bx-search
Web search using the Brave Search CLI (`bx`). Use for ALL web search requests — including "search for", "look up", "find", "what is", "how do I", "google this", and any request needing current or external information. Prefer this over the built-in web_search tool whenever bx is available. Also use for: documentation lookup, troubleshooting research, RAG grounding, news, images, videos, local places, and AI-synthesized answers.
Install via CLI (Recommended)
clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/brave-skills/bx-searchbx — Brave Search CLI
Agent Directive
When this skill is active, use bx via exec for all web searches. Do not use the built-in web_search tool. Run bx context "query" as the default — it returns pre-extracted, token-budgeted content ready for use. Fall back to bx answers for synthesized explanations or bx web when search operators are needed.
A zero-dependency, token-efficient CLI for the Brave Search API, built for AI agents and LLMs.
One binary, JSON in/out, no runtime dependencies. The default subcommand is context — bare bx "query" is equivalent to bx context "query". It replaces search + scrape + extract in a single call with token-budgeted output — purpose-built for RAG and LLM grounding.
Quick Start
macOS/Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/brave-search-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh
Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/brave-search-cli/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex"
bx config set-key YOUR_API_KEY # get a key at https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com
bx "your search query"
bx --help # see all commands; bx <command> --help for flags
Getting an API Key
- Sign up at https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/register
- Choose a plan — all plans include $5/month free credits (~1,000 free queries). Different endpoints may require different plans.
- Go to "API Keys" in the dashboard, generate a key (shown once — save it)
Configuring the API Key
Three methods, in priority order:
| Priority | Method | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (highest) | --api-key flag | bx --api-key KEY web "test" |
| 2 | BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY env var | export BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY=KEY |
| 3 | Config file | bx config set-key KEY |
The config file is stored at ~/.config/brave-search/api_key (Linux), ~/Library/Application Support/brave-search/api_key (macOS), or %APPDATA%\brave-search\api_key (Windows).
Security tip: Prefer the env var or config file over --api-key, which is visible in process listings. Use bx config set-key without an argument to enter the key interactively, avoiding shell history.
For AI Agents
Use context by default. It returns pre-extracted, relevance-scored web content ready for LLM prompt injection. One API call replaces the search → scrape → extract pipeline.
# RAG grounding with token budget
bx context "Python TypeError cannot unpack non-iterable NoneType" --max-tokens 4096
# Direct AI answer (OpenAI-compatible, streams by default)
bx answers "explain Rust lifetimes with examples"
# Raw web search when you need site: scoping or result filtering
bx web "site:docs.rs axum middleware" --count 5
Metadata
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Find the right skillPaste this into your clawhub.json to enable this plugin.
{
"plugins": {
"official-brave-skills-bx-search": {
"enabled": true,
"auto_update": true
}
}
}