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

Tip

As of writing (NixOS 24.05), searx's use_default_settings is set to true by default in the searx module in nixpkgs. Any settings set through NixOS overrides the default

Basic

services.searx = {
  enable = true;
  redisCreateLocally = true;
  settings.server = {
    bind_address = "::1";
    # port = yourPort;
    # WARNING: setting secret_key here might expose it to the nix cache
    # see below for the sops or environment file instructions to prevent this
    # secret_key = "Your secret key.";
  };
};

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};
          '';
        };
      };
    };
  };
};

Set secret key through environment file

services.searx = {
  enable = true;
  package = pkgs.searxng;
  environmentFile = "/home/user/.searxng.env";
  settings = {
    general = {
      debug = false;
    };
    server = {
      bind_address = "127.0.0.1";
    };
  };
};

# /home/user/.searxng.env
SEARXNG_SECRET=random-string

Tips and tricks

Location of options

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