SearxNG

Search Engine

Security Works with 5 appsSeveral copies

SearXNG is your own search engine. It asks Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo and many others for you and shows the results together, without any of them knowing who asked.

On this page

At a glance
What it's good for
Using it
Good to know
Addresses and ports
Settings
In its config file
Works with
Privacy and security
What leaves this server
What LibrePortal turns off
Sources
Under the hood

At a glance#

What it is: Search Engine Security
Where it opens: Search Interface On its own port at http://your-server:port, or search.your-domain once you have a domain
Updates: Automatic A backup is taken first, and it rolls back if the update fails
Backups: Left out Not in the scheduled backups unless you switch it on
Copies: As many as you like Run several copies, each with its own data

What it's good for#

Every search you type into a big search engine is kept and tied to you. SearXNG sits in between: you search on your own server, it passes the question on to a whole range of search engines at once, and it brings the results back as one list. The engines see your server asking, with no cookies or profile, and there are no adverts in the results.

It's a metasearch engine, so the results are as good as the engines it asks. It doesn't have an index of its own.

Using it#

Open it with the Search Interface button and search. The tabs above the results narrow things down to images, videos, news, maps and more. Preferences, on the page itself, lets each person choose which engines to use, the language, safe search, the theme and whether results open in a new tab. They're kept in a cookie in your browser, not on the server.

Make it your browser's search engine

SearXNG tells browsers it's a search engine, so most can add it with a couple of clicks: Firefox offers to add it from the address bar while you're on the page, and Chrome and Edge list it in their search engine settings once you've searched on it. Make it the default, and every search you type into the address bar goes through your server. Firefox for Android can add it as a custom search engine too.

Good to know#

Keep it private if it's just for you. It starts public, so anyone who finds the address can search through your server. That's harmless in itself, but lots of strangers' searches coming from your server's address can get it rate-limited or asked for captchas by the engines, which then affects your searches too. Setting it to private and using the VPN when you're out avoids that.
An engine sometimes stops answering. Search engines change their pages and block unusual traffic, so from time to time one of them returns nothing. SearXNG carries on with the others, and a fix usually arrives in a SearXNG update, which LibrePortal installs automatically.
Nothing to back up. Your preferences live in your browser, and it's left out of backups.
Translation. LibreTranslate shows up under Works with: SearXNG has a translation engine that can use it, for searches like en-fr hello. LibrePortal doesn't connect the two for you yet; the row says what SearXNG would need.
More than one copy is possible, each with its own settings.

Addresses and ports#

SearxNG has one port. LibrePortal picks a free port number for each when you install, so yours will differ from anyone else's. The Config tab's Network section shows them, and the app's Open button uses the right one. "Anyone" means it's reachable from wherever your server is reachable; you can make it private later.

What it is	Who can reach it	With a domain
Search Interface	Anyone	`search.your-domain`

Settings#

These are SearxNG's own settings on its Config tab. The settings every app shares, like backups, updates and where its data lives, are explained in App pages and settings.

Setting	What it does	Starts as
JSON Format	Lets other apps read search results, such as Vane. Choices: Automatic, Always on, Off	`auto`

In its config file#

A few more aren't on the Config tab yet. They live in the app's config file, described here so you know they exist. How to change them.

Setting	What it does	Starts as
Name `CFG_SEARXNG_DISPLAY_NAME`	What this app is called on your dashboards. Leave empty to use its usual name	Empty
Show on the LibrePortal Dashboard `CFG_SEARXNG_SHOW_ON_DASHBOARD`	Whether this app gets a shortcut on the front page of the LibrePortal WebUI, separate from any Dashy dashboard Choices: true, false	`true`
Proxy images `CFG_SEARXNG_IMAGE_PROXY`	Whether result images are fetched by this server, so visitors' browsers never contact the image sites Choices: true, false	`true`
Detailed logs `CFG_SEARXNG_VERBOSE_LOGS`	Whether SearXNG writes its normal, chattier logs, including who connected, instead of only warnings and errors. Choices: true, false	`false`
Debug logging for 24 hours `CFG_SEARXNG_DEBUG_LOGS`	Turn on to see everything SearXNG is doing while you look for a problem; it turns itself off after 24 hours. Choices: true, false	`false`

Works with#

These are the other apps SearxNG knows how to work with. Once it's installed, its page shows the same list with whether each one is connected. How this works.

Grafana: Shows dashboards for the apps that have one. works with every app
LibreTranslate: Could answer translation searches in SearXNG, such as en-fr hello.
Prometheus: Collects metrics from the apps that can export them. works with every app
Uptime Kuma: Watches your apps and shows when one goes down. works with every app
Vane: Searches the web through SearXNG, so your questions are not tied to you.

Privacy and security#

Worth knowing SearXNG searches many engines for you without telling them who you are. The engines still see your server's address and your search words, but result pictures now come through your server.

What leaves this server#

Every search is sent to the search engines you have enabled
The engines see your server's address, unless you route it through a VPN app such as Gluetun

What LibrePortal turns off#

Detailed logs and per-request access logging (switchable in Config)
Result pictures loading straight from other sites (switchable in Config)

Licence: AGPL-3.0. Audited: 21 October 2026. See the privacy of every app and the Promise.

Sources#

Under the hood#

It runs this image: searxng/searxng:2026.10.19-81371861f@sha256:5ed0323b5f5f8701264ef65e239a2bd83cb57098f2b971fa30bf79c06eeae271.
It can sit behind Authelia's sign-in once Authelia is installed.
Its own project and documentation: github.com/searxng/searxng

Ports, settings, tools and connections on this page are read from LibrePortal v0.10.97's app catalogue each time the guide is built.

Next steps

Every appAll the apps in the App Center, with search and categories.Several copiesRun two or more copies of one app, each with its own address.Who can reach whatMake each app and the WebUI public or private, in one place.