:

Configure

openclaw configure --section web
# Select "duckduckgo" as the provider

Config

Set the provider directly in config:

{
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "duckduckgo",
      },
    },
  },
}

Optional plugin-level settings for region and SafeSearch:

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      duckduckgo: {
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            region: "us-en", // DuckDuckGo region code
            safeSearch: "moderate", // "strict", "moderate", or "off"
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Tool parameters

  • query (string, required), Search query.

  • count (number, default: 5), Results to return (1-10).

  • region (string), DuckDuckGo region code (e.g. us-en, uk-en, de-de).

  • safeSearch (strict' | 'moderate' | 'off, default: moderate), SafeSearch level.

region and safeSearch tool parameters override the plugin config values above on a per-query basis.

Notes

  • No API key -- works once DuckDuckGo is selected as the web_search provider.
  • Experimental -- scrapes DuckDuckGo's non-JavaScript HTML search pages, not an official API or SDK. Results depend on page structure, which can change without notice.
  • Bot-challenge risk -- DuckDuckGo may serve CAPTCHAs or block requests under heavy or automated use.
  • Explicit selection only -- OpenClaw's auto-detect only considers providers with usable credentials, so a key-free provider like DuckDuckGo is never chosen automatically; you must set provider: "duckduckgo".
  • SafeSearch defaults to moderate when not configured.

Tip

For production use, consider Brave Search (free tier available) or another API-backed provider.