dsh-searxng
A DeepSeek Harness (dsh) plugin that registers a
SearXNG-backed search provider into the web capability seam
(ctx.web), giving your agent web_search through a free, self-hosted, key-less metasearch
instance — instead of the paid Exa/Perplexity APIs.
Quick start
Requirements: Node.js 20 or newer, dsh, Docker Engine or Docker Desktop, and Docker Compose v2.
The setup command installs and attaches dsh-searxng to the selected profile, so no separate
plugin-install step is required.
npx dsh-searxng setup
dsh --profile web
setup creates a loopback-only, pinned SearXNG Docker deployment, waits for the JSON API, runs a
real search through both SearXNG and the final DSH provider configuration, and only then activates
the profile. Repeating the command reuses the same owned container, port, configuration, and
secret.
Use another DSH profile or port when needed:
npx dsh-searxng setup --profile research --port 9080
dsh --profile research
Package installation and DSH plugin activation never start Docker. Docker is changed only by an
explicit dsh-searxng setup or dsh-searxng remove --service command.
Existing SearXNG
An existing local, remote, authenticated, or independently managed SearXNG instance is a
first-class path:
npx dsh-searxng setup --profile web --url https://search.example.com
The endpoint must be HTTP(S), contain no credentials, query, or fragment, and enable JSON search.
Existing provider options such as authHeader, language, engines, and categories in the DSH
profile are preserved and used by validation. External mode never invokes Docker.
Manual plugin installation
If you manage the DSH profile patch yourself and do not want the setup command to attach it,
install only the plugin package:
dsh plugin add dsh-searxng
With a named profile, use dsh plugin --profile <name> add dsh-searxng.
Operations
# Fast health result; stops at the first failure.
npx dsh-searxng status --profile web
# Ordered environment, Docker, ownership, HTTP, JSON, search, profile, and provider checks,
# plus the local privacy posture with its explicit out-of-scope limits.
npx dsh-searxng doctor --profile web
# Read-only engine-health probe battery: per-engine reported failures with reasons,
# result contribution, and evidence limits. Writes nothing.
npx dsh-searxng tune --profile web
# Plan and execute ownership-safe repairs for the managed deployment.
npx dsh-searxng repair --profile web
# Move the managed deployment to a packaged version with verified rollback.
npx dsh-searxng update --profile web
# Detach the profile and remove the plugin package from that profile.
npx dsh-searxng remove --profile web
# Also stop and remove the owned service; keep its data and local state.
npx dsh-searxng remove --profile web --service
# Permanently delete the exact owned data volume and managed directory.
npx dsh-searxng remove --profile web --service --purge-data
Permanent deletion prompts on an interactive terminal. Automation must add --yes. --json is
available on setup, status, doctor, repair, update, and remove. Destructive Docker operations run
only after the container, network, and volume labels match this DSH home; same-name foreign
resources are refused.
Recovery semantics
repair and update journal their progress under
$DSH_HOME/dsh-searxng/journal.json between the first mutation and validated completion; setup
and remove read that journal to refuse during or clean up after an interruption.
setup refuses to run while an interrupted operation is recorded and points at repair.repair takes over when a journal exists: it recomputes the recovery decision from disk (clear
the journal, validate the target, or resume the rollback) before any ordinary repair, and also
removes quarantined stale locks left by dead processes. doctor reports the interrupted
operation's id, kind, phase, and age.update is transactional: the current deployment stays authoritative until the target passes
readiness, real-search, and provider validation. Any failure after the first Docker mutation
rolls back to the previous image and configuration and revalidates them; same-version updates
are rejected with E_DEPLOYMENT_UNSUPPORTED.remove --service clears the journal once the deployment is gone, so a subsequent setup is
not refused.
Provider configuration
The setup command manages the web-search-searxng row in
$DSH_HOME/profiles/<name>/cordis.patch.yml. These optional values can be added to that row:
| Key | Default | Meaning |
|---|
baseURL | managed or --url endpoint | SearXNG base URL. |
language | none | SearXNG language, for example zh-CN or en-US. |
engines | none | Comma-separated engine allowlist. |
categories | none | Comma-separated category filter. |
authHeader | none | Authorization header for a protected external instance. |
cacheTtlMs | 600000 | Cached query result lifetime in milliseconds; 0 disables caching. |
minIntervalMs | 1500 | Minimum spacing between network requests; 0 disables pacing. |
queueCapacity | 8 | Requests that may wait for a pacing slot before the provider rejects with backpressure. |
totalBudgetMs | 15000 | Wall-clock budget for one search call, spanning pacing wait, backoff, and network attempts. |
Repeated queries are served from an in-process cache scoped to the provider
instance (nothing is written to disk); a cache hit performs no network request.
Concurrent searches pass a token bucket (burst 2, then one request per
minIntervalMs), and a full queue rejects immediately with a retryable error
instead of holding the caller. Failed responses and empty result pages are never cached —
a cached empty page would mask upstream recovery for the whole TTL — and an empty result
page is returned as-is: the engines/categories allowlist is never
silently widened to chase results. When the instance answers HTTP 429, the
provider honors Retry-After and retries at most once within the remaining
budget.
Per-query controls
SearXNG supports per-query routing inside the query string itself; the provider
passes query syntax through untouched:
:zh-CN / :en — select the result language for this query (: prefix).!bing / !news — select one engine or category for this query (! prefix).site:example.com — restrict results to one domain (engine-dependent support).
For example, the query :zh-CN 大模型 排行榜 searches in Chinese regardless of
the profile's language, and !github compose network mapping uses only the
GitHub engine. Verify engine names against your instance's engine list.
If several DSH search providers are available, select this one with
DSH_WEB_SEARCH_PROVIDER=searxng or the corresponding searchProvider DSH web configuration.
Troubleshooting
E_DOCKER_MISSING / E_DOCKER_OFFLINE: install or start Docker.E_COMPOSE_UNSUPPORTED: enable Docker Compose v2.E_JSON_DISABLED: add json to SearXNG search.formats.E_AUTH_FAILED: check the external instance's authHeader configuration.E_TLS_FAILED: the endpoint's TLS certificate failed validation; check the certificate chain
and retry.E_RATE_LIMITED: adjust the instance limiter or upstream engine selection.E_RESOURCE_FOREIGN: a same-name Docker resource does not carry this installation's ownership
labels; it is never modified automatically.E_BUNDLE_DAMAGED: the generated configuration bundle is incomplete or mismatched; repair
rebuilds it from the packaged assets while preserving the existing secret.E_DEPLOYMENT_UNSUPPORTED: the packaged deployment catalog cannot satisfy the request (unknown
or same version requested, or an entry incompatible with the current state); upgrade
dsh-searxng or choose an available version.E_PROFILE_CONCURRENT_MODIFICATION: the DSH profile changed during the operation; review it and
retry.
doctor --json returns the complete redacted check list and actionable error codes.
Runtime support
- Node.js: 20 and newer.
- CLI, tests, build, and packed artifact: verified on Linux, macOS, and Windows in CI.
- Managed Docker journey (including repair and update rollback) and Docker adapter integration:
verified in opt-in Linux CI with Docker Engine and Compose v2. The release certification runner
is also exercised there; CI provides no Docker Desktop and uses a stub
dsh, so it is not a
formal certification.
- Certified Docker environments per release: only those with a complete passing report from
the release tarball in docs/release-certification.md — one
each from macOS + Docker Desktop, Windows + Docker Desktop + WSL2, and Linux + Docker Engine +
Compose v2.
- Docker Desktop on macOS is certified for
0.3.0
(docs/certification/v0.3.0-darwin-arm64.json). The 0.4.0 report is pending: upstream
search engines were in a network-wide cooldown at release time, so the platform run could
not complete its real-search validation; the claim will be added together with its
evidence. Docker Desktop on Windows is compatible (same engine, same Compose v2 plugin)
but uncertified until its report exists for a given release.
- External SearXNG mode does not require Docker and works on any platform with Node.js 20+.
- Podman and Podman Compose are not supported in the managed path.
setup selects the deployment to install from the packaged deployment catalog
(newest entry compatible with the current state schema) and reuses a healthy
existing deployment that is still listed in the catalog; use update to move
between deployment versions.
dsh is in developer preview with breaking changes expected. Version 0.4.0 supports
@deepseek-ai/dsh-web >=0.1.0-rc.6 <0.2.0 and
@deepseek-ai/dsh-launch-environment >=0.0.1-rc.3 <0.2.0.
Development
pnpm install
pnpm verify
The repository Docker example is development-only. The packaged setup path is the supported
quickstart because it pins the image, generates a private secret, labels every owned resource, and
validates the final provider before activation. The opt-in Linux CI job runs both real Docker
release checks:
DSH_SEARXNG_E2E=1 pnpm test:e2e
DSH_SEARXNG_DOCKER_INTEGRATION=1 pnpm test -- test/cli/docker.integration.test.ts
Platform certification of a packed tarball runs on each release host:
pnpm pack --pack-destination ./node_modules/.cache/pack
pnpm certify:platform -- --tarball ./node_modules/.cache/pack/dsh-searxng-<version>.tgz
License
MIT
