Ollama Web Search

OpenClaw supports Ollama Web Search as a bundled web_search provider. It uses Ollama's experimental web-search API and returns structured results with titles, URLs, and snippets.

Unlike the Ollama model provider, this setup does not need an API key by default. It does require:

• an Ollama host that is reachable from OpenClaw
• ollama signin

Setup

1. Start Ollama

   Make sure Ollama is installed and running.

2. Sign in

   Run:

   ollama signin
   

3. Choose Ollama Web Search

   Run:

   openclaw configure --section web
   

   Then select Ollama Web Search as the provider.

If you already use Ollama for models, Ollama Web Search reuses the same configured host.

Config

{
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "ollama",
      },
    },
  },
}

Optional Ollama host override:

{
  models: {
    providers: {
      ollama: {
        baseUrl: "http://ollama-host:11434",
      },
    },
  },
}

If no explicit Ollama base URL is set, OpenClaw uses http://127.0.0.1:11434.

If your Ollama host expects bearer auth, OpenClaw reuses models.providers.ollama.apiKey (or the matching env-backed provider auth) for web-search requests too.

Notes

• No web-search-specific API key field is required for this provider.
• If the Ollama host is auth-protected, OpenClaw reuses the normal Ollama provider API key when present.
• OpenClaw warns during setup if Ollama is unreachable or not signed in, but it does not block selection.
• Runtime auto-detect can fall back to Ollama Web Search when no higher-priority credentialed provider is configured.
• The provider uses Ollama's experimental /api/experimental/web_search endpoint.

Related

• Web Search overview -- all providers and auto-detection
• Ollama -- Ollama model setup and cloud/local modes