Developer Tom Dörr has released ask-search, an open-source tool that wraps SearxNG to give AI agents self-hosted web search, aiming for key-free, zero-cost queries.
March 9, 2026 · v1.0.0 · MIT License
Free, API-key-free web search for AI agents
ask-search is an open-source CLI that wraps the self-hosted metasearch engine SearxNG — letting agents like OpenClaw, Claude Code and Antigravity run local, zero-cost, privacy-focused web searches instead of paying for search APIs.
$0
Cost — self-hosted, no API key
70+
Search engines aggregated at once
10
Default results returned (title · URL · snippet)
366
GitHub stars at time of viewing
Cost per 1,000 queries vs. paid APIs
Columns drawn to scale — each block ≈ $1. ask-search / SearxNG stays free.
Tavily (RAG-optimized, high accuracy) is also paid — ask-search adds parallel Tavily support to switch between free SearxNG and higher accuracy.
How a query flows
AI agentCLI · MCP · skill
→
ask-searchlocal, no key
→
SearxNGself-hosted
→
70+ enginesGoogle · Bing · Brave
Why developers value it
Local-first, zero-cost alternative to the Brave API
Aggregates Google, Brave, DuckDuckGo and more at once
Privacy-focused, anonymous, avoids third-party servers
Community fixes merged (race condition, Docker Compose)
Limitations to know
JSON output must be enabled in SearxNG settings.yml
limiter.toml recommended to avoid bot detection
Some sites (e.g. Reddit) need a SOCKS proxy workaround
Debate over how much it differs from direct Google use
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