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searxng/docs/dev/plugins/ai_summary.rst
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Jason Witty f4a003d355 [feat] plugin: AI summary of search results from a self-hosted LLM
Adds an optional plugin that shows a generated summary above the search
results, similar to the answer boxes in Brave and Google.  The text is
produced by an LLM server the administrator runs, reached over the
OpenAI chat completions API, so queries never leave the operator's own
network.

The summary is grounded on the top search results rather than the
model's training data.  It is generated asynchronously: post_search adds
an empty placeholder and returns, and the browser fills it from the
/ai_summary endpoint, which streams the answer as NDJSON.  No summary is
generated beyond page one, outside the general category, for non-HTML
formats, or when an engine already answered with an infobox or an
instant answer.

The client side follows the existing plugin pattern: one file in
client/simple/src/js/plugin/, one conditional load in router.ts, one
LESS import.  No build configuration changes and no new dependencies.

The plugin is not activated by default.  Instance defaults live in an
ai_summary: section; the server, model, API key and grounding are user
preferences, and all four can be locked.

Signed-off-by: Jason Witty <jasonpwitty+github@proton.me>
2026-08-15 19:55:07 -07:00

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.. _ai_summary plugin:
==========
AI Summary
==========
.. sidebar:: Further reading ..
- :ref:`Configuration <settings ai_summary>`
- :ref:`dev plugin`
- :ref:`result types`
The AI Summary plugin shows a generated answer above the ordinary search
results. The text comes from an LLM server run by the administrator, which
speaks the `OpenAI chat completions API`_ -- `Ollama`_, Hugging Face TGI,
LiteLLM, vLLM, llama.cpp and anything else implementing that specification.
See :ref:`its configuration <settings ai_summary>` for how to set one up.
The summary is generated asynchronously: the result page is delivered without
delay and carries an empty placeholder, which the browser fills from a second,
streaming request.
Request flow
============
.. _ai_summary dataflow:
.. kernel-render:: DOT
:alt: Data flow between browser, SearXNG and the LLM server
:caption: A search that produces a summary: two requests, not one
digraph ai_summary {
rankdir=LR;
graph [fontname="sans-serif", ranksep=1.1, nodesep=0.4];
node [fontname="sans-serif", fontsize=11, shape=box, style="rounded,filled",
fillcolor="#f4f4f4", color="#999999"];
edge [fontname="sans-serif", fontsize=9, color="#666666"];
browser [label="browser"];
searxng [label="SearXNG"];
engines [label="search engines", fillcolor="#ffffff"];
llm [label="LLM server\nOllama, vLLM, ...", fillcolor="#ffffff"];
browser -> searxng [label=" 1 GET /search"];
searxng -> engines [label=" 2 query"];
searxng -> browser [label=" 3 result page,\l empty summary box\l", constraint=false];
browser -> searxng [label=" 4 POST /ai_summary\l (query + results)\l"];
searxng -> llm [label=" 5 POST /v1/chat/completions"];
llm -> searxng [label=" 6 SSE token stream", constraint=false];
searxng -> browser [label=" 7 NDJSON token stream", constraint=false];
}
Steps 1 to 3 are an ordinary SearXNG search. :py:obj:`SXNGPlugin.post_search
<searx.plugins.ai_summary.SXNGPlugin.post_search>` adds an empty
:py:obj:`searx.result_types.AiSummary` placeholder to the answer area and
returns; the result page is not delayed.
Steps 4 to 7 run in the browser once the page is rendered.
``client/simple/src/js/plugin/AiSummary.ts`` posts to the ``/ai_summary``
endpoint (registered in :py:obj:`searx.webapp`), which opens a streaming
request to the LLM server and re-emits the tokens as they arrive.
The two streams use different formats. The LLM server sends `SSE`_ --
``data: {...}`` lines terminated by ``data: [DONE]``. SearXNG re-emits them to
the browser as `NDJSON`_: one JSON object per line, ``{"delta": "..."}`` for
each chunk of text and a final ``{"done": true}``.
When no summary is generated
============================
:py:obj:`SXNGPlugin.post_search
<searx.plugins.ai_summary.SXNGPlugin.post_search>` adds no placeholder for:
- page two and beyond
- categories other than *general*
- non-HTML output formats (the JSON, CSV and RSS APIs)
- queries an engine already answered with an infobox (wikipedia, wikidata) or
an instant answer (e.g. ddg definitions)
- an empty query, or no LLM server configured
API keys
========
The administrator's ``api_key`` is sent only to the configured ``base_url``.
Users who point the ``ai_summary_server`` preference at a server of their own
authenticate it with their own ``ai_summary_api_key`` preference, which is
stored in a cookie and excluded from the preferences URL; the administrator's
key is never sent to such a server. A server URL carrying credentials in its
userinfo is ignored, and the administrator's default is used instead.
:py:obj:`_server_api_key <searx.plugins.ai_summary._server_api_key>` implements
the rule.
Reference
=========
.. automodule:: searx.plugins.ai_summary
:members:
.. _Ollama: https://ollama.com/
.. _OpenAI chat completions API: https://platform.openai.com/docs/api-reference/chat
.. _SSE: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Server-sent_events
.. _NDJSON: https://github.com/ndjson/ndjson-spec