> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs2.openclaw.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Parallel search
The Parallel plugin provides two [Parallel](https://parallel.ai/) `web_search`
providers, both returning ranked, LLM-optimized excerpts from a web index
built for AI agents:
| Provider | id | Auth |
| ---------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Parallel Search (Free) | `parallel-free` | None -- Parallel's free [Search MCP](https://docs.parallel.ai/integrations/mcp/search-mcp) |
| Parallel Search | `parallel` | `PARALLEL_API_KEY` -- paid Search API, higher rate limits and objective tuning |
Set `tools.web.search.provider` to `parallel-free` or `parallel` to select
one explicitly; neither is auto-detected.
Direct OpenAI Responses models (`api: "openai-responses"`, provider
`openai`, official API base URL) use OpenAI's hosted native web search
automatically when `tools.web.search.provider` is unset, empty, `"auto"`,
or `"openai"` -- so they bypass Parallel by default. Set
`tools.web.search.provider` to `parallel-free` or `parallel` to route them
through Parallel instead. See [Web Search overview](/tools/web).
## Install plugin
```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
openclaw plugins install @openclaw/parallel-plugin
openclaw gateway restart
```
## API key (paid provider)
`parallel-free` needs no key but still must be selected explicitly. The paid
`parallel` provider needs an API key:
Sign up at [platform.parallel.ai](https://platform.parallel.ai) and
generate an API key from your dashboard.
Set `PARALLEL_API_KEY` in the Gateway environment, or configure via:
```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
openclaw configure --section web
```
## Config
```json5 theme={"theme":{"light":"min-light","dark":"min-dark"}}
{
plugins: {
entries: {
parallel: {
config: {
webSearch: {
apiKey: "par-...", // optional if PARALLEL_API_KEY is set
baseUrl: "https://api.parallel.ai", // optional; OpenClaw appends /v1/search
},
},
},
},
},
tools: {
web: {
search: {
// "parallel-free" for the free Search MCP, or "parallel" for the
// paid API-backed provider shown here.
provider: "parallel",
},
},
},
}
```
**Environment alternative:** set `PARALLEL_API_KEY` in the Gateway
environment. For a gateway install, put it in `~/.openclaw/.env`.
## Base URL override
Applies to the paid `parallel` provider only; `parallel-free` always uses
`https://search.parallel.ai/mcp` and ignores this setting.
Set `plugins.entries.parallel.config.webSearch.baseUrl` to route paid
requests through a compatible proxy or alternate endpoint (for example, the
Cloudflare AI Gateway). OpenClaw normalizes bare hosts by prepending
`https://` and appends `/v1/search` unless the path already ends there. The
resolved endpoint is part of the search cache key, so results from different
endpoints are never shared.
## Tool parameters
Both providers expose Parallel's native search shape so the model fills in a
natural-language goal plus a few short keyword queries -- the pairing
Parallel [recommends](https://docs.parallel.ai/search/best-practices) for
best results.
Natural-language description of the underlying question or goal (max 5000
chars). Should be self-contained.
Concise keyword search queries, 3-6 words each (1-5 entries, max 200 chars
each). Provide 2-3 diverse queries for best results.
Results to return (1-40).
Optional Parallel session id from a previous result's `sessionId`. Pass it on
follow-up searches in the same task so Parallel groups related calls and
improves subsequent results. Max 1000 chars on `parallel`; the free
`parallel-free` Search MCP caps it at 100. An id past the limit is dropped
(paid) or a fresh one is minted (free).
Optional identifier of the model making the call (e.g. `claude-opus-4-7`,
`gpt-5.6-sol`), max 100 chars. Lets Parallel tailor default settings for your
model's capabilities. Pass the exact active model slug; do not shorten to a
family alias.
## Notes
* Parallel ranks and compresses results for LLM reasoning utility, not human
click-through; expect dense excerpts per result rather than full-page
content.
* Result excerpts come back as the `excerpts` array and are also joined into
`description` for compatibility with the generic `web_search` contract.
* Both providers return a `session_id`; OpenClaw surfaces it as `sessionId` in
the tool payload so callers can group follow-up searches. A
Parallel-generated session id (one the caller did not supply) is excluded
from the cache entry, since unrelated tasks with identical queries should
not inherit it.
* `searchId`, `warnings`, and `usage` from Parallel are passed through when
present.
* OpenClaw always forwards a resolved result count to Parallel as
`advanced_settings.max_results` (`parallel`) or applies `count`
client-side after Parallel's fixed-size response (`parallel-free`). The
caller's `count` arg wins, then `tools.web.search.maxResults`, otherwise
OpenClaw's generic `web_search` default (5) -- Parallel's own API defaults
to 10.
* Results are cached for 15 minutes by default (`cacheTtlMinutes`).
* `parallel-free` mints a fresh `session_id` per call via its MCP handshake
when the caller does not supply one; `parallel` leaves it unset in that
case.
## Related
* [Web Search overview](/tools/web) -- all providers and auto-detection
* [Exa search](/tools/exa-search) -- neural search with content extraction
* [Perplexity Search](/tools/perplexity-search) -- structured results with domain filtering