claudegoodies
Skill

searxng-search

From NousResearch

Free meta-search via SearXNG — aggregates results from 70+ search engines. Self-hosted or use a public instance. No API key needed. Falls back automatically when the web search toolset is unavailable.

Facts

Repository
NousResearch/hermes-agent
Status
Actively maintained
Last commit
Source file
optional-skills/research/searxng-search/SKILL.md

Source preview

The instructions Claude Code reads when this skill runs.

# SearXNG Search

Free meta-search using [SearXNG](https://searxng.org/) — a privacy-respecting, self-hosted search aggregator that queries 70+ search engines simultaneously.

**No API key required** when using a public instance. Can also be self-hosted for full control. Automatically appears as a fallback when the main web search toolset (`FIRECRAWL_API_KEY`) is not configured.

## Configuration

SearXNG requires a `SEARXNG_URL` environment variable pointing to your SearXNG instance:

```bash
# Public instances (no setup required)
SEARXNG_URL=https://searxng.example.com

# Self-hosted SearXNG
SEARXNG_URL=http://localhost:8888
```

If no instance is configured, this skill is unavailable and the agent falls back to other search options.

## Detection Flow

Check what is actually available before choosing an approach:

```bash
# Check if SEARXNG_URL is set and the instance is reachable
curl -s --max-time 5 "${SEARXNG_URL}/search?q=test&format=json" | head -c 200
```

Decision tree:
1. If `SEARXNG_URL` is set and the instance responds, use SearXNG
2. If `SEARXNG_URL` is unset or unreachable, fall back to other available search tools
3. If the user wants SearXNG specifically, help them set up an instance or find a public one

## Method 1: CLI via curl (Preferred)

Use `curl` via `terminal` to call the SearXNG JSON API. This avoids assuming any particular Python package is installed
View full source on GitHub →

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