| name | searxng-search |
| description | Use the locally-running SearXNG instance (http://127.0.0.1:8888) as a privacy-friendly meta-search engine and return concise results with titles, URLs, and snippets. |
SearXNG Search Skill
Purpose
Run web searches via the local SearXNG instance that is set up in this workspace.
- Service URL:
http://127.0.0.1:8888
- JSON endpoint:
/search?q=...&format=json
When to use
Trigger this skill when the user asks to:
- “search the web” / “look this up” / “find links about …”
- “use searxng” / “search with searxng”
- Anything that implies using a privacy-friendly search engine.
Preconditions
-
SearXNG should be running.
- Start it with:
/Users/ericblue/clawd/services/searxng/start.sh
- If it’s not running, start it in the background.
-
Health check:
curl -sS 'http://127.0.0.1:8888/search?q=test&format=json' should return JSON.
How to execute a search
Preferred method (stable formatting): run the helper script:
python3 /Users/ericblue/clawd/skills/public/searxng-search/scripts/searxng_search.py --q "YOUR QUERY" --n 5
Parameters:
--q (required): query string
--n (optional): number of results (default 5)
--categories (optional): SearXNG categories, comma-separated (e.g. general,science)
--lang (optional): language code (e.g. en)
Output format (chat)
Return:
- A tight bullet list of the top results: Title + URL, then a short snippet line.
- If the user asked for “sources”, include 5–10 links.
Notes / limitations
- This is a meta-search; results depend on upstream engines and may occasionally error.
- If SearXNG is down, restart it and retry once before asking the user.