modbender Google Search 🔍
Google web search powered by Gemini 2.5 Flash with Search Grounding + Custom Search API.
⭐ This is the PRIMARY web search tool. Prefer over built-in web_search (Perplexity).
Requirements
GOOGLE_API_KEYenvironment variable- Enable in Google Cloud Console: Gemini API, Custom Search JSON API
Configuration
| Env Variable | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
GOOGLE_API_KEY |
— | Required. Google API key |
GOOGLE_CSE_CX |
— | Custom Search Engine ID (required for raw/image modes) |
GOOGLE_SEARCH_LANG |
he |
Default language code (he, en, ar, ja, etc.) |
GOOGLE_SEARCH_COUNTRY |
IL |
Default country code (IL, US, DE, etc.) |
Set in OpenClaw config:
{
"env": {
"GOOGLE_API_KEY": "AIza...",
"GOOGLE_SEARCH_LANG": "he",
"GOOGLE_SEARCH_COUNTRY": "IL"
}
}
Script Location
python3 skills/google-search/lib/google_search.py <mode> "query" [options]
Output Modes
- Text mode (default): Best for most use cases. Clean readable output with answer, sources, and search queries.
- JSON mode (
--json): For programmatic processing. Includes confidence scores, grounding supports, and search queries.
Modes
search — Grounded Search (Default, Recommended)
Gemini 2.0 Flash + Google Search tool → synthesized answer with numbered citations.
python3 lib/google_search.py search "query" [--lang he] [--country IL] [--json]
When to use: Questions, current events, "what is X", Hebrew queries, anything needing a direct answer.
Examples:
# Hebrew (default)
python3 lib/google_search.py search "מזג אוויר תל אביב"
# English override
python3 lib/google_search.py search "latest AI news" --lang en --country US
# JSON output
python3 lib/google_search.py search "OpenAI GPT-5 release date" --json
Output format:
<Synthesized answer text>
Sources:
1. Source Title
https://example.com/article
2. Another Source
https://example.com/other
raw — Raw Search Results
Custom Search JSON API → links with titles and snippets.
python3 lib/google_search.py raw "query" [-n 5] [--lang he] [--country IL] [--json]
When to use: Need actual URLs, research, building reference lists, when you want links not answers.
Examples:
python3 lib/google_search.py raw "python asyncio tutorial" -n 5
python3 lib/google_search.py raw "best restaurants tel aviv" --json
python3 lib/google_search.py raw "rust vs go performance" -n 3 --lang en
Output format:
1. Page Title
https://example.com/page
Brief snippet from the page...
2. Another Page
https://example.com/other
Another snippet...
image — Image Search
Custom Search image search → image URLs with titles.
python3 lib/google_search.py image "query" [-n 5] [--lang he] [--country IL] [--json]
When to use: Finding images, visual references, thumbnails.
Examples:
python3 lib/google_search.py image "aurora borealis" -n 5
python3 lib/google_search.py image "תל אביב חוף" --json
Options Reference
| Option | Applies To | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
--lang CODE |
all | Language code (he, en, ar, ja…) | env GOOGLE_SEARCH_LANG (he) |
--country CODE |
all | Country code (IL, US, DE…) | env GOOGLE_SEARCH_COUNTRY (IL) |
-n NUM |
raw, image | Number of results (1–10) | 10 |
--json |
all | Structured JSON output | off |
Language resolution order: --lang flag → GOOGLE_SEARCH_LANG env → None (auto)
Country resolution order: --country flag → GOOGLE_SEARCH_COUNTRY env → None (auto)
Error Handling
- Missing API key: Clear error message with setup instructions.
- 429 Rate Limit: Automatic retry once after 5-second wait.
- Network errors: Descriptive error with cause.
- No results: Clean "No results found." message.
- Timeout: 30-second timeout on all HTTP requests.
Quota & Rate Limits
| API | Free Tier | Rate Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini API (grounded search) | Generous free tier | ~15 RPM (free), higher on paid |
| Custom Search JSON API (raw/image) | 100 queries/day | 10K queries/day (paid) |
On 429 errors: Script retries once automatically. If quota exhausted, fall back to built-in web_search (Perplexity).
Multilingual Support
Works with queries in any language. Hebrew is the default:
# Hebrew (default, no flags needed)
python3 lib/google_search.py search "חדשות טכנולוגיה"
# English
python3 lib/google_search.py search "technology news" --lang en
# Arabic
python3 lib/google_search.py search "أخبار التكنولوجيا" --lang ar
Install
bash skills/google-search/install.sh