SEMrush is a comprehensive SEO and competitive intelligence platform. Connecting it to OpenClaw lets your content and SEO teams query keyword difficulty, domain traffic estimates, and competitor rankings directly from Slack.
How OpenClaw Integrations Work
OpenClaw is a self-hosted AI assistant that runs on your own server — typically an EC2 instance — and connects to Slack. It uses Claude under the hood to process requests. Out of the box, OpenClaw doesn't ship with pre-built connections to third-party tools. Instead, integrations are built using the skills system: markdown files in ~/.openclaw/skills/ that give Claude instructions for a particular domain, combined with HTTP tool calls to any API you expose to it.
In practice, adding a real integration means: getting API credentials from the third-party service, building or configuring a small proxy/endpoint that OpenClaw can call, and writing a skill file that tells Claude how to use it. For some tools this is an afternoon of work. For others — like SEMrush — it's considerably more involved.
Connecting OpenClaw with SEMrush: Step by Step
Step 1: Get Your SEMrush API Key
Log into SEMrush and go to Profile → API. Your API key is listed there. The SEMrush API base URL is https://api.semrush.com/. Requests use the key as a query parameter (?key=YOUR_KEY). Note that API access requires a SEMrush Guru or Business plan — or a separate API unit purchase.
Step 2: Use the Domain and Keyword Reports
SEMrush's API exposes various report types as different endpoints. Key ones: domain_ranks (traffic and keyword count for a domain), phrase_this (keyword metrics — volume, CPC, competition), domain_organic (organic keywords a domain ranks for). Each report type has different required parameters.
Step 3: Build the Proxy and Skill File
Build your proxy around the 3–4 report types your team queries most. Write ~/.openclaw/skills/semrush.md with the databases to query (us, uk, etc.), your primary tracked domains, and how Claude should interpret the difficulty and volume metrics SEMrush returns.
Challenges and Caveats
API Units Are Consumed Per Request
SEMrush's API uses a unit system — each request consumes units depending on the report type. Units are tied to your plan and reset monthly. High-frequency queries from OpenClaw can exhaust your allocation faster than expected.
Different Databases for Different Countries
SEMrush has separate keyword databases per country (us, uk, ca, au, etc.). You must specify the correct database for each query. A skill file that always queries the US database will return inaccurate results for teams targeting other markets.
Skip All of This — Use Cody Instead
Cody has SEMrush integration built in. Query keyword data and domain traffic from Slack without API unit management.
Related Guides
- Connecting OpenClaw with Ahrefs: A Practical Guide
- Connecting OpenClaw with Google Analytics: A Practical Guide
- Connecting OpenClaw with Google Ads: A Practical Guide
Need the model-flexible version? See: How to Connect SEMrush to OpenClaw: Setup, Models, and Workflow Guide.