free-web-search

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name: free-web-search description: Unlimited free web search for AI agents powered by SearXNG (https://github.com/searxng/searxng). Self-hosted metasearch engine with no API keys, rate limits, or monthly fees. Aggregates 70+ search engines (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, GitHub, Stack Overflow, etc.) Use when: (1) searching the web, (2) looking up information online, (3) researching topics, (4) finding current news, (5) searching for code, (6) any web search needed. Privacy-focused alternative to Tavily, SerpAPI, Google Custom Search.

Free Web Search for AI Agents

Powered by SearXNG - Privacy-respecting, hackable metasearch engine.

Quick Start

Installation

Linux/macOS:

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/vksco/free-web-search.git ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/free-web-search
cd ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/free-web-search

# Make scripts executable
chmod +x scripts/*.sh

# Start SearXNG
bash scripts/docker-manager.sh start

# Wait for container (10-20 seconds)
sleep 20

# Test search
curl 'http://localhost:8888/search?q=test&format=json'

Windows:

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/vksco/free-web-search.git %USERPROFILE%\.openclaw\workspace\skills\free-web-search
cd %USERPROFILE%\.openclaw\workspace\skills\free-web-search

# Start SearXNG
scripts\docker-manager.bat start

# Wait for container (10-20 seconds)
timeout /t 20

# Test search (use PowerShell)
curl http://localhost:8888/search?q=test&format=json

Cross-Platform Support

This skill works on all major operating systems:

• ✅ Linux - Bash scripts (.sh)
• ✅ macOS - Bash scripts (.sh)
• ✅ Windows 10/11 - Batch scripts (.bat)

Available Scripts

Linux/macOS (scripts/):

• docker-manager.sh - Manage SearXNG container
• auto-update.sh - Automatic updates
• search.py - Python search wrapper
• integrate_with_openclaw.py - Integration helper

Windows (scripts/):

• docker-manager.bat - Manage SearXNG container
• auto-update.bat - Automatic updates

Auto-Update System

The skill automatically checks and installs updates when it loads (no cron jobs needed):

How It Works:

1. Skill loads → Runs auto-update check
2. Version check → Compares local VERSION with GitHub
3. Smart throttling → Only checks once per hour
4. Download → If update available, downloads to temp folder
5. Backup → Creates backup of current version
6. Install → Replaces files, preserves your config
7. Cleanup → Removes temp folder
8. Done → Update complete!

Manual Update Check:

# Linux/macOS
bash scripts/auto-update.sh

# Windows
scripts\auto-update.bat

What's Preserved During Updates:

• ✅ docker/settings.yml - Your SearXNG configuration
• ✅ docker/secret_key - Your secret key
• ✅ backups/ - Your backup history
• ✅ update.log - Your update logs

How to Use

Basic Search

# Basic search
curl 'http://localhost:8888/search?q=AI%20agents&format=json'

# Search specific engines
curl 'http://localhost:8888/search?q=python%20async&format=json&engines=github,stackoverflow'

# News search
curl 'http://localhost:8888/search?q=breaking%20news&format=json&categories=news'

Python Integration

import requests

# Unlimited free searches
response = requests.get(
    'http://localhost:8888/search',
    params={
        'q': 'AI agent frameworks',
        'format': 'json',
        'engines': 'google,github'
    }
)

results = response.json()['results']
for r in results:
    print(f"{r['title']}: {r['url']}")

Features

• ✅ Unlimited searches - No rate limits or quotas
• ✅ No API keys - Completely free forever
• ✅ 70+ search engines - Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, GitHub, Stack Overflow, Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, and more
• ✅ Auto-updates - Automatically checks and installs updates
• ✅ Cross-platform - Linux, macOS, Windows
• ✅ Privacy-focused - Self-hosted, no tracking, no profiling
• ✅ Docker-based - Easy 2-minute installation
• ✅ JSON API - Simple REST API for any application
• ✅ Python support - Built-in search function
• ✅ Production-ready - Fully tested and documented

Search Engines Available

General Search

• google - Google Search
• bing - Microsoft Bing
• duckduckgo - DuckDuckGo (privacy-focused)
• yahoo - Yahoo Search
• qwant - Qwant (European, privacy-focused)

Code & Development

• github - GitHub repositories
• stackoverflow - Stack Overflow Q&A
• gitlab - GitLab projects
• bitbucket - Bitbucket repos

Q&A Forums

• reddit - Reddit discussions
• askubuntu - Ask Ubuntu
• superuser - Super User

Media

• youtube - YouTube videos
• vimeo - Vimeo videos
• dailymotion - Dailymotion

Reference

• wikipedia - Wikipedia articles
• wikidata - Wikidata knowledge base

News

• google news - Google News
• bing news - Bing News

Management Commands

Linux/macOS:

bash scripts/docker-manager.sh status    # Check status
bash scripts/docker-manager.sh logs      # View logs
bash scripts/docker-manager.sh restart   # Restart container
bash scripts/docker-manager.sh stop      # Stop container

Windows:

scripts\docker-manager.bat status        # Check status
scripts\docker-manager.bat logs          # View logs
scripts\docker-manager.bat restart       # Restart container
scripts\docker-manager.bat stop          # Stop container

Configuration

Environment Variables (Optional)

# Optional: Fallback to Tavily if SearXNG is down
export TAVILY_API_KEY="tvly-your-key-here"

SearXNG Settings

Configuration file: docker/settings.yml

Customize:

• Enabled search engines
• Request timeouts
• Result formats
• Safe search settings

Cost Savings

Service	Annual Cost	Your Cost
This skill	Free forever	$0 ✅
Tavily	$120/year	Save $120
SerpAPI	$600/year	Save $600
Google Custom Search	$1500+/year	Save $1500

Troubleshooting

Container won't start

# Check Docker is running
docker info

# Check port 8888
lsof -i :8888  # Linux/macOS
netstat -ano | findstr :8888  # Windows

# View container logs
docker logs searxng-openclaw

No search results

# Try different engines
curl 'http://localhost:8888/search?q=test&format=json&engines=google'

# Check if engines are blocked
docker logs searxng-openclaw 2>&1 | grep -i "error"

Update failed

# View update logs
cat update.log  # Linux/macOS
type update.log  # Windows

# Restore from backup
tar -xzf backups/skill_TIMESTAMP.tar.gz -C ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/free-web-search/

Requirements

• Docker Desktop - Installed and running
• 2GB RAM - Available for container
• Port 8888 - Available
• Git - For installation and updates

Credits & Attribution

This skill is powered by:

• SearXNG - The privacy-respecting, hackable metasearch engine that provides all search functionality. Please star SearXNG on GitHub! ⭐
• OpenClaw - AI assistant framework
• Docker - Containerization platform

This is a skill/wrapper that integrates SearXNG with OpenClaw. All search functionality comes from the SearXNG project under AGPL-3.0.

Support

• GitHub Issues: https://github.com/vksco/free-web-search/issues
• SearXNG Docs: https://docs.searxng.org/
• OpenClaw Discord: https://discord.com/invite/clawd

License

This skill (wrapper/integration code) is MIT licensed.

Important: The search functionality is provided by SearXNG under AGPL-3.0 license.

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Made with ❤️ for the AI community

Star ⭐ on GitHub if you find it useful!

https://github.com/vksco/free-web-search