SearXNG

SearXNG is a free and open-source metasearch engine that aggregates results from more than 70 search services, while protecting user privacy. It allows users to search the web without being tracked or profiled.

Key benefits of SearXNG include its self-hosting option and compatibility with the Tor network, allowing for further anonymity.

Configuration

Basic

services.searx = {
  enable = true;
  redisCreateLocally = true;
  settings.server = {
    bind_address = "::1";
    # port = yourPort;
    # secret_key = "Your secret key.";
  };
};

# Systemd configuration
systemd.services.nginx.serviceConfig.ProtectHome = false;

# User management
users.groups.searx.members = ["nginx"];

Advanced

services.searx = {
  enable = false;
  redisCreateLocally = true;

  # Rate limiting
  limiterSettings = {
    real_ip = {
      x_for = 1;
      ipv4_prefix = 32;
      ipv6_prefix = 56;
    };

    botdetection = {
      ip_limit = {
        filter_link_local = true;
        link_token = true;
      };
    };
  };

  # UWSGI configuration
  runInUwsgi = true;

  uwsgiConfig = {
    socket = "/run/searx/searx.sock";
    http = ":8888";
    chmod-socket = "660";
  };

  # Searx configuration
  settings = {
    # Instance settings
    general = {
      debug = false;
      instance_name = "SearXNG Instance";
      donation_url = false;
      contact_url = false;
      privacypolicy_url = false;
      enable_metrics = false;
    };

    # User interface
    ui = {
      static_use_hash = true;
      default_locale = "en";
      query_in_title = true;
      infinite_scroll = false;
      center_alignment = true;
      default_theme = "simple";
      theme_args.simple_style = "auto";
      search_on_category_select = false;
      hotkeys = "vim";
    };

    # Search engine settings
    search = {
      safe_search = 2;
      autocomplete_min = 2;
      autocomplete = "duckduckgo";
      ban_time_on_fail = 5;
      max_ban_time_on_fail = 120;
    };

    # Server configuration
    server = {
      base_url = "https://search.example.com";
      port = 8888;
      bind_address = "127.0.0.1";
      secret_key = config.sops.secrets.searx.path;
      limiter = true;
      public_instance = true;
      image_proxy = true;
      method = "GET";
    };

    # Search engines
    engines = lib.mapAttrsToList (name: value: { inherit name; } // value) {
      "duckduckgo".disabled = true;
      "brave".disabled = true;
      "bing".disabled = false;
      "mojeek".disabled = true;
      "mwmbl".disabled = false;
      "mwmbl".weight = 0.4;
      "qwant".disabled = true;
      "crowdview".disabled = false;
      "crowdview".weight = 0.5;
      "curlie".disabled = true;
      "ddg definitions".disabled = false;
      "ddg definitions".weight = 2;
      "wikibooks".disabled = false;
      "wikidata".disabled = false;
      "wikiquote".disabled = true;
      "wikisource".disabled = true;
      "wikispecies".disabled = false;
      "wikispecies".weight = 0.5;
      "wikiversity".disabled = false;
      "wikiversity".weight = 0.5;
      "wikivoyage".disabled = false;
      "wikivoyage".weight = 0.5;
      "currency".disabled = true;
      "dictzone".disabled = true;
      "lingva".disabled = true;
      "bing images".disabled = false;
      "brave.images".disabled = true;
      "duckduckgo images".disabled = true;
      "google images".disabled = false;
      "qwant images".disabled = true;
      "1x".disabled = true;
      "artic".disabled = false;
      "deviantart".disabled = false;
      "flickr".disabled = true;
      "imgur".disabled = false;
      "library of congress".disabled = false;
      "material icons".disabled = true;
      "material icons".weight = 0.2;
      "openverse".disabled = false;
      "pinterest".disabled = true;
      "svgrepo".disabled = false;
      "unsplash".disabled = false;
      "wallhaven".disabled = false;
      "wikicommons.images".disabled = false;
      "yacy images".disabled = true;
      "bing videos".disabled = false;
      "brave.videos".disabled = true;
      "duckduckgo videos".disabled = true;
      "google videos".disabled = false;
      "qwant videos".disabled = false;
      "dailymotion".disabled = true;
      "google play movies".disabled = true;
      "invidious".disabled = true;
      "odysee".disabled = true;
      "peertube".disabled = false;
      "piped".disabled = true;
      "rumble".disabled = false;
      "sepiasearch".disabled = false;
      "vimeo".disabled = true;
      "youtube".disabled = false;
      "brave.news".disabled = true;
      "google news".disabled = true;
    };

    # Outgoing requests
    outgoing = {
      request_timeout = 5.0;
      max_request_timeout = 15.0;
      pool_connections = 100;
      pool_maxsize = 15;
      enable_http2 = true;
    };

    # Enabled plugins
    enabled_plugins = [
      "Basic Calculator"
      "Hash plugin"
      "Tor check plugin"
      "Open Access DOI rewrite"
      "Hostnames plugin"
      "Unit converter plugin"
      "Tracker URL remover"
    ];
  };
};

# Systemd configuration
systemd.services.nginx.serviceConfig.ProtectHome = false;

# User management
users.groups.searx.members = ["nginx"];

# Nginx configuration
services.nginx = {
  enable = true;
  recommendedGzipSettings = true;
  recommendedOptimisation = true;
  recommendedProxySettings = true;
  recommendedTlsSettings = true;
  virtualHosts = {
    "search.example.com" = {
      forceSSL = true;
      sslCertificate = "...";
      sslCertificateKey = "...";
      locations = {
        "/" = {
          extraConfig = ''
            uwsgi_pass unix:${config.services.searx.uwsgiConfig.socket};
          '';
        };
      };
    };
  };
};

Tips and tricks

Location of options

A comprehensive list of options can be found in the official documentation.