OpenClaw supports Grok as a web_search provider, using xAI web-grounded responses to produce AI-synthesized answers backed by live search results with citations.

Grok web search prefers your existing xAI OAuth sign-in when one is available. If no OAuth profile exists, the same xAI API key can also power the built-in x_search tool for X (formerly Twitter) post search and the code_execution tool. If you store the key under plugins.entries.xai.config.webSearch.apiKey, OpenClaw reuses it as a fallback for the bundled xAI model provider too.

For post-level X metrics such as reposts, replies, bookmarks, or views, prefer x_search with the exact post URL or status ID instead of a broad search query.

Onboarding and configure

If you choose Grok during:

• openclaw onboard
• openclaw configure --section web

OpenClaw can use an existing xAI OAuth profile without prompting for a separate web-search key. If OAuth is not available, it falls back to xAI API-key setup. OpenClaw can also show a separate follow-up step to enable x_search with the same xAI credential. That follow-up:

• only appears after you choose Grok for web_search
• is not a separate top-level web-search provider choice
• can optionally set the x_search model during the same flow

If you skip it, you can enable or change x_search later in config.

Sign in or get an API key

Use xAI OAuth

If you already signed in with xAI during onboarding or model auth, choose
Grok as the `web_search` provider. No separate API key is required:

```bash
openclaw onboard --auth-choice xai-oauth
openclaw config set tools.web.search.provider grok
```

Use an API key fallback

Get an API key from [xAI](https://console.x.ai/) when OAuth is unavailable
or you intentionally want key-backed web-search config.

Store the key

Set `XAI_API_KEY` in the Gateway environment, or configure via:

```bash
openclaw configure --section web
```

Config

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      xai: {
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "xai-...", // optional if xAI OAuth or XAI_API_KEY is available
            baseUrl: "https://api.x.ai/v1", // optional Responses API proxy/base URL override
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "grok",
      },
    },
  },
}

Credential alternatives: sign in with openclaw models auth login --provider xai --method oauth, set XAI_API_KEY in the Gateway environment, or store plugins.entries.xai.config.webSearch.apiKey. For a gateway install, put env vars in ~/.openclaw/.env.

How it works

Grok uses xAI web-grounded responses to synthesize answers with inline citations, similar to Gemini's Google Search grounding approach.

Supported parameters

Grok search supports query.

count is accepted for shared web_search compatibility, but Grok still returns one synthesized answer with citations rather than an N-result list.

Provider-specific filters are not currently supported.

Grok uses a provider-specific 60 second default timeout because xAI Responses web-grounded searches can run longer than the shared web_search default. Set tools.web.search.timeoutSeconds to override it.

Base URL overrides

Set plugins.entries.xai.config.webSearch.baseUrl when Grok web search should route through an operator proxy or xAI-compatible Responses endpoint. OpenClaw posts to <baseUrl>/responses after trimming trailing slashes. x_search uses the same webSearch.baseUrl fallback unless plugins.entries.xai.config.xSearch.baseUrl is set.

Related

• Web Search overview -- all providers and auto-detection
• x_search in Web Search -- first-class X search via xAI
• Gemini Search -- AI-synthesized answers via Google grounding