AI-optimized web search using Tavily Search API. Use when you need comprehensive web research, current events lookup, domain-specific search, or AI-generated answer summaries. Tavily is optimized for
Real data. Real impact.
Emerging
Developers
Per week
Open source
Skills give you superpowers. Install in 30 seconds.
Tavily is a search engine specifically optimized for Large Language Models and AI applications. Unlike traditional search APIs, Tavily provides AI-ready results with optional answer generation, clean content extraction, and domain filtering capabilities.
Key capabilities:
graph TB A[User Query] --> B{Search Mode} B -->|basic| C[Fast Search<br/>1-2s response] B -->|advanced| D[Comprehensive Search<br/>5-10s response] C --> E[Tavily API] D --> E E --> F{Topic Filter} F -->|general| G[Broad Web Search] F -->|news| H[News Sources<br/>Last 7 days] G --> I[Domain Filtering] H --> I I --> J{Include Domains?} J -->|yes| K[Filter to Specific Domains] J -->|no| L{Exclude Domains?} K --> M[Search Results] L -->|yes| N[Remove Unwanted Domains] L -->|no| M N --> M M --> O{Response Options} O --> P[AI Answer<br/>Summary] O --> Q[Structured Results<br/>Title, URL, Content, Score] O --> R[Images<br/>if requested] O --> S[Raw HTML Content<br/>if requested] P --> T[Return to Agent] Q --> T R --> T S --> T style E fill:#4A90E2 style P fill:#7ED321 style Q fill:#7ED321 style R fill:#F5A623 style S fill:#F5A623
# Simple query with AI answer scripts/tavily_search.py "What is quantum computing?" # Multiple results scripts/tavily_search.py "Python best practices" --max-results 10
# Comprehensive research mode scripts/tavily_search.py "Climate change solutions" --depth advanced # News-focused search scripts/tavily_search.py "AI developments 2026" --topic news
# Search only trusted domains scripts/tavily_search.py "Python tutorials" \ --include-domains python.org docs.python.org realpython.com # Exclude low-quality sources scripts/tavily_search.py "How to code" \ --exclude-domains w3schools.com geeksforgeeks.org
# Include relevant images scripts/tavily_search.py "Eiffel Tower architecture" --images
| Mode | Speed | Coverage | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| basic | 1-2s | Good | Quick facts, simple queries |
| advanced | 5-10s | Excellent | Research, complex topics, comprehensive analysis |
Decision tree:
| Topic | Time Range | Sources | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| general | All time | Broad web | Evergreen content, tutorials, documentation |
| news | Last 7 days | News sites | Current events, recent developments, breaking news |
Decision tree:
Add to your Clawdbot config:
{ "skills": { "entries": { "tavily": { "enabled": true, "apiKey": "tvly-YOUR_API_KEY_HERE" } } } }
Access in scripts via Clawdbot's config system.
export TAVILY_API_KEY="tvly-YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
Add to ~/.clawdbot/.env or your shell profile.
# Comprehensive research with answer scripts/tavily_search.py "Explain quantum entanglement" --depth advanced # Multiple authoritative sources scripts/tavily_search.py "Best practices for REST API design" \ --max-results 10 \ --include-domains github.com microsoft.com google.com
# Latest news scripts/tavily_search.py "AI policy updates" --topic news # Recent developments in a field scripts/tavily_search.py "quantum computing breakthroughs" \ --topic news \ --depth advanced
# Academic sources only scripts/tavily_search.py "machine learning algorithms" \ --include-domains arxiv.org scholar.google.com ieee.org # Technical documentation scripts/tavily_search.py "React hooks guide" \ --include-domains react.dev
# Gather visual references scripts/tavily_search.py "modern web design trends" \ --images \ --max-results 10
# Get raw HTML content for deeper analysis scripts/tavily_search.py "Python async/await" \ --raw-content \ --max-results 5
The AI-generated answer provides a concise summary synthesized from search results:
{ "answer": "Quantum computing is a type of computing that uses quantum-mechanical phenomena..." }
Use when:
Skip when (--no-answer):
Each result includes:
When --images is enabled, returns URLs of relevant images found during search.
Initial results are insufficient Topic is complex or nuanced Need comprehensive coverage
Include domains for:
Exclude domains for:
The script provides helpful error messages:
# Missing API key Error: Tavily API key required Setup: Set TAVILY_API_KEY environment variable or pass --api-key # Package not installed Error: tavily-python package not installed To install: pip install tavily-python
from tavily_search import search result = search( query="What is machine learning?", api_key="tvly-...", search_depth="advanced", max_results=10 ) if result.get("success"): print(result["answer"]) for item in result["results"]: print(f"{item['title']}: {item['url']}")
scripts/tavily_search.py "Python tutorials" --json > results.json
# Search and extract content scripts/tavily_search.py "React documentation" --json | \ jq -r '.results[].url' | \ xargs -I {} curl -s {}
vs Brave Search:
vs Perplexity:
vs Google Custom Search:
# Make executable chmod +x scripts/tavily_search.py # Check Python version (requires 3.6+) python3 --version # Install dependencies pip install tavily-python
# Verify API key format (should start with tvly-) echo $TAVILY_API_KEY # Test with explicit key scripts/tavily_search.py "test" --api-key "tvly-..."
See api-reference.md for:
No automatic installation available. Please visit the source repository for installation instructions.
View Installation Instructions
1,500+ AI skills, agents & workflows. Install in 30 seconds. Part of the Torly.ai family.
© 2026 Torly.ai. All rights reserved.