SearXNG Public

You can run an MCP server that queries public SearXNG instances, parses their HTML results, and returns a unified JSON response. This is useful when public SearXNG instances do not expose a ready-made JSON API and you want a resilient, multi-source scraper with fallback behavior.

How to use

You use this MCP server by configuring an MCP client to launch it as a stdio-based MCP service. The server exposes a search capability that you trigger through the client’s search flow. You can customize which SearXNG instances are queried and how language and time filtering are applied.

You can adapt a search call with these parameters:

• query - the search query
• time_range - optional, accepts day, month, or year to limit results by time
• language - optional language code (e.g., en, es, fr). If not set, a default language is used from configuration
• detailed - optional, when true, fetches pages from up to 3 servers and merges results

The server returns a JSON array of results, where each item includes a URL and a short summary. You can present these results in your UI or further process them in your application.

How to install

Prerequisites: Node.js and npm (or your preferred Node environment). Ensure you can run npm and npx from your shell.

Install the MCP server package via npm:

npm install mcp-searxng-public

If you prefer to run it directly with npx without installing globally, you can invoke it as shown in the run configuration example.

{
  "SearXNGScraper": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["mcp-searxng-public"],
    "capabilities": {
      "tool-calls": true
    },
    "env": {
      "SEARXNG_BASE_URL": "https://metacat.online;https://nyc1.sx.ggtyler.dev;https://ooglester.com;https://search.080609.xyz;https://search.canine.tools;https://search.catboy.house;https://search.citw.lgbt;https://search.einfachzocken.eu;https://search.federicociro.com;https://search.hbubli.cc;https://search.im-in.space;https://search.indst.eu",
      "DEFAULT_LANGUAGE": "en"
    }
  }
}

Additional notes

If you want to tailor which SearXNG instances are used, adjust the SEARXNG_BASE_URL environment variable to point to your preferred public or private SearXNG instances. The DEFAULT_LANGUAGE can be set to your preferred default, which will be used when the language parameter is not provided by the client.

You can run a report task or checks to identify accessible SearXNG instances and populate the base URLs accordingly. Be mindful of the rate limits and terms of service of public instances.

Security and reliability tips

Avoid exposing internal endpoints or keys in client configurations. Use environment variables to configure SEARXNG_BASE_URL and DEFAULT_LANGUAGE, and keep your local environment secure.

If a SearXNG instance becomes unavailable, the server will automatically rely on the remaining configured instances as fallbacks, ensuring continued operation.