Ihor-Sokoliuk/MCP-SearXNG

**Privacy-respecting web search for AI assistants — use an operator-controlled or trusted SearXNG instance with Claude, Cursor, and more.**
An MCP server that integrates the SearXNG API, giving AI assistants web search capabilities.
✨ Featured in the GitHub MCP Registry.
Quick Start
You need an existing **SearXNG instance with JSON search enabled**. This project
connects an MCP client to SearXNG; it does not install SearXNG. Use an instance
you operate or trust. Start with the self-hosted
or public-instance guide if needed.
Choose how to connect:
| Your setup | Start here |
|---|---|
| Client starts the server locally | Install Node.js 22 or later, then use the NPX example below or your client recipe. |
| Client starts a Docker container | Use the Docker/STDIO recipe in Installation. |
| You have an independently running HTTP service | Use your client's HTTP recipe with the full /mcp URL. |
| You need to operate an HTTP service | Follow the HTTP server guide. |
For clients using mcpServers JSON (such as Claude Desktop), add:
Replace the example URL with your SearXNG base URL. Other clients use different
configuration shapes: choose your client recipe.
Leave MCP_HTTP_PORT unset for local STDIO. Docker also needs environment
forwarding into the container.
Reload the client, inspect its MCP tool inventory, then ask it to search for
SearXNG documentation. A simple tool call is
searxng_web_search with {"query":"SearXNG"}. Discovery alone does not
test SearXNG connectivity. If the call fails, start with
troubleshooting.
Features
- Search with pagination, filters, direct answers and full or compact text/JSON output.
- Read HTML, structured text and bounded PDF text; inspect headings or selected sections.
- Discover instance capabilities and get query suggestions.
- Optional replica failover/fan-out, HTML fallback, caching, proxies and browser solvers.
- Local STDIO or Streamable HTTP, with static bearer and optional OAuth protection.
See the tool guide for capabilities and limits,
configuration reference for settings, and
historical deployment measurements for
bounded resource-planning evidence.
Why mcp-searxng?
Capability comparison recorded on 2026-07-29
As of 2026-07-29, the capability comparison below reflects the official
Brave MCP,
Exa MCP, and
Firecrawl MCP projects.
“Pagination” means an exposed page or offset control. “Self-hosted” means the
search service can run under your control. “Free / No API key” means this MCP
server does not require a paid search-vendor API key; you still operate or
select the underlying SearXNG instance.
| | Brave MCP | Exa MCP | Firecrawl MCP | **mcp-searxng** |
|--|:---------:|:-------:|:-------------:|:---------------:|
| Web Search | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Read URL | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pagination | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self-hosted | ✗ | ✗ | Partial | ✓ |
| Free / No API key | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Privacy depends on the SearXNG deployment. An operator-controlled instance can
avoid trusting a third-party search operator, while a public instance receives
the query and may log it. SearXNG and this MCP integration do not by themselves
provide anonymity.
How It Works
MCP client → mcp-searxng → SearXNG → search engines
The client either starts its own STDIO process or connects to an HTTP service.
SEARXNG_URL identifies the SearXNG service, not the MCP endpoint. URL reading
fetches the selected website directly. A semicolon-separated replica list is
supported for interchangeable SearXNG deployments; see
replica configuration.
STDIO is the default. Legacy Streamable HTTP sessions are stateful by default: