OpenClaw `web_search` 500 Error: Tool Name Collision and Schema Fix Guide (2026)

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openclawweb_searchtroubleshootingtool-calling500

If OpenClaw returns this error:

500: "Parameters of tool web_search must only have these properties:query"

this guide is designed to help you restore service in 10–30 minutes.

Scope note: this article uses only verifiable evidence (GitHub issues + reproducible behavior). No speculation.

TL;DR for on-call teams

This 500 is often not a network outage. It is typically a tool name / schema contract collision between OpenClaw-side tool invocation and provider-native web_search expectations.

3-step mitigation (recover first)

1) Confirm it is this class of failure

openclaw logs --follow

Reproduce one search request. If logs contain:

classify it as schema collision.

Run baseline health checks once to rule out unrelated failures:

openclaw status
openclaw gateway status --deep
openclaw doctor --deep

If baseline health is okay but search still throws this 500, continue.

2) Apply short-term degradation

Until upstream fix is confirmed, reduce blast radius:

Goal: restore core availability first.

3) Validate with a strict regression pass

After each change, run the same test prompt 3 times:

  1. no 500 in logs
  2. no empty assistant response
  3. stable textual output returned

What is happening (evidence-based explanation)

Issue #38517 shows strict validation accepting only query. This pattern usually means:

  1. request path resolves to provider-native web_search
  2. provider schema is narrower than OpenClaw tool schema
  3. name collision causes argument mismatch and 500

This is different from 401/403 auth failures or timeout failures, and should be debugged via tool-contract path first.

For baseline log triage patterns, see:

Long-term prevention

1) Avoid generic tool names that can collide

Recommended policy:

Important: use official upstream fixes when available; avoid unreviewed production patches.

2) Add tool-contract regression checks to upgrade SOP

Run at least these cases before/after upgrades:

3) Enforce user-visible failure receipts

Even when tools fail, return:

Never fail silently.

Useful companion reads:

7-day rollout checklist

  1. classify search flows by risk and disable auto-search on critical paths
  2. add a 5-case tool-contract smoke test to post-upgrade routine
  3. alert on log keyword: must only have these properties:query
  4. codify a runbook so incidents don’t restart from scratch

Evidence and references

Related internal guides:

One-line takeaway: When this web_search 500 appears, prioritize name-collision/schema-contract triage before generic network or reinstall paths.

Core Guides (Recommended)

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