SearXNG MCP server

The SearXNG MCP Server is an implementation that integrates with SearXNG API to provide web search capabilities through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It enables web search functionality and URL content reading with advanced filtering options for AI assistants.

Installation Options

Using NPX

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-searxng"],
      "env": {
        "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using NPM

First, install the package globally:

npm install -g mcp-searxng

Then configure your MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "mcp-searxng",
      "env": {
        "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using Docker

Pull the pre-built image:

docker pull isokoliuk/mcp-searxng:latest

Configure your MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "SEARXNG_URL",
        "isokoliuk/mcp-searxng:latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using Docker Compose

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  mcp-searxng:
    image: isokoliuk/mcp-searxng:latest
    stdin_open: true
    environment:
      - SEARXNG_URL=YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL

Then configure your MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "docker-compose",
      "args": ["run", "--rm", "mcp-searxng"]
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Setting the SearXNG URL

The SEARXNG_URL environment variable defines which SearXNG instance to connect to:

# Local development (default)
SEARXNG_URL=http://localhost:8080

# Public instance
SEARXNG_URL=https://search.example.com

# Custom port
SEARXNG_URL=http://my-searxng.local:3000

You can choose a SearXNG instance from the list of public instances or use your local environment.

Authentication (Optional)

For password-protected SearXNG instances:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "mcp-searxng",
      "env": {
        "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL",
        "AUTH_USERNAME": "your_username",
        "AUTH_PASSWORD": "your_password"
      }
    }
  }
}

Proxy Support (Optional)

Configure proxy support with environment variables:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng": {
      "command": "mcp-searxng",
      "env": {
        "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL",
        "HTTP_PROXY": "http://proxy.company.com:8080",
        "HTTPS_PROXY": "http://proxy.company.com:8080"
      }
    }
  }
}

HTTP Transport (Optional)

The server supports both STDIO (default) and HTTP transports:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searxng-http": {
      "command": "mcp-searxng",
      "env": {
        "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL",
        "MCP_HTTP_PORT": "3000"
      }
    }
  }
}

To test HTTP server:

# Start HTTP server
MCP_HTTP_PORT=3000 SEARXNG_URL=http://localhost:8080 mcp-searxng

# Check health
curl http://localhost:3000/health

Available Tools

searxng_web_search

Execute web searches with pagination:

• Inputs:
  • query (string): The search query
  • pageno (number, optional): Search page number, starts at 1 (default 1)
  • time_range (string, optional): Filter by time - "day", "month", "year" (default: none)
  • language (string, optional): Language code (e.g., "en", "fr", "de") or "all" (default: "all")
  • safesearch (number, optional): Safe search level (0: None, 1: Moderate, 2: Strict)

web_url_read

Read and convert web content to markdown:

• Inputs:
  • url (string): The URL to fetch and process
  • startChar (number, optional): Starting character position (default: 0)
  • maxLength (number, optional): Maximum characters to return
  • section (string, optional): Extract content under a specific heading
  • paragraphRange (string, optional): Return specific paragraphs (e.g., '1-5')
  • readHeadings (boolean, optional): Return only headings instead of full content

Features

• Web Search: General queries, news, and articles with pagination
• URL Content Reading: Advanced content extraction with filters
• Intelligent Caching: URL content cached with TTL for better performance
• Pagination: Control which page of results to retrieve
• Time Filtering: Filter results by time range (day, month, year)
• Language Selection: Filter results by preferred language
• Safe Search: Control content filtering level

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "searxng" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","mcp-searxng"],"env":{"SEARXNG_URL":"YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "searxng": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "mcp-searxng"
            ],
            "env": {
                "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "searxng": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "mcp-searxng"
            ],
            "env": {
                "SEARXNG_URL": "YOUR_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect