SearXNG MCP server

The SearXNG MCP Server integrates with the SearXNG search engine API, providing web search capabilities to MCP-compatible applications. It enables searching the web, reading URL content, and supports various filtering options for search results.

Features

• Web Search: General queries, news, articles, with pagination
• 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 for search results

Available Tools

searxng_web_search

Executes web searches with customizable parameters:

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

web_url_read

Fetches and converts web content to markdown:

• Inputs:
  • url (string): The URL to fetch and process

Configuration

Setting the SearXNG Instance

1. Choose a SearXNG instance from the list of public instances or use your local installation
2. Set the SEARXNG_URL environment variable to your chosen instance URL
3. If not specified, the default value is http://localhost:8080

Authentication

For password-protected SearXNG instances:

• Set AUTH_USERNAME environment variable with your username
• Set AUTH_PASSWORD environment variable with your password

Installation Methods

Via Smithery

To install automatically using Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @ihor-sokoliuk/server-searxng --client claude

Using NPX

Add this to your MCP configuration file:

{
  "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 add to your MCP configuration file:

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

Using Docker

Pre-built Image

Pull the image:

docker pull isokoliuk/mcp-searxng:latest

Configure in your claude_desktop_config.json:

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

Build Locally

Build the image:

docker build -t mcp-searxng:latest -f Dockerfile .

Configure in your claude_desktop_config.json:

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

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