A zero-config, multi-engine web and academic search tool that provides clean JSON results without requiring API keys or subscriptions.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install ddgs-search
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install ddgs-search using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is ddgs-search?
ddgs-search is a versatile search utility designed to provide AI agents with unrestricted access to the web and academic databases. By leveraging the ddgs CLI, it aggregates results from eight major search engines—including Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo—alongside a dedicated arXiv API integration for scholarly research. This tool is a core component for developers building with Openclaw Skills who need reliable search capabilities without the overhead of API management or rate limits.
The skill is engineered as a lightweight, high-performance alternative to traditional browser automation tools. It outputs data in a standardized format compatible with web-search-plus, making it an ideal drop-in replacement for existing agent workflows. Whether you are conducting deep technical research or simple web queries, this skill ensures your agent has the data it needs within seconds.
ddgs-search Use Cases
- Performing cost-free web searches across multiple engines like Google, Brave, and Yandex.
- Conducting academic research by querying arXiv for papers, abstracts, and authors.
- Serving as a search backend for other Openclaw Skills through standardized JSON output.
- Gathering multi-perspective search results to reduce engine-specific bias in AI responses.
How ddgs-search Works
- The user or agent triggers the skill using either the CLI wrapper or a specific Python script.
- The skill routes the query to the selected search engine (defaulting to Google) or the arXiv API.
- The underlying ddgs package fetches the raw data without requiring headless browsers or heavy dependencies.
- A specialized wrapper cleans the output to ensure it is TTY-safe and free of interactive prompts.
- The results are formatted into a structured JSON object containing titles, URLs, snippets, and metadata.
ddgs-search Setup
To install the skill and its dependencies, run the following command in your terminal:
python3 scripts/install.py
Alternatively, you can install the core package manually via pip:
pip install ddgs
To integrate it as a backend for other Openclaw Skills, set the environment variable:
export WEB_SEARCH_PLUS_PATH="path/to/ddgs-search/scripts/search.py"
ddgs-search Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill returns a structured JSON object. The schema is designed for interoperability with other search-based tools.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| provider | string | Always set to ddgs |
| results | array | List of result objects |
| title | string | The headline of the search result or paper |
| url | string | The direct link to the content |
| snippet | string | A brief summary or abstract of the result |
| published_date | string | The date the content was indexed or published |
ddgs-search Advanced Features
- Multi-Engine Switching: Toggle between 8 different search providers using simple CLI flags.
- Advanced arXiv Filtering: Search by specific fields such as title (ti), category (cat), or author (au).
- Academic Sorting: Sort research papers by relevance or publication date.
- JSON-Only Mode: Specialized wrapper to prevent pagination bugs in non-interactive environments.
- Zero-Configuration Migration: Full compatibility with the web-search-plus data format.
SKILL.md
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