private-web-search-searchxng

Original source / Raw SKILL.md

---
name: private-web-search-searchxng
description: Self-hosted private web search using SearXNG. Use when privacy is important, external APIs are blocked, you need search without tracking, or want to avoid paid search APIs.
metadata:
  {
    "openclaw":
      {
        "requires": { "bins": ["docker", "curl", "jq"] },
        "install":
          [
            {
              "id": "docker",
              "kind": "bin",
              "command": "docker --version",
              "label": "Docker required",
            },
          ],
      },
  }
---

# Private Web Search (SearXNG)

Privacy-respecting, self-hosted metasearch engine for AI agents.

## Quick Setup

```bash
# 1. Start container
docker run -d --name searxng -p 8080:8080 -e BASE_URL=http://localhost:8080/ searxng/searxng

# 2. Enable JSON API
docker exec searxng sed -i 's/  formats:/  formats:\n    - json/' /etc/searxng/settings.yml
docker restart searxng

# 3. Verify
curl -sL "http://localhost:8080/search?q=test&format=json" | jq '.results[0]'
```

## Usage

### Basic Search

```bash
curl -sL "http://localhost:8080/search?q=YOUR_QUERY&format=json" | jq '.results[:10]'
```

### Using the Helper Script

```bash
./scripts/search.sh "openclaw ai" 5
```

### Environment Variables

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| SEARXNG_PORT | 8080 | Container port |
| SEARXNG_HOST | localhost | Server host |
| BASE_URL | http://localhost:8080 | Public URL |

## Available Engines

Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Brave, Startpage, Wikipedia, and more.

## Management

```bash
docker start searxng   # Start
docker stop searxng    # Stop
docker logs searxng    # View logs
docker rm searxng -f   # Remove
```

## Troubleshooting

| Issue | Solution |
|-------|----------|
| No results | Check `docker logs searxng` |
| 403 Forbidden | Enable JSON format (step 2) |
| Connection refused | Run `docker start searxng` |


---

## Referenced Files

> The following files are referenced in this skill and included for context.

### scripts/search.sh

```bash
#!/bin/bash
# SearXNG Search Helper

PORT="${SEARXNG_PORT:-8080}"
HOST="${SEARXNG_HOST:-localhost}"
FORMAT="${SEARXNG_FORMAT:-json}"

if [ -z "$1" ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <search-query> [limit]"
    echo "Example: $0 'openclaw ai' 5"
    exit 1
fi

QUERY="$1"
LIMIT="${2:-10}"

curl -sL "http://${HOST}:${PORT}/search?q=${QUERY}&format=${FORMAT}" | jq ".results[:${LIMIT}] | .[] | {title, url, engine}"

```



---

## Skill Companion Files

> Additional files collected from the skill directory layout.

### _meta.json

```json
{
  "owner": "adelpro",
  "slug": "private-web-search-searchxng",
  "displayName": "Private Web Search Searchxng",
  "latest": {
    "version": "1.3.0",
    "publishedAt": 1771766797518,
    "commit": "https://github.com/openclaw/skills/commit/d679951231dc7b37cd664ef9fd3075f81dac78f1"
  },
  "history": []
}

```