Tools

Parallel search

OpenClaw supports Parallel as a web_search provider. Parallel returns ranked, LLM-optimized dense excerpts from a web index purpose-built for AI agents.

Get an API key

Create an account

Store the key

Set PARALLEL_API_KEY in the Gateway environment, or configure via:

bash

openclaw configure --section web

Config

json5

{  plugins: {    entries: {      parallel: {        config: {          webSearch: {            apiKey: "par-...", // optional if PARALLEL_API_KEY is set            baseUrl: "https://api.parallel.ai", // optional; OpenClaw appends /v1/search          },        },      },    },  },  tools: {    web: {      search: {        provider: "parallel",      },    },  },}

Environment alternative: set PARALLEL_API_KEY in the Gateway environment. For a gateway install, put it in ~/.openclaw/.env.

Base URL override

Set plugins.entries.parallel.config.webSearch.baseUrl when Parallel requests should go through a compatible proxy or alternate Parallel endpoint (for example, the Cloudflare AI Gateway). OpenClaw normalizes bare hosts by prepending https:// and appends /v1/search unless the path already ends there. The resolved endpoint is included in the search cache key, so results from different Parallel endpoints are not shared.

Tool parameters

OpenClaw exposes Parallel's native search shape so the model can fill in both the natural-language goal and a few short keyword queries — the pairing Parallel recommends for best results.

objectivestringrequired

Natural-language description of the underlying question or goal (max 5000 chars). Should be self-contained.

search_queriesstring[]required

Concise keyword search queries, 3-6 words each (1-5 entries, max 200 chars each). Provide 2-3 diverse queries for best results.

countnumber

Results to return (1-40).

session_idstring

Optional Parallel session id (max 1000 chars). Pass the sessionId from a previous Parallel result on follow-up searches that are part of the same task so Parallel can group related calls and improve subsequent results.

client_modelstring

Optional identifier of the model making the call (e.g. claude-opus-4-7, gpt-5.5). Lets Parallel tailor default settings for your model's capabilities. Pass the exact active model slug; do not shorten to a family alias.

Notes

Parallel ranks and compresses results based on LLM reasoning utility, not human click-through; expect dense excerpts in each result rather than full-page content
Result excerpts come back as the excerpts array and are also joined into the description field for compatibility with the generic web_search contract
Parallel returns a session_id on every response; OpenClaw surfaces it as sessionId in the tool payload so callers can group follow-up searches
searchId, warnings, and usage from Parallel are passed through when present
OpenClaw always forwards a resolved result count to Parallel as advanced_settings.max_results. The caller's count arg wins, then the top-level tools.web.search.maxResults setting, otherwise OpenClaw's generic web_search default (5). This keeps result volume consistent when switching between providers; Parallel on its own defaults to 10
Results are cached for 15 minutes by default (configurable via cacheTtlMinutes)

Web Search overview -- all providers and auto-detection
Exa search -- neural search with content extraction
Perplexity Search -- structured results with domain filtering

Was this useful?