SearXNG MCP Server
About
SearXNG MCP Server integrates SearXNG's privacy-focused meta search capabilities with the Model Context Protocol, enabling privacy-preserving web searches across multiple engines. It is intended for developers and AI agents that need tracking-free, configurable search results.
Explore
- 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
Setting up with Highlight
This MCP is not yet compatible with Highlight’s one-click setup. However, you can still use it with Highlight by following these steps:
- Download and install Highlight from highlightai.com/download
- Navigate to the plugins tab and select "Add Custom Plugin"
-
Configure the plugin with the settings below
Plugin Name
SearXNG MCP ServerCommand (node, npx, python, etc.)Please refer to the README for specific instructions on how to obtain API keys or other required environment variables.
- Enable "Start Automatically" if you want the plugin to start when Highlight launches
From the repository
npm install -g @kevinwatt/mcp-server-searxng
mkdir -p searxng
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
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
- SEARXNG_INSTANCES: Comma-separated list of SearXNG instances URLs
{
"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"
}
}
}
}
Default:
http://localhost:8080
- SEARXNG_USER_AGENT: Custom User-Agent header for requests
Default: MCP-SearXNG/1.0
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'])
time_range
(string, optional): Time filter (day/week/month/year)
safesearch
(number, optional): Safe search level (0: None, 1: Moderate, 2: Strict, default: 1)
- 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 (day/week/month/year)
- safesearch (number, optional): Safe search level (0: None, 1: Moderate, 2: Strict, default: 1)
Claude Desktop / Cursor
Paste into your MCP client config file to install this server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"searxng mcp server": {
"kevinwatt_mcp-server-searxng": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-d",
"\\"
]
}
}
}
}McpServers
{
"kevinwatt_mcp-server-searxng": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-d",
"\\"
]
}
}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
1. Click "+ Add MCP Server" in Dive Desktop
2. Copy and paste this configuration:
{
"mcpServers": {
"searxng": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@kevinwatt/mcp-server-searxng"
]
}
}
}
3. 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 (day/week/month/year)
- safesearch (number, optional): Safe search level (0: None, 1: Moderate, 2: Strict, default: 1)
Development
git clone https://github.com/kevinwatt/mcp-server-searxng.git
cd mcp-server-searxng
npm install
npm run build
npm start
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:
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