web_search tool fails with 401 "User not found" despite valid Perplexity API key
✅Solved
Config (current):
"tools": {
"web": {
"search": {
"enabled": true,
"provider": "perplexity",
"maxResults": 10,
"timeoutSeconds": 30,
"perplexity": {
"apiKey": "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"
}
}
}
}
Error:
Perplexity API error (401): {"error":{"message":"User not found.","code":401}}
Tests Performed:
1.
Direct API test via curl — SUCCEEDED (HTTP 200, valid response)
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer pplx-..." https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions
Result: Got full search results with citations, cost $0.005
2.
OpenClaw web_search tool — FAILS with 401 "User not found"
3. web_fetch tool — WORKS (fetches URLs directly)
Environment:
• OpenClaw version: 2026.2.9
• macOS Darwin 24.6.0
• Gateway restarted multiple times after config changes
Key Finding: Perplexity API key is 100% valid — direct curl calls succeed. The web_search tool appears to not properly authenticate or passes credentials incorrectly.
"tools": {
"web": {
"search": {
"enabled": true,
"provider": "perplexity",
"maxResults": 10,
"timeoutSeconds": 30,
"perplexity": {
"apiKey": "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"
}
}
}
}
Error:
Perplexity API error (401): {"error":{"message":"User not found.","code":401}}
Tests Performed:
1.
Direct API test via curl — SUCCEEDED (HTTP 200, valid response)curl -H "Authorization: Bearer pplx-..." https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions
Result: Got full search results with citations, cost $0.005
2.
OpenClaw web_search tool — FAILS with 401 "User not found"3.
web_fetch tool — WORKS (fetches URLs directly)Environment:
• OpenClaw version: 2026.2.9
• macOS Darwin 24.6.0
• Gateway restarted multiple times after config changes
Key Finding: Perplexity API key is 100% valid — direct curl calls succeed. The web_search tool appears to not properly authenticate or passes credentials incorrectly.
Solution
That result (switching to
So before upgrading / filing an issue, I’d treat this as “you’re talking to the wrong gateway (or a second gateway is still alive)” and prove which process is actually receiving the Discord events.
Leave it running, then send any message in Discord that triggers the bot.
- If no inbound Discord/webhook activity shows up in the log at that moment, then that machine/process is not the one handling the Discord chat (there’s another gateway somewhere that is).
- If it does show inbound activity, then we can focus on why config isn’t being applied inside that same process.
(You can also use
provider: "brave"So before upgrading / filing an issue, I’d treat this as “you’re talking to the wrong gateway (or a second gateway is still alive)” and prove which process is actually receiving the Discord events.
1) Prove the gateway you’re restarting is the one receiving Discord messages
On the machine you believe is the gateway, run:Leave it running, then send any message in Discord that triggers the bot.
- If no inbound Discord/webhook activity shows up in the log at that moment, then that machine/process is not the one handling the Discord chat (there’s another gateway somewhere that is).
- If it does show inbound activity, then we can focus on why config isn’t being applied inside that same process.
(You can also use
openclaw channels logs --channel discord
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