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openclaw/docs/tools/searxng-search.md

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---
summary: "SearXNG web search -- self-hosted, key-free meta-search provider"
read_when:
- You want a self-hosted web search provider
- You want to use SearXNG for web_search
- You need a privacy-focused or air-gapped search option
title: "SearXNG Search"
---
# SearXNG Search
OpenClaw supports [SearXNG](https://docs.searxng.org/) as a **self-hosted,
key-free** `web_search` provider. SearXNG is an open-source meta-search engine
that aggregates results from Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and other sources.
Advantages:
- **Free and unlimited** -- no API key or commercial subscription required
- **Privacy / air-gap** -- queries never leave your network
- **Works anywhere** -- no region restrictions on commercial search APIs
## Setup
<Steps>
<Step title="Run a SearXNG instance">
```bash
docker run -d -p 8888:8080 searxng/searxng
```
Or use any existing SearXNG deployment you have access to. See the
[SearXNG documentation](https://docs.searxng.org/) for production setup.
</Step>
<Step title="Configure">
```bash
openclaw configure --section web
# Select "searxng" as the provider
```
Or set the env var and let auto-detection find it:
```bash
export SEARXNG_BASE_URL="http://localhost:8888"
```
</Step>
</Steps>
## Config
```json5
{
tools: {
web: {
search: {
provider: "searxng",
},
},
},
}
```
Plugin-level settings for the SearXNG instance:
```json5
{
plugins: {
entries: {
searxng: {
config: {
webSearch: {
baseUrl: "http://localhost:8888",
categories: "general,news", // optional
language: "en", // optional
},
},
},
},
},
}
```
The `baseUrl` field also accepts SecretRef objects.
## Environment variable
Set `SEARXNG_BASE_URL` as an alternative to config:
```bash
export SEARXNG_BASE_URL="http://localhost:8888"
```
When `SEARXNG_BASE_URL` is set and no explicit provider is configured, auto-detection
picks SearXNG automatically (at the lowest priority -- any API-backed provider with a
key wins first).
## Plugin config reference
| Field | Description |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `baseUrl` | Base URL of your SearXNG instance (required) |
| `categories` | Comma-separated categories such as `general`, `news`, or `science` |
| `language` | Language code for results such as `en`, `de`, or `fr` |
## Notes
- **JSON API** -- uses SearXNG's native `format=json` endpoint, not HTML scraping
- **No API key** -- works with any SearXNG instance out of the box
- **Auto-detection order** -- SearXNG is checked last (order 200) in auto-detection,
so any API-backed provider with a key takes priority over SearXNG, and SearXNG sits
behind DuckDuckGo (order 100) as well
- **Self-hosted** -- you control the instance, queries, and upstream search engines
- **Categories** default to `general` when not configured
<Tip>
For SearXNG JSON API to work, make sure your SearXNG instance has the `json`
format enabled in its `settings.yml` under `search.formats`.
</Tip>
## Related
- [Web Search overview](/tools/web) -- all providers and auto-detection
- [DuckDuckGo Search](/tools/duckduckgo-search) -- another key-free fallback
- [Brave Search](/tools/brave-search) -- structured results with free tier