bocha-search

OpenClaw plugin that adds a bocha_web_search tool powered by the Bocha Search API.

Why not the built-in web_search?

OpenClaw's built-in web_search uses Brave Search with a hardcoded API endpoint — no way to set a custom base URL or swap the backend. This is a problem if:

• Brave Search is inaccessible from your network (e.g. China mainland)
• You want to use a different search provider
• You need features Brave doesn't offer (AI summaries, date range filtering, etc.)

This plugin replaces it with Bocha Search, which provides good Chinese-language results and built-in AI summaries.

Setup

1. Place this folder under ~/.openclaw/extensions/bocha-search/

2. Add to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "allow": ["bocha-search"],
    "entries": {
      "bocha-search": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "apiKey": "sk-your-bocha-api-key"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

3. (Recommended) Deny the built-in web_search tool to force the agent to use Bocha:

{
  "tools": {
    "deny": ["web_search"]
  }
}

Without this, both web_search (Brave) and bocha_web_search will be available and the agent may pick either one.

Tool Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
query	string	yes	Search query
count	number	no	Number of results, 1-20 (default 5)
freshness	string	no	Time filter: oneDay, oneWeek, oneMonth, oneYear, or YYYY-MM-DD..YYYY-MM-DD
summary	boolean	no	Include AI summaries (default true)

Notes

• New tools only appear in new sessions. If the bot is already in a conversation, send /new to reset.
• The API key can also be set via BOCHA_API_KEY environment variable as a fallback.