Searxng MCP Server
SearXNG metasearch integration providing privacy-focused web results to AI assistants.
Data last scanned last week · Reviewed last month
Overview
This server bridges the SearXNG metasearch API with MCP-compatible AI clients, allowing for programmatic access to web search results. It supports advanced filtering options including specific time ranges, language settings, safe search protocols, and relevance scoring to refine research outputs. Configuration requires pointing the server to a trusted SearXNG instance URL, with support for providing multiple instance replicas to improve reliability. It is designed to work across various MCP clients like Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Cline.
Our verdict
This server holds a security score of 53/100, resulting in a high-risk rating. Because it is a community-maintained project and has not undergone editorial review, users should exercise caution. Specifically, the lack of an authentication method review suggests that potential security gaps in how external APIs are handled remain unaddressed. It is suitable for users comfortable managing their own SearXNG instances in non-critical development environments.
- Supports multiple search instance replicas for improved reliability
- Small dependency footprint with only nine direct packages
- Active development with commits occurring daily
- Detailed documentation provided for research and deployment workflows
- High-risk security score due to lack of editorial oversight
- Authentication methods have not yet been reviewed
- Community-maintained rather than vendor-official software
Setup
{
"mcpServers": {
"mcp-searxng": {
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-searxng"
],
"command": "npx"
}
}
}Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows), then restart Claude Desktop. Some servers require API keys or tokens as environment variables — check the project's README and add an "env" object if needed.
- No read-only mode — running this grants full read/write access.
- No built-in authentication — anyone with access to this config can invoke every tool it exposes.
Tools
| Tool | Description | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| searxng_web_search | Execute web searches with pagination | low |
| searxng_search_suggestions | Get autocomplete suggestions for refining search queries | low |
| searxng_instance_info | Discover categories aggregated from reachable configured SearXNG instances, optionally include engine names, and inspect defaults, locales, and plugins from the primary reachable instance. | low |
| web_url_read | Read URL content as markdown with content-type-aware handling and advanced extraction options | low |
Compatibility
| Client | Local | Docker | Remote | Read-only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | ||||
| Claude Desktop | ||||
| Cursor | ||||
| VS Code | ||||
| Windsurf |
Frequently asked questions
›How do I connect to a specific SearXNG instance?
You must set the SEARXNG_URL environment variable in your MCP configuration file to the URL of your preferred instance.
›Can I use multiple SearXNG instances for redundancy?
Yes, you can provide a semicolon-separated list of instance URLs in the SEARXNG_URL environment variable to enable failover or parallel fan-out.
›Does the server include security features to prevent unauthorized network access?
The server includes SSRF protection by default, which blocks requests to private or internal URLs and redirects.
›How can I handle websites that do not support JSON output?
The server includes an optional HTML fallback feature that can parse results directly from the HTML page for instances that reject JSON format.
›Does this server support browser-based solving for difficult URLs?
Yes, it supports browser solver integration via FlareSolverr or Byparr to handle uncached URLs that require session simulation.
›Is there a way to limit the amount of information sent to smaller AI models?
The server includes a Lite Tools mode that provides minimal tool schemas, specifically designed for local models with smaller context windows.
Alternatives
Changelog
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