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OpenClaw integration

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OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent orchestration platform that enables you to build, deploy, and manage autonomous AI agents. The Apify plugin for OpenClaw gives your agents access to thousands of pre-built Actors for web scraping, data extraction, and automation through a single apify tool.

For more details about OpenClaw, refer to the official documentation.

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TLDR

openclaw plugins install @apify/apify-openclaw-plugin
openclaw apify setup
openclaw gateway restart

Prerequisites

Before integrating Apify with OpenClaw, you'll need:

  • An Apify account - If you don't have one, sign up here.
  • Apify API token - Get your token from the API & Integrations section in Apify Console.
  • OpenClaw - Version 2026.1.0 or later. Install from the OpenClaw website.
  • Node.js 22+ - Required to run the plugin. Install from nodejs.org.

Set up the Apify plugin

Install the plugin

openclaw plugins install @apify/apify-openclaw-plugin

Run the setup wizard to configure your API key:

openclaw apify setup

The wizard prompts you for your Apify API token, verifies the connection, and writes the configuration to your OpenClaw config file.

After setup, restart the gateway to load the plugin:

openclaw gateway restart

Configure manually

Alternatively, add the plugin configuration directly to your ~/.openclaw/config.json:

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "apify": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "apiKey": "apify_api_..."
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "tools": {
    "alsoAllow": ["apify"]
  }
}

Then restart the gateway:

openclaw gateway restart
Tool allowlisting required

The apify tool must be listed in tools.alsoAllow in your config, or you can use "group:plugins" to allow all plugin tools. Without this, the tool won't be available to your agents.

Verify the setup

Check your configuration:

openclaw apify status

How the Apify tool works

The plugin registers a single apify tool with three actions:

ActionPurpose
discoverSearch the Apify Store for Actors by keyword, or fetch an Actor's input schema
startRun an Actor asynchronously and get a runId back
collectRetrieve results from completed Actor runs

Two-phase async pattern

The tool uses an asynchronous workflow. Your agent starts an Actor run and gets a runId immediately, then collects results later when the run completes. This lets agents do other work while Actors are running.

discover (search) -> discover (schema) -> start -> collect

Batch multiple targets

Most Actors accept arrays in their input (for example, startUrls, queries, usernames). Always batch multiple targets into a single run - one run with 5 URLs is cheaper and faster than 5 separate runs.

What you can do

Once the plugin is set up, your OpenClaw agents can:

  • Search for scrapers - Ask your agent to find an Actor for any platform (for example, "find me an Instagram scraper") and it discovers the right one from the Apify Store.
  • Scrape any website - Your agent can extract data from Google Search, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Google Maps, e-commerce sites, and more.
  • Batch multiple targets - Scrape several URLs, profiles, or search queries in a single Actor run. One run with 5 targets is cheaper and faster than 5 separate runs.
  • Run multiple Actors in parallel - Start scrapers for different platforms at the same time and collect all results together.
  • Delegate to sub-agents - For complex research tasks, your agent can delegate scraping work to a sub-agent, keeping the parent agent's context focused on higher-level reasoning.
Actor runs may take some time

Actor execution time varies depending on the task complexity. Check Actor run status in Apify Console if a run takes longer than expected.

Configuration options

OptionTypeDefaultDescription
apiKeystringAPIFY_API_KEY env varYour Apify API token
baseUrlstringhttps://api.apify.comApify API base URL
maxResultsnumber20Maximum items to return per dataset (1-1000)
enabledToolsstring[][] (all enabled)Restrict which tool actions are available

Troubleshooting

Authentication errors

  • Check your API token - Verify your Apify API token is correct by running openclaw apify status. You can find your token in the API & Integrations section of Apify Console.
  • Environment variable - If you prefer not to store the key in config, set the APIFY_API_KEY environment variable instead.

Tool not available to agents

  • Check allowlisting - Ensure "apify" is in the tools.alsoAllow array in your OpenClaw config, or use "group:plugins" to allow all plugin tools.
  • Restart the gateway - Config changes don't take effect until you run openclaw gateway restart.

Actor run failures

  • Check run logs - If an Actor run fails, check the logs in Apify Console for details.
  • Verify input schema - Use action: "discover" with the actorId to check what input parameters the Actor expects.

Report an issue

If you encounter a bug or have a feature request, open an issue on the plugin's GitHub repository.

Resources