SearXNG

You can run a SearXNG-backed MCP server to add web search capabilities to your MCP client workflow. It lets you perform general web searches, filter by time and language, and apply safe search across results. This guide shows practical steps to install, run, and configure the MCP server so you can query web content from your MCP client setup.

How to use

Start the MCP server in your environment and point your MCP client to it. The server exposes a web search capability that you can invoke with a query. You can refine results by page, time range (day, month, year), language, and a safesearch level. Use it to retrieve general web results, news, and articles, then read individual results through the included URL reader tool if you want to convert pages to markdown for display in your client.

How to install

Prerequisites: you need Node.js and npm or npx available on your system, or you can run the server via Docker. Ensure you have network access to reach a SearxNG instance if you are using an external URL.

# Using NPX (no local install required)
npx -y mcp-searxng

# Using NPM (install the MCP package globally)
npm install -g mcp-searxng

# Using Docker (pre-built image)
docker pull isokoliuk/mcp-searxng:latest

Additional configuration and start options

Set the SearxNG instance URL that you want to query. This is provided through an environment variable named SEARXNG_URL. If your SearxNG instance requires authentication, you can supply credentials via AUTH_USERNAME and AUTH_PASSWORD.

The following MCP configurations illustrate how to run the server via different package managers or with Docker. Each configuration uses the SEARXNG_URL environment variable to point to your SearxNG instance.

Configuration examples

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "name": "searxng",
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-searxng"],
      "env": {
        "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL"
      }
    }
  }
}
``n

Security and maintenance notes

Do not expose your MCP server to untrusted networks without proper access controls. Regularly rotate any credentials and keep your SearxNG URL private. If you use Docker, ensure you pull trusted images and keep them up to date.

Troubleshooting

If you cannot reach the SearxNG instance, verify that SEARXNG_URL is correct and that the instance is accessible from your MCP host. Check that the environment variables are correctly set in your MCP client configuration. If the MCP server fails to start, review any error messages related to the command or the environment variables.

Notes

The MCP server supports multiple deployment methods. Choose the one that best fits your environment, whether you prefer NPX for quick tests, a global NPM install for easier reuse, or a Docker-based deployment for isolation and portability.

Available tools

searxng_web_search

Execute web searches with pagination, supporting time range, language, and safesearch options. Inputs include query, pageno, time_range, language, and safesearch.

web_url_read

Fetch content from a URL and convert it to markdown.