Web Browsing and Research with OpenClaw

Web Capabilities

OpenClaw can browse the internet through two primary tools: web_search for finding information and web_fetch for reading full web pages.

Web Search

Ask OpenClaw to search the web naturally:

• "Search for the latest Python release notes"
• "Find restaurants near Central Park"
• "What are the best practices for React performance?"

How It Works

1. OpenClaw translates your request into a search query
2. Performs the search and retrieves results
3. Reads the most relevant pages
4. Synthesizes a response with source citations

Web Fetch

Read any URL directly:

• "Read this article: https://example.com/article"
• "What does this webpage say?"
• "Summarize the content at this link"

Browser Automation

For more complex web tasks, OpenClaw's browser tool can:

• Navigate — Open websites and click through pages
• Fill forms — Enter data into web forms
• Take screenshots — Capture what's on screen
• Upload files — Submit documents to web services
• Manage sessions — Login and maintain authenticated sessions

Example Tasks

• "Go to GitHub and check my notifications"
• "Fill out the feedback form on example.com"
• "Take a screenshot of the dashboard at this URL"
• "Compare prices for flights to Tokyo on three different sites"

Research Workflows

Deep Research

"Research the history of quantum computing. Check at least 5 sources, synthesize the findings, and save a report to research/quantum.md"

Competitive Analysis

"Compare the pricing pages of Notion, Obsidian, and Roam Research. Create a comparison table."

Fact Checking

"Verify whether the claim that 'X happened in Y year' is accurate. Check multiple sources."

Configuration

Enable web tools in your skill or globally:

{
  "tools": {
    "web_search": { "enabled": true },
    "web_fetch": { "enabled": true },
    "browser": { "enabled": true }
  }
}

Tips

• Be specific about the number of sources to check
• Ask for citations to verify information quality
• Use web_fetch for known URLs, web_search for discovery
• Browser automation requires Chromium installed