Integrating Search: SearXNG vs. Perplexity in OpenClaw
How to use the `searxng-search` and `perplexity` skills for private and AI-powered search in your OpenClaw environment.
Search is the lifeblood of any AI agent. Without it, your agent is limited to its training data. In OpenClaw, you have two primary search options: SearXNG and Perplexity.
Each has its strengths, but they work best when used together.
1. Why SearXNG for Private Search?
SearXNG is a self-hosted, privacy-respecting metasearch engine. It aggregates results from over 70 different search engines (like Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo) without tracking you.
- Privacy: No search data is shared with Big Tech.
- Customization: You can choose which engines to search and how to display the results.
- Speed: Fast and lightweight.
2. Why Perplexity for AI-Powered Search?
Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine that returns grounded responses with citations. It's essentially an LLM that can search the web.
- Accuracy: Returns cited sources for every answer.
- Context: Can handle complex, multi-part questions.
- Batch Queries: Great for large-scale research tasks.
3. Comparison Matrix
| Feature | SearXNG | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy | High (Self-hosted) | Moderate (Cloud API) |
| Search Accuracy | Variable (Metasearch) | High (AI-grounded) |
| Citations | No (Link-based) | Yes (In-text citations) |
| Cost | Free (Self-hosted) | Paid (API usage) |
4. Technical Artifact: A Hybrid Search Workflow
In OpenClaw, you can use both skills to get the best of both worlds.
- Command:
searxng-search "latest trends in [Topic]" - Result: A list of links and snippets from various engines.
- Command:
perplexity "Summarize the findings from these links: [Links from SearXNG]" - Result: A clean, AI-generated summary with citations.
5. Setting Up the Skills
To use searxng-search:
- Spin up a SearXNG instance (e.g., in Docker).
- Add the URL to your
~/.openclaw/workspace/.env. - Read
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/searxng-search/SKILL.md.
To use perplexity:
- Get a Perplexity API key.
- Add it to your
~/.openclaw/workspace/.env. - Read
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/perplexity/SKILL.md.
Conclusion: Use the Right Tool
At Hangryfeed, we use SearXNG for broad, private searches and Perplexity for deep, AI-powered research. By integrating both into OpenClaw, we ensure our AI employees have the best possible information at all times.
CTA Footer: "Hangryfeed helps founders and businesses scale with high-impact marketing. From Reddit and influencer campaigns to content strategy, UGC, and points programs, we build the systems that drive growth—including deploying AI employees to handle the heavy lifting."