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swiss-phone-directory skill

/skills/xenofex7/swiss-phone-directory

This skill searches the Swiss phone directory via search.ch to find businesses, people, or reverse-lookup phone numbers for contact details.

npx playbooks add skill openclaw/skills --skill swiss-phone-directory

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (4)
SKILL.md
3.0 KB
---
name: swiss-phone-directory
description: "Swiss phone directory lookup via search.ch API. Search for businesses, people, or reverse-lookup phone numbers. Use when: (1) finding contact details for Swiss companies or people, (2) looking up addresses by name or phone number, (3) reverse phone number lookup, (4) finding business categories. Requires SEARCHCH_API_KEY."
metadata:
  openclaw:
    requires:
      env:
        - SEARCHCH_API_KEY
---

# Swiss Phone Directory Skill

Search the Swiss phone directory (search.ch) for businesses, people, and phone numbers.

## Quick Start

```bash
# Search for a business
python3 scripts/searchch.py search "Migros" --location "Zürich"

# Search for a person
python3 scripts/searchch.py search "Müller Hans" --type person

# Reverse phone number lookup
python3 scripts/searchch.py search "+41442345678"

# Business-only search
python3 scripts/searchch.py search "Restaurant" --location "Bern" --type business --limit 5
```

## Commands

### search
Search for businesses, people, or phone numbers.

```bash
python3 scripts/searchch.py search <query> [options]

Options:
  --location, -l    City, ZIP, street, or canton (e.g., "Zürich", "8000", "ZH")
  --type, -t        Filter: "business", "person", or "all" (default: all)
  --limit, -n       Max results (default: 10, max: 200)
  --lang            Output language: de, fr, it, en (default: de)
```

### Examples

```bash
# Find restaurants in Rapperswil
python3 scripts/searchch.py search "Restaurant" -l "Rupperswil" -t business -n 5

# Find a person by name
python3 scripts/searchch.py search "Meier Peter" -l "Zürich" -t person

# Reverse lookup a phone number
python3 scripts/searchch.py search "044 123 45 67"

# Search with canton abbreviation
python3 scripts/searchch.py search "Bäckerei" -l "SG"
```

## Output Format

Results include (when available):
- **Name** - Business or person name
- **Type** - Organisation or Person
- **Address** - Street, ZIP, city, canton
- **Phone** - Clickable tel: link (e.g., `[044 123 45 67](tel:+41441234567)`)
- **Fax** - Clickable tel: link
- **Email** - Email address
- **Website** - Website URL
- **Categories** - Business categories

### Clickable Phone Numbers 📞

Phone numbers are automatically formatted as Markdown links with `tel:` protocol:
```
📞 [044 123 45 67](tel:+41441234567)
```

This enables **one-tap calling** on mobile devices (Telegram, Signal, WhatsApp, etc.).

To disable clickable links, use `--no-clickable`.

## Configuration

### Get an API Key (free)

1. **Request a key:** https://search.ch/tel/api/getkey.en.html
2. Fill out the form (name, email, use case)
3. **Approval:** ~10-15 minutes, key arrives via email

### Set the Environment Variable

```bash
export SEARCHCH_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
```

For permanent setup, see [references/configuration.md](references/configuration.md).

## API Reference

- Base URL: `https://search.ch/tel/api/`
- Rate limits: Depend on API key tier
- Full docs: https://search.ch/tel/api/help.en.html

Overview

This skill provides Swiss phone directory lookups using the search.ch API. It finds businesses, people, addresses, phone numbers, and business categories across Switzerland. The skill supports forward searches by name or category and reverse lookups by phone number. An API key (SEARCHCH_API_KEY) is required to use the service.

How this skill works

The skill sends queries to the search.ch tel API and parses returned records into structured results (name, type, address, phone, fax, email, website, and categories). It supports filtering by location (city, ZIP, street, or canton), result type (business or person), language, and result limit. Phone numbers are formatted as tel: links for one-tap calling, and clickable links can be disabled if needed.

When to use it

  • Finding contact details for Swiss companies or professionals by name or category.
  • Looking up postal addresses from a person or business name.
  • Reverse lookup to identify the owner of a Swiss phone number.
  • Filtering local businesses by city, ZIP code, or canton for outreach or visits.
  • Retrieving business categories to classify or enrich contact lists.

Best practices

  • Supply a location string (city, ZIP, street, or canton) to improve precision for common names.
  • Use the type filter (business or person) to reduce noise and speed up searches.
  • Respect API rate limits and cache frequent lookups to avoid throttling.
  • Set the output language to match user needs: de, fr, it, or en.
  • Provide the SEARCHCH_API_KEY via environment variable for secure operation.

Example use cases

  • Find nearby restaurants in Bern with phone numbers and websites before planning a meeting.
  • Look up a contractor by name and city to get address and contact details for a quote.
  • Reverse-lookup an unknown Swiss number received on a phone to identify the caller.
  • Gather business category data for local lead generation or CRM enrichment.
  • Limit results to the top N matches when building concise contact lists for outreach.

FAQ

Do I need an API key?

Yes. You must obtain a SEARCHCH_API_KEY from search.ch and set it in your environment before using the skill.

Can I disable clickable phone links?

Yes. The skill formats phone numbers as tel: links by default but offers an option to disable clickable links if you prefer plain text.