ddg-search
Web search without an API key using DuckDuckGo Lite via web_fetch. Use as a fallback when web_search fails with missing_brave_api_key error, or whenever you need to search the web and no search API is configured. Provides titles, URLs, and snippets for research queries. Zero dependencies — works with just the built-in web_fetch tool.
Install via CLI (Recommended)
clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/jakelin/ddg-web-searchDuckDuckGo Search via web_fetch
Search the web using DuckDuckGo Lite's HTML interface, parsed via web_fetch. No API key or package install required.
How to Search
web_fetch(url="https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/?q=QUERY", extractMode="text", maxChars=8000)
- URL-encode the query — use
+for spaces - Use
extractMode="text"(not markdown) for clean results - Increase
maxCharsfor more results
Region Filtering
Append &kl=REGION for regional results:
au-en— Australiaus-en— United Statesuk-en— United Kingdomde-de— Germanyfr-fr— France
Full list: https://duckduckgo.com/params
Example — Australian search
web_fetch(url="https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/?q=best+coffee+melbourne&kl=au-en", extractMode="text", maxChars=8000)
Reading Results
Results appear as numbered items with title, snippet, and URL. Skip entries marked "Sponsored link" (ads) — organic results follow.
Search-then-Fetch Pattern
- Search — query DDG Lite for a list of results
- Pick — identify the most relevant URLs
- Fetch — use
web_fetchon those URLs to read full content
Tips
- First 1-2 results may be ads — skip to organic results
- For exact phrases, wrap in quotes:
q=%22exact+phrase%22 - Add specific terms to narrow results (site name, year, location)
Limitations
- No time/date filtering (DDG Lite doesn't support
&df=reliably via fetch) - Text results only — no images or videos
- Results sourced from Bing (may differ from Google)
- Google search does NOT work via web_fetch (captcha blocked)
Metadata
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Find the right skillPaste this into your clawhub.json to enable this plugin.
{
"plugins": {
"official-jakelin-ddg-web-search": {
"enabled": true,
"auto_update": true
}
}
}Related Skills
property-search
Search property.com.au for Australian property research — valuations, sold history, suburb profiles, and property details. Use when researching property values, sale history, or suburb data in Australia via property.com.au. Owned by REA Group — active listings link to realestate.com.au.
rea-search
Search realestate.com.au property listings by constructing search and listing URLs. Use when searching for Australian properties to buy, rent, or sold via realestate.com.au. Supports building filtered search URLs (suburb, price, bedrooms, property type, multiple suburbs) and individual listing URLs.