google-search
# 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_KEY` environment 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:
```json
{
"env": {
"GOOGLE_API_KEY": "AIza...",
"GOOGLE_SEARCH_LANG": "he",
"GOOGLE_SEARCH_COUNTRY": "IL"
}
}
```
## Script Location
```bash
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**.
```bash
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:**
```bash
# 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**.
```bash
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:**
```bash
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**.
```bash
python3 lib/google_search.py image "query" [-n 5] [--lang he] [--country IL] [--json]
```
**When to use:** Finding images, visual references, thumbnails.
**Examples:**
```bash
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:
```bash
# 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
bash skills/google-search/install.sh
```
标签
skill
ai
