📚 docs: Add SearXNG Configuration and Setup Instructions for Web Search (#348)

- Introduced new environment variables for SearXNG: SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL and SEARXNG_API_KEY.
- Updated documentation to include detailed setup instructions for configuring SearXNG with LibreChat.
- Added new images and a video guide to assist users in setting up and configuring SearXNG.
- Enhanced existing web search documentation to clarify the integration of SearXNG as a search provider

pages/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_structure/config.mdx

@@ -118,6 +118,8 @@ see: [OCR Config Object Structure](/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_str
 <OptionTable
   options={[
     ['serperApiKey', 'String', 'Environment variable name for the Serper API key. If not set in .env, users will be prompted to provide it via UI.', ''],
+    ['searxngInstanceUrl', 'String', 'Environment variable name for the SearXNG instance URL. If not set in .env, users will be prompted to provide it via UI.', ''],
+    ['searxngApiKey', 'String', 'Environment variable name for the SearXNG API key. If not set in .env, users will be prompted to provide it via UI.', ''],
     ['firecrawlApiKey', 'String', 'Environment variable name for the Firecrawl API key. If not set in .env, users will be prompted to provide it via UI.', ''],
     ['firecrawlApiUrl', 'String', 'Environment variable name for the Firecrawl API URL. If not set in .env, users will be prompted to provide it via UI.', ''],
     ['jinaApiKey', 'String', 'Environment variable name for the Jina API key. If not set in .env, users will be prompted to provide it via UI.', ''],

pages/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_structure/web_search.mdx

@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ The web search feature consists of three main components:
 webSearch:
   # Search Provider Configuration
   serperApiKey: "${SERPER_API_KEY}"
+  searxngInstanceUrl: "${SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL}"
+  searxngApiKey: "${SEARXNG_API_KEY}"
   searchProvider: "serper" # Options: "serper", "searxng"
 
   # Scraper Configuration
@@ -35,6 +37,14 @@ webSearch:
 
 ## Search Providers
 
+### searchProvider
+
+<OptionTable
+  options={[
+    ['searchProvider', 'String', 'Specifies which search provider to use.', 'Options: "serper", "searxng"'],
+  ]}
+/>
+
 ### serperApiKey
 
 <OptionTable
@@ -45,14 +55,26 @@ webSearch:
 
 **Note:** Get your API key from [Serper.dev](https://serper.dev/api-key)
 
-### searchProvider
+
+### searxngInstanceUrl
 
 <OptionTable
   options={[
-    ['searchProvider', 'String', 'Specifies which search provider to use.', 'Options: "serper", "searxng"'],
+    ['searxngInstanceUrl', 'String', 'Environment variable name for the SearXNG instance URL. If not set in .env, users will be prompted to provide it via UI.', '${SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL}'],
   ]}
 />
 
+### searxngApiKey
+
+<OptionTable
+  options={[
+    ['searxngApiKey', 'String', 'Environment variable name for the SearXNG API key. If not set in .env, users will be prompted to provide it via UI.', '${SEARXNG_API_KEY}'],
+  ]}
+/>
+
+**Note:** This is optional and only needed if your SearXNG instance requires authentication.
+
+
 ## Scrapers
 
 ### firecrawlApiKey
@@ -141,4 +163,72 @@ webSearch:
 - The configuration supports multiple services for each component (providers, scrapers, rerankers)
 - If a specific service type is not specified, the system will try all available services in that category
 - Safe search provides three levels of content filtering: OFF (0), MODERATE (1), and STRICT (2)
-- Never put actual API keys in the YAML configuration - only use environment variable names 
+- Never put actual API keys in the YAML configuration - only use environment variable names 
+
+## Setting Up SearXNG
+
+SearXNG is a privacy-focused meta search engine that you can self-host. 
+For more information, see the [official SearXNG documentation](https://docs.searxng.org/). 
+
+Here are the steps to set up your own SearXNG instance for use with LibreChat:
+
+### Using Docker Desktop
+
+1. **Search for the official SearXNG image**
+   - Open Docker Desktop
+   - Search for `searxng/searxng` in the **Images** tab
+   - Click **Run** on the official image to automatically pull down and run a container of the image
+
+2. **Running the container**
+   - Expand the **Optional Settings** dropdown in the proceeding panel that appears once the download completes
+   - Set your desired configuration details (port number, container name, etc.)
+   - Click **Run** to start the container
+
+3. **Configure SearXNG for LibreChat**
+   - Navigate to the `Files` tab in Docker Desktop
+   - Go to `/etc/searxng/settings.yaml`
+   - Open the file editor
+   - Navigate to the `formats` section
+   - Add `json` as an acceptable format so that LibreChat can communicate with your instance
+   - Save the file
+
+4. **Restart the container**
+   - Restart the container for the changes to take effect
+
+#### Video Guide:
+
+Here's a video to guide you through the process from start to finish in about a minute:
+
+     <video
+       muted
+       controls
+     >
+       <source src="/videos/min_searxng_docker_setup_hq.mp4" />
+     </video>
+
+**Note:** In this example, the instance URL is http://localhost:55011 (port number found under the container name in the top left at the end of the video)
+
+### Configuring LibreChat to use SearXNG
+
+You can configure SearXNG in LibreChat within the UI or through `librechat.yaml`.
+
+#### UI Configuration
+
+1. **Open the tools dropdown in the chat input bar**
+![Tools configuration button](/images/web-search/tools_highlight.png)
+
+2. **Click on the gear icon next to Web Search**
+![Tools configuration section](/images/web-search/tools_config_highlight.png)
+
+3. **Select SearXNG from the Search Provider dropdown**
+![SearXNG dropdown selection](/images/web-search/searxng_dropdown_highlight.png)
+
+4. **Enter your configuration details (e.g. instance URL, scraper type, etc.) and click save**
+![Save web search configuration](/images/web-search/web_search_save.png)
+
+5. **Click on the Web Search option in the tools dropdown**
+![Web search badge in chat interface](/images/web-search/websearch_highlight.png)
+
+6. **The Web Search badge should now be enabled, meaning your queries can now utilize the web search functionality**
+![Web search badge confirmation](/images/web-search/search_badge_confirm.png)
+

pages/docs/features/web_search.mdx

@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ To get started with web search, you'll need to configure API keys for all three
    ```bash
    # Search Provider (Required)
    SERPER_API_KEY=your_serper_api_key
+   # or
+   SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL=your_searxng_instance_url
+   SEARXNG_API_KEY=your_searxng_api_key  # Optional
 
    # Scraper (Required)
    FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=your_firecrawl_api_key
@@ -24,20 +27,26 @@ To get started with web search, you'll need to configure API keys for all three
 
 2. **User Interface** (If environment variables are not set):
    - Users will be prompted to enter the required API keys when they first use the web search feature
-   - They can choose which reranker service to use (Jina or Cohere)
+   - They can choose which search provider (Serper or SearXNG) and which reranker service to use (Jina or Cohere)
 
 ## Obtaining API Keys
 
 Each component of the web search feature requires its own API key. Here's how to obtain them:
 
-### Search Provider: Serper
+### Search Providers
 
+#### Serper
 1. Visit [Serper.dev](https://serper.dev/api-key)
 2. Sign up for an account
 3. Navigate to the API Key section
 4. Copy your API key
 5. Set it in your environment variables or provide it through the UI
 
+#### SearXNG
+1. Follow the setup instructions in the [Web Search Configuration](/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_structure/web_search#setting-up-searxng) documentation
+2. Set `SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL` to your instance URL
+3. Optionally set `SEARXNG_API_KEY` if your instance requires authentication
+
 ### Scraper: Firecrawl
 
 1. Visit [Firecrawl.dev](https://docs.firecrawl.dev/introduction#api-key)
@@ -72,10 +81,9 @@ Search providers are responsible for performing the initial web search and retur
 **Available Providers:**
 - **Serper**: A Google Search API that provides high-quality search results
   - Get your API key from [Serper.dev](https://serper.dev/api-key)
-
-**Planned Providers:**
 - **SearXNG**: Open-source, self-hosted meta search engine
-- Additional third-party search services
+  - Self-host your own instance
+  - Privacy-focused search results
 
 ### 2. Scrapers
 
@@ -117,6 +125,11 @@ webSearch:
   # Search Provider Configuration
   serperApiKey: "${CUSTOM_SERPER_API_KEY}"  # ✅ Correct: Using environment variable name
   # serperApiKey: "sk-123..."               # ❌ Wrong: Never put actual API keys here
+  # or
+  searxngInstanceUrl: "${CUSTOM_SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL}"  # ✅ Correct: Using environment variable name
+  searxngApiKey: "${CUSTOM_SEARXNG_API_KEY}"            # ✅ Correct: Using environment variable name
+  # searxngInstanceUrl: "http://..."        # ❌ Wrong: Never put actual URLs here
+  # searxngApiKey: "sk-123..."              # ❌ Wrong: Never put actual API keys here
 
   # Scraper Configuration
   firecrawlApiKey: "${CUSTOM_FIRECRAWL_API_KEY}"
@@ -145,6 +158,7 @@ If you want to restrict the system to use only specific services, you can specif
 webSearch:
   # ... variable configurations ...
   searchProvider: "serper"    # Only use Serper for search
+  # searchProvider: "searxng" # Only use SearXNG for search
   scraperType: "firecrawl"    # Only use Firecrawl for scraping
   rerankerType: "jina"        # Only use Jina for reranking
 ```