Free Web Search for Local Ollama Setups: DuckDuckGo vs SearXNG

Running OpenClaw with Ollama locally but want web search without paid API keys? This guide covers your two best options for 100% free web search that works with local models.

The Problem

OpenClaw's built-in web_search tool requires either a Brave API key or Perplexity account. If you're running a fully local setup with Ollama (no cloud API keys), you need alternatives.

Option 1: DuckDuckGo (Easiest "No Key" Solution)

The duckduckgo-search skill wraps the Python package of the same name, giving you query → results without signing up for anything.

Setup:

1. Install the skill via ClawHub:

   clawdhub install duckduckgo-search

2. Check dependencies:

   openclaw skills check

   (Usually needs uv + the pip package)

3. Your agent can now search → pick URLs → web_fetch each for content

Tradeoffs:

• DDG-based approaches can be flaky (rate limits, occasional blocks)
• Still the best "free + no key" option for quick setups

Docs:

• Skills system
• ClawHub install/sync
• openclaw skills CLI

Option 2: SearXNG Self-Hosted (Most Reliable)

If you can run Docker, SearXNG is the most stable "free" option. You control it, and you can hit a JSON endpoint directly.

Key gotcha: web_fetch intentionally blocks localhost/private IPs, so you can't call http://127.0.0.1:8080/search?... via web_fetch. Use exec for the SearXNG query, then web_fetch only for the resulting public URLs.

Recommended Workflow:

1. Agent receives a question
2. Searches via SearXNG (local, using exec + curl)
3. Fetches top URLs with web_fetch
4. Summarizes and optionally saves to memory

Basic docker-compose setup (local-only):

services:
  redis:
    image: docker.io/valkey/valkey:8-alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - searxng-redis:/data
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    cap_add:
      - SETGID
      - SETUID
      - DAC_OVERRIDE

  searxng:
    image: docker.io/searxng/searxng:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "127.0.0.1:8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - searxng-data:/etc/searxng:rw
    environment:
      - SEARXNG_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8080/
    cap_drop:
      - ALL
    cap_add:
      - CHOWN
      - SETGID
      - SETUID
    depends_on:
      - redis

volumes:
  searxng-redis:
  searxng-data:

Create a search skill script (skills/searxng/searxng.sh):

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
QUERY="$1"
curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8080/search?q=$(printf '%s' "$QUERY" | jq -sRr @uri)&format=json" | \
  jq -r '.results[:5] | .[] | "\(.title)\n\(.url)\n\(.content)\n---"'

SKILL.md for the skill:

# SearXNG Local Search

Search the web using a local SearXNG instance.

## Usage

Prerequisites

• SearXNG running on localhost:8080
• jq installed