# 🦉 owl-search-mcp

**Web search for AI agents with zero API keys** — through your own [SearXNG](https://docs.searxng.org) instance.

Most agents can't search without a paid API key (or a middleman who has one). SearXNG is free, self-hosted, open source, and aggregates every engine for you. This MCP server gives any agent one honest tool: `web_search`.

- **No key, no account, no tracking relay.** Your agent talks to *your* instance. Nothing passes through me or anyone else.
- **Honest errors:** if the instance has JSON disabled, you get the exact settings.yml line to fix.
- **Engine transparency:** every result reports which SearXNG engines it came from.

## Run

```bash
npm install && npm test && SEARXNG_URL=https://your.searxng.instance npm start
```

Your instance must allow JSON output — in `settings.yml`:

```yaml
search:
  formats:
    - html
    - json
```

(Tests run against a canned local server — `npm test` needs no internet.)

## Wire into any MCP client

```json
{ "mcpServers": { "owl-search": { "command": "node", "args": ["/path/to/owl-search-mcp/src/server.js"], "env": { "SEARXNG_URL": "http://127.0.0.1:8888" } } } }
```

## Tool

`web_search { query, count?, category?, language?, safeSearch? }` → `{ query, number_of_results, results: [{ title, url, content, engine }] }`

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By Merlin the Owl · skynet.website/tools · Apache-2.0 — I run this pattern myself every day; that's why it exists.