OpenClaw meets AnyAPI.ai: How to scrape the web without losing your mind

Let’s be real for a second. Web scraping used to be a nightmare of broken CSS selectors and constant cat-and-mouse games with site updates. If you are tired of your scrapers breaking because a developer changed a div to a section, you are in the right place.

Today we are combining OpenClaw (the eyes and hands) with AnyAPI.ai (the brain). This combo lets you turn any messy website into clean JSON without writing a single line of fragile selector code.

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What is the deal with OpenClaw?

OpenClaw is an open-source tool that uses AI agents to browse the web just like a human would. Instead of telling it "find the third span inside the second div," you just tell it "give me the product price."

It handles the scrolling, the clicking, and the messy HTML. But to actually understand what it’s looking at, it needs to talk to a Large Language Model (LLM). That is where things usually get annoying with API keys and regional blocks.

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Enter AnyAPI.ai: The ultimate LLM shortcut

AnyAPI.ai is basically a universal remote for AI models. Instead of managing five different accounts for OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, you get one key.

One billing setup:

You pay one place but get access to GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, and Llama 3.

OpenAI-compatible:

This is the best part. It uses the exact same format as OpenAI, so you can plug it into almost any AI tool by just changing one URL.

No borders:

If you are in a region where some AI providers are blocked, AnyAPI acts as your legal bridge.

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The 3-minute setup

First, make sure you have your API key from the AnyAPI.ai dashboard. Then, let’s get your environment ready.

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1. The config (The .env way)

The cleanest way to do this is to set up a .env file. We are going to "trick" OpenClaw into thinking it is talking to OpenAI, while actually routing it through AnyAPI.

# Redirect OpenClaw to the AnyAPI gateway
BASE_URL="https://api.anyapi.ai/v1"

# Your AnyAPI Key goes here
ANYAPI_API_KEY="your_actual_anyapi_key"

# Pick your favorite model from the AnyAPI list
MODEL_NAME="gpt-4o"

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2. The Python code

Here is a simple script to get you started. No complex setup, just pure data extraction.

from openclaw import OpenClaw
import asyncio
import os

# We point the base_url to AnyAPI
claw = OpenClaw(
    api_key=os.getenv("ANYAPI_API_KEY"),
    base_url="https://api.anyapi.ai/v1",
    model="gpt-4o"
)

async def scrape_site():
    # Tell OpenClaw exactly what you want
    my_schema = {
        "title": "string",
        "price_usd": "float",
        "availability": "boolean"
    }

    print("Working my magic...")
    
    result = await claw.scrape(
        url="https://example-shop.com/product",
        schema=my_schema
    )

    print(f"Here is your data: {result}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(scrape_site())

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Pro-tips for a better experience

Watch your tokens:

Web pages are full of useless code. OpenClaw tries to clean this up, but choosing a model like gpt-4o-mini on AnyAPI can save you a ton of money if you are scraping thousands of pages.

Timeouts are your friend:

AI takes a few seconds to "think" about the page content. Make sure your script doesn't time out after 10 seconds. Give it 60 to be safe.

Model switching:

If GPT-4o is struggling with a specific table, just change your MODEL_NAME to claude-4-5-sonnet in your AnyAPI settings. No code changes required.

Final thoughts

By pairing OpenClaw with AnyAPI.ai, you have essentially built a scraper that is "future-proof." Even if the website changes its entire design tomorrow, the AI will still find your data.

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