SearXNG MCP Server

An MCP server implementation that integrates with SearXNG, providing privacy-focused meta search capabilities.

Features

Meta Search: Combines results from multiple search engines
Privacy-Focused: No tracking, no user profiling
Multiple Categories: Support for general, news, science, files, images, videos, and more
Language Support: Search in specific languages or all languages
Time Range Filtering: Filter results by day, week, month, or year
Safe Search: Three levels of safe search filtering
Fallback Support: Multiple SearXNG instances for reliability

Installation

npm install -g @kevinwatt/mcp-server-searxng

Usage

Direct Run

mcp-server-searxng

With Dive Desktop

Click "+ Add MCP Server" in Dive Desktop
Copy and paste this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@kevinwatt/mcp-server-searxng"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Click "Save" to install the MCP server

Tool Documentation

web_search
- Execute meta searches across multiple engines
- Inputs:
  - query (string): Search terms
  - page (number, optional): Page number (default: 1)
  - language (string, optional): Language code (e.g., 'en', 'all', default: 'all')
  - categories (array, optional): Search categories (default: ['general'])
    - Available: "general", "news", "science", "files", "images", "videos", "music", "social media", "it"
  - time_range (string, optional): Time filter (all_time/day/week/month/year, default: 'all_time')
  - safesearch (number, optional): Safe search level (0: None, 1: Moderate, 2: Strict, default: 1)
- Behavior:
  - Instances listed in SEARXNG_INSTANCES are tried in order; the first one that answers with results wins.
  - An instance that is reachable but has no matches returns No results found for "<query>". — an empty search is a normal result, not an error.
  - The error All SearXNG instances failed is returned only when no instance was reachable at all: connection errors, non-2xx responses, or replies that aren't a valid SearXNG JSON search response.

Development

git clone https://github.com/kevinwatt/mcp-server-searxng.git
cd mcp-server-searxng
npm install
npm run build            # compiles to dist/src/
npm test                 # unit tests; HTTP is mocked, no live instance needed
node dist/src/index.js   # run the server on stdio

Run a single test case with npm test -- -t "should resolve urls correctly".

License

This MCP server is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Prerequisites

You need a local SearXNG instance running. To set it up:

Run SearXNG with Docker

Quick Start

# Create config directory
mkdir -p searxng

# Create config file
tee searxng/settings.yml << EOF
use_default_settings: true

server:
  bind_address: "0.0.0.0"
  secret_key: "CHANGE_THIS_TO_SOMETHING_SECURE"  # Generate a random key
  port: 8080

search:
  safe_search: 0
  formats:
    - html
    - json

engines:
  - name: google
    engine: google
    shortcut: g

  - name: duckduckgo
    engine: duckduckgo
    shortcut: d

  - name: bing
    engine: bing
    shortcut: b

server.limiter: false
EOF

# Start container
docker run -d \
  --name searxng \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -v "$(pwd)/searxng:/etc/searxng" \
  searxng/searxng

Test Search Function

# Test JSON API with curl
curl -v 'http://localhost:8080/search?q=test&format=json'

# Or visit in browser
http://localhost:8080/search?q=test

Container Management

# Stop container
docker stop searxng

# Remove container
docker rm searxng

# View container logs
docker logs searxng

# Enable auto-start on boot
docker update --restart always searxng

The --restart always flag ensures that:

Container starts automatically when Docker daemon starts
Container restarts automatically if it crashes
Container restarts automatically if it is stopped unless explicitly stopped by user

Custom Configuration

Edit searxng/settings.yml to:

Modify search engine list
Adjust security settings
Configure UI language
Change API limits

For detailed configuration options, see SearXNG Documentation

Environment Variables

SEARXNG_INSTANCES: Comma-separated list of SearXNG instance URLs, tried in order as fallbacks. An entry may include a base path for path-based reverse proxy routing (e.g. https://example.com/searx), with or without a trailing slash. Default: http://localhost:8080
SEARXNG_USER_AGENT: Custom User-Agent header for requests Default: MCP-SearXNG/1.0
NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED: Set to '0' to bypass SSL certificate verification (for development with self-signed certificates) Default: undefined (SSL verification enabled)

Example configuration with all options:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "name": "searxng",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@kevinwatt/mcp-server-searxng"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SEARXNG_INSTANCES": "http://localhost:8080,https://searx.example.com",
        "SEARXNG_USER_AGENT": "CustomBot/1.0",
        "NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED": "0"
      }
    }
  }
}

⚠️ Warning: Disabling SSL certificate verification is not recommended in production environments.