Disclaimer: I am one of the maintainers.

The intent of SearXNG is to be stateless (with no sessions on the server) and to work without JavaScript.

However, this approach limits certain features because of the restricted size of cookies (and other forms of browser storage require JavaScript).

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense. Stateless is very good for privacy and I agree with that approach for a multi-user instance, (which I suppose is the most common use-case).

I'm picturing more of an instance-wide configuration of ___domain blocks for a private, single-user, self-hosted instance. But I understand this may not be the intended use of the project.

Global configuration for an instance:

https://github.com/searxng/searxng/blob/f1a148f53e9fbd10e95b... https://github.com/searxng/searxng/discussions/970

That's great! Thank you for the links.

Google used to do that, but then stopped. You can still do it manually by specifying by excluding them in (every) search you do,but the list can get along and it is far from a good user experience.

Kagi has this feature built in and it is a good user experience.

You can also use the uBlacklist browser plugin. My problem with that is that is slows everything down. I am not certain but I think all the works is done after the search is complete. That it filter the actual result. The two above limit it from ever being part of the result.

uBlacklist does just that with Google and some other search engines. I use it with Firefox to filter out pinterest junk from search results. Also available for Chrome and Safari.

https://github.com/iorate/ublacklist

just installed it to try. For the people that want to give it a try also, I noticed that several of the public list contains legitimate websites such as canva or reddit

Kagi does that.

I trust myself a bit more than I trust someone else to run my queries sadly. I understand that they claim to store no user data or associations etc, but honestly, it's just their word.

> I understand that they claim to store no user data or associations etc, but honestly, it's just their word.

My guess is that if they are found to do so, then they open themselves up to lawsuits. Not collecting data isn't merely a perk - it's practically the reason Kagi exists.

Another big reason not to keep this stuff is just the cost of dealing with requests from law enforcement. At some point you start getting them.

If you don't have any logs you can just always say the princess is in another castle, since you can't provide data that doesn't exist.

If on the other hand you do have the requested information, you need to determine the validity of the request, and then extract the data; or refuse to comply and possibly put yourself at legal risk. For a smaller business that's probably a can of worms you'd rather avoid opening.

Even if not a lawsuit, people will judge it themselves and vote with their feet.

Kagi requires an account to use, which is not great for privacy.

I understand Kagi is generally reputable, but I like the idea of a self-hosted alternative where you're in full control.