iFlow Search for OpenClaw

Connect Your AI Agent to the Real World.

iFlow Search (心流搜索) is a search API designed for AI applications. OpenClaw exposes it in two ways:

• as the web_search provider for the generic search tool
• as explicit plugin tools: iflow_web_search, iflow_image_search, iflow_web_fetch

iFlow returns structured results optimized for LLM consumption with Chinese-first indexing, structured snippets, image search, and web content extraction.

Property	Value
Plugin id	iflow
Auth	IFLOW_API_KEY or config apiKey
Base URL	https://platform.iflow.cn (default)
Bundled tools	iflow_web_search, iflow_image_search, iflow_web_fetch

Getting started

1. Get an API key

Create an iFlow account at platform.iflow.cn, then generate an API key in the dashboard.

2. Install the plugin

openclaw plugins install @iflow-ai/iflow-plugin@0.1.6

3. Configure the plugin and provider

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      iflow: {
        enabled: true,
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "your-key-here", // optional if IFLOW_API_KEY is set
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "iflow",
      },
    },
    // Enable iFlow explicit tools alongside the coding profile
    alsoAllow: [
      "iflow_web_search",
      "iflow_image_search",
      "iflow_web_fetch"
    ],
  },
}

4. Verify search runs

Trigger a web_search from any agent, or call iflow_web_search directly.

Tip: Choosing iFlow in onboarding or openclaw configure --section web enables the plugin automatically.

Understanding provider vs explicit tools

The iFlow plugin exposes two capability layers:

Web Search Provider

When configured as tools.web.search.provider = "iflow", iFlow powers the built-in web_search tool. This tool is always visible in the coding profile — no extra configuration needed.

Explicit Tools

The plugin also registers three explicit tools with additional capabilities:

Tool	Purpose	Why use it
iflow_web_search	Web search with iFlow-specific controls	Direct access, independent of provider routing
iflow_image_search	Image search — not available via web_search	The only way to search images through iFlow
iflow_web_fetch	Fetch web page content	Direct access, independent of provider routing

Important: iflow_image_search is not the OpenClaw built-in image tool (which is for image understanding/vision). It is a dedicated image search tool that returns image URLs, titles, and source pages.

Tool visibility and profiles

OpenClaw's tools.profile controls which tools are available to the agent:

Profile	web_search (provider)	Explicit tools (iflow_*)
coding (default)	✅ Always visible	❌ Hidden by default
full	✅ Always visible	✅ Visible
coding + alsoAllow	✅ Always visible	✅ Visible

To enable explicit tools with the coding profile, add alsoAllow to your tools config:

{
  tools: {
    profile: "coding",
    alsoAllow: [
      "iflow_web_search",
      "iflow_image_search",
      "iflow_web_fetch"
    ],
  },
}

Note: This is standard OpenClaw behavior — all plugin explicit tools (including Tavily's tavily_search and tavily_extract) follow the same profile rules.

Tool reference

iflow_web_search

Search the public web via iFlow Search (心流搜索). Returns titles, URLs, snippets, position, and (when available) publish date. Chinese-language results are first-class.

Parameter	Type	Constraints / default	Description
query	string	required	Search query string.
count	number	1–10, default 10	Number of results to return.

iflow_image_search

Search the public web for images via iFlow Search. Returns image URLs, titles, and source page URLs.

Parameter	Type	Constraints / default	Description
query	string	required	Image search query string.
count	number	1–20, default 10	Number of images to return.

iflow_web_fetch

Fetch the readable content of a single web page via iFlow Search. Returns title, plain-text/markdown content, and a cache hint.

Parameter	Type	Constraints / default	Description
url	string	required	HTTP(S) URL to fetch.

Choosing the right tool

Need	Tool
Quick web search, no special options	web_search
iFlow-specific search with count control	iflow_web_search
Image search	iflow_image_search
Extract content from a specific URL	iflow_web_fetch

Note: The generic web_search tool with iFlow as provider supports query and count (up to 10 results). For image search or web content extraction, use the explicit tools.

Advanced configuration

API key resolution order

The iFlow client looks up its API key in this order:

1. plugins.entries.iflow.config.webSearch.apiKey (resolved through SecretRefs).
2. IFLOW_API_KEY from the gateway environment.

All tools raise a setup error if neither is present.

Custom base URL

Override plugins.entries.iflow.config.webSearch.baseUrl if you front iFlow through a proxy. The default is https://platform.iflow.cn.

Config options

Option	Default	Description
webSearch.apiKey	IFLOW_API_KEY env var	API key (string or SecretRef).
webSearch.baseUrl	https://platform.iflow.cn	API endpoint override.
webSearch.timeoutSeconds	30	HTTP timeout per request in seconds.
webSearch.cacheTtlMinutes	15	In-memory cache TTL in minutes. Set 0 to disable.

Verify

openclaw plugins inspect iflow --runtime --json

Check toolNames contains all three tools and diagnostics is empty.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
missing_api_key	Export IFLOW_API_KEY or set webSearch.apiKey in config.
Provider not showing	Set tools.web.search.provider = "iflow" and restart gateway.
Old version installed	Reinstall: openclaw plugins install @iflow-ai/iflow-plugin@0.1.6 --force
registerWebSearchProvider not exposed	Normal — plugin falls back to tools-only mode automatically.
Explicit tools not in agent tool list	Add tools.alsoAllow: ["iflow_web_search", "iflow_image_search", "iflow_web_fetch"] to your config. Or set tools.profile = "full". See Tool visibility and profiles.
plugins inspect shows empty tools:[]	Normal for factory-registered tools. Use --runtime flag to see toolNames.

Security

• Never commit your API key — use env vars or SecretRef.
• Plugin only logs whether key is configured (boolean), never the key itself.
• Attribution headers (IFlow-Source, IFlow-Integration, IFlow-Integration-Version) contain no secrets.

Local Development

npm install
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run smoke        # optional, needs IFLOW_API_KEY

License

MIT