[doc] ai_summary: document what grounding sends to the LLM server

Grounding is on by default, and it sends the top search results along
with the query.  Which data leaves the instance depends on where the LLM
server runs -- per the privacy-by-design directive the reader has to be
able to see that from the documentation.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
jasonwitty
2026-08-08 23:10:24 -07:00
parent c7e8bba488
commit 8ff85790cf
@@ -38,6 +38,24 @@ The *AI Summary* tab of the preferences is only shown when the plugin is
activated in ``settings.yml`` (``active: true``); an instance that does not
offer AI summaries does not show the tab at all.
.. _ai_summary grounding:
Grounding
=========
With ``grounding`` (the default) the query **and the top search results**
(title, URL and snippet of at most ``max_context_items`` results) are sent to
the LLM server; without it only the query is sent and the model answers from
its own knowledge. Grounded answers are more accurate and more current, at
the cost of a longer prompt.
Which data leaves the SearXNG instance therefore depends on where the LLM
server runs: with a server on localhost or in the local network nothing leaves
the network, with a hosted server the query and the result snippets are sent
to that provider. This is why the plugin is not activated by default and why
its documentation recommends a local LLM server. Users can opt out of
grounding in their preferences (``ai_summary_grounding``).
.. attention::
A user configurable server URL allows any user of the instance to make the