Tavily Research

Conduct comprehensive research on any topic with automatic source gathering, analysis, and response generation with citations.

Authentication

Get your API key at https://tavily.com and add to your OpenClaw config:

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "tavily-research": {
        "enabled": true,
        "apiKey": "tvly-YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or set the environment variable:

export TAVILY_API_KEY="tvly-YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"

Quick Start

Using the Script

node {baseDir}/scripts/research.mjs "query"
node {baseDir}/scripts/research.mjs "query" --pro
node {baseDir}/scripts/research.mjs "query" --output report.md

Examples

# Quick overview
node {baseDir}/scripts/research.mjs "What is retrieval augmented generation?"

# Comprehensive analysis
node {baseDir}/scripts/research.mjs "LangGraph vs CrewAI for multi-agent systems" --pro

# Market research with output file
node {baseDir}/scripts/research.mjs "Fintech startup landscape 2025" --pro --output fintech-report.md

# Technical comparison
node {baseDir}/scripts/research.mjs "React vs Vue vs Svelte" --pro

Options

Option	Description	Default
--model <model>	Model: mini, pro, auto	mini
--output <file>	Save report to file	-
--json	Output raw JSON	false

Model Selection

Rule of thumb: "what does X do?" → mini. "X vs Y vs Z" or "best way to..." → pro.

Model	Use Case	Speed
mini	Single topic, targeted research	~30s
pro	Comprehensive multi-angle analysis	~60-120s
auto	API chooses based on complexity	Varies

Output Format

The research includes:

• AI-generated answer: Comprehensive synthesis
• Sources: Citations with titles, URLs, and relevance scores
• Metadata: Query, response time, and statistics

Tips

• Research can take 30-120 seconds depending on complexity
• Use --pro for comparisons, market analysis, or detailed reports
• Use --output to save reports for later reference
• The auto model lets Tavily choose based on query complexity