<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" data-content_root="../">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Development Quickstart — SearXNG Documentation (2025.5.30+37d851fb2)</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pygments.css?v=6625fa76" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/searxng.css?v=52e4ff28" />
<script src="../_static/documentation_options.js?v=16d4899c"></script>
<script src="../_static/doctools.js?v=9a2dae69"></script>
<script src="../_static/sphinx_highlight.js?v=dc90522c"></script>
<script data-project="searxng" data-version="2025.5.30+37d851fb2" src="../_static/describe_version.js?v=fa7f30d0"></script>
<link rel="index" title="Index" href="../genindex.html" />
<link rel="search" title="Search" href="../search.html" />
<link rel="next" title="Git Commits & Change Management" href="commits.html" />
<link rel="prev" title="Developer documentation" href="index.html" />
</head><body>
<div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="Related">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
accesskey="I">index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="commits.html" title="Git Commits & Change Management"
accesskey="N">next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="index.html" title="Developer documentation"
accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-0"><a href="../index.html">SearXNG Documentation (2025.5.30+37d851fb2)</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-1"><a href="index.html" accesskey="U">Developer documentation</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href="">Development Quickstart</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="document">
<div class="documentwrapper">
<div class="bodywrapper">
<div class="body" role="main">
<section id="development-quickstart">
<span id="devquickstart"></span><h1>Development Quickstart<a class="headerlink" href="#development-quickstart" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<aside class="sidebar">
<p class="sidebar-title">further read</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#makefile"><span class="std std-ref">Makefile & ./manage</span></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="../admin/buildhosts.html#buildhosts"><span class="std std-ref">Buildhosts</span></a></p></li>
</ul>
</aside>
<p>SearXNG loves developers; Developers do not need to worry about tool chains, the
usual developer tasks can be comfortably executed via <a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#makefile"><span class="std std-ref">make</span></a>.</p>
<p>Don’t hesitate, just clone SearXNG’s sources and start hacking right now ..</p>
<div class="highlight-bash notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>git<span class="w"> </span>clone<span class="w"> </span>https://github.com/searxng/searxng.git<span class="w"> </span>searxng
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Here is how a minimal workflow looks like:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li><p><em>start</em> hacking</p></li>
<li><p><em>run</em> your code: <a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#make-run"><span class="std std-ref">make run</span></a></p></li>
<li><p><em>format & test</em> your code: <a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#make-format-python"><span class="std std-ref">make format.python</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#make-test"><span class="std std-ref">make test</span></a></p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you think at some point something fails, go back to <em>start</em>. Otherwise,
choose a meaningful commit message and we are happy to receive your pull
request. To not end in <em>wild west</em> we have some directives, please pay attention
to our “<a class="reference internal" href="contribution_guide.html#how-to-contribute"><span class="std std-ref">How to contribute</span></a>” guideline.</p>
<aside class="sidebar">
<p class="sidebar-title">further read</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#make-nvm"><span class="std std-ref">NVM make nvm.install nvm.status</span></a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#make-themes"><span class="std std-ref">make themes.*</span></a></p></li>
</ul>
</aside>
<p>If you implement themes, you will need to setup a <a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#make-node-env"><span class="std std-ref">Node.js environment</span></a>. Before you call <em>make run</em> (2.), you need to compile the
modified styles and JavaScript: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">make</span> <span class="pre">node.clean</span> <span class="pre">themes.all</span></code>. If <a class="reference external" href="https://eslint.org/">eslint</a> or
<a class="reference external" href="https://stylelint.io/">stylelint</a> report some issues, try <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">make</span> <span class="pre">themes.fix</span></code>.</p>
<p>Alternatively you can also compile selective the theme you have modified,
e.g. the <em>simple</em> theme.</p>
<div class="highlight-bash notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>make<span class="w"> </span>themes.simple
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="admonition tip">
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
<p>To get live builds while modifying CSS & JS use: <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">LIVE_THEME=simple</span> <span class="pre">make</span> <span class="pre">run</span></code></p>
</div>
<aside class="sidebar">
<p class="sidebar-title">further read</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html#make-static-build"><span class="std std-ref">make static.build.*</span></a></p></li>
</ul>
</aside>
<p>If you finished your <em>tests</em> you can start to commit your changes. To separate
the modified source code from the build products first run:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>make<span class="w"> </span>static.build.restore
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>This will restore the old build products and only your changes of the code
remain in the working tree which can now be added & committed. When all sources
are committed, you can commit the build products simply by:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>make<span class="w"> </span>static.build.commit
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Committing the build products should be the last step, just before you send us
your PR. There is also a make target to rewind this last build commit:</p>
<div class="highlight-bash notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>make<span class="w"> </span>static.build.drop
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<span id="sidebar-top"></span>
<div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="Main">
<div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
<p class="logo"><a href="../index.html">
<img class="logo" src="../_static/searxng-wordmark.svg" alt="Logo of SearXNG"/>
</a></p>
<h3><a href="../index.html">Table of Contents</a></h3>
<ul class="current">
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../user/index.html">User information</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../own-instance.html">Why use a private instance?</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../admin/index.html">Administrator documentation</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1 current"><a class="reference internal" href="index.html">Developer documentation</a><ul class="current">
<li class="toctree-l2 current"><a class="current reference internal" href="#">Development Quickstart</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="commits.html">Git Commits & Change Management</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="rtm_asdf.html">Runtime Management</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="contribution_guide.html">How to contribute</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="extended_types.html">Extended Types</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="engines/index.html">Engine Implementations</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="result_types/index.html">Result Types</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="templates.html">Simple Theme Templates</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="search_api.html">Search API</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="plugins/index.html">Plugins</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="answerers/index.html">Answerers</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="translation.html">Translation</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="lxcdev.html">Developing in Linux Containers</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="makefile.html">Makefile & <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">./manage</span></code></a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="reST.html">reST primer</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="searxng_extra/index.html">Tooling box <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">searxng_extra</span></code></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../utils/index.html">DevOps tooling box</a></li>
<li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="../src/index.html">Source-Code</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Project Links</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/searxng/searxng/tree/master">Source</a>
<li><a href="https://github.com/searxng/searxng/wiki">Wiki</a>
<li><a href="https://searx.space">Public instances</a>
<li><a href="https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues">Issue Tracker</a>
</ul><h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="../index.html">Overview</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="index.html">Developer documentation</a>
<ul>
<li>Previous: <a href="index.html" title="previous chapter">Developer documentation</a>
<li>Next: <a href="commits.html" title="next chapter">Git Commits & Change Management</a></ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<search id="searchbox" style="display: none" role="search">
<h3 id="searchlabel">Quick search</h3>
<div class="searchformwrapper">
<form class="search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<input type="text" name="q" aria-labelledby="searchlabel" autocomplete="off" autocorrect="off" autocapitalize="off" spellcheck="false"/>
<input type="submit" value="Go" />
</form>
</div>
</search>
<script>document.getElementById('searchbox').style.display = "block"</script>
<div role="note" aria-label="source link">
<h3>This Page</h3>
<ul class="this-page-menu">
<li><a href="../_sources/dev/quickstart.rst.txt"
rel="nofollow">Show Source</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
<div class="footer" role="contentinfo">
© Copyright SearXNG team.
</div>
</body>
</html>