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openclaw/docs/tools/duckduckgo-search.md

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---
summary: "DuckDuckGo web search -- key-free fallback provider (experimental, HTML-based)"
read_when:
- You want a web search provider that requires no API key
- You want to use DuckDuckGo for web_search
- You need a zero-config search fallback
title: "DuckDuckGo search"
---
OpenClaw supports DuckDuckGo as a **key-free** `web_search` provider. No API
key or account is required.
<Warning>
DuckDuckGo is an **experimental, unofficial** integration that pulls results
from DuckDuckGo's non-JavaScript search pages — not an official API. Expect
occasional breakage from bot-challenge pages or HTML changes.
</Warning>
## Setup
No API key needed — just set DuckDuckGo as your provider:
<Steps>
<Step title="Configure">
```bash
openclaw configure --section web
# Select "duckduckgo" as the provider
```
</Step>
</Steps>
## Config
```json5
{
tools: {
web: {
search: {
provider: "duckduckgo",
},
},
},
}
```
Optional plugin-level settings for region and SafeSearch:
```json5
{
plugins: {
entries: {
duckduckgo: {
config: {
webSearch: {
region: "us-en", // DuckDuckGo region code
safeSearch: "moderate", // "strict", "moderate", or "off"
},
},
},
},
},
}
```
## Tool parameters
<ParamField path="query" type="string" required>
Search query.
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="count" type="number" default="5">
Results to return (110).
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="region" type="string">
DuckDuckGo region code (e.g. `us-en`, `uk-en`, `de-de`).
</ParamField>
<ParamField path="safeSearch" type="'strict' | 'moderate' | 'off'" default="moderate">
SafeSearch level.
</ParamField>
Region and SafeSearch can also be set in plugin config (see above) — tool
parameters override config values per-query.
## Notes
- **No API key** — works out of the box, zero configuration
- **Experimental** — gathers results from DuckDuckGo's non-JavaScript HTML
search pages, not an official API or SDK
- **Bot-challenge risk** — DuckDuckGo may serve CAPTCHAs or block requests
under heavy or automated use
- **HTML parsing** — results depend on page structure, which can change without
notice
- **Auto-detection order** — DuckDuckGo is the first key-free fallback
(order 100) in auto-detection. API-backed providers with configured keys run
first, then Ollama Web Search (order 110), then SearXNG (order 200)
- **SafeSearch defaults to moderate** when not configured
<Tip>
For production use, consider [Brave Search](/tools/brave-search) (free tier
available) or another API-backed provider.
</Tip>
## Related
- [Web Search overview](/tools/web) -- all providers and auto-detection
- [Brave Search](/tools/brave-search) -- structured results with free tier
- [Exa Search](/tools/exa-search) -- neural search with content extraction