Does Raising SearXNG's Autocomplete Minimum Stop Partial-Query Sharing?

July 30, 2026

No. A higher SearXNG autocomplete minimum delays suggestion requests, but the longer query prefix can still be sent after the threshold is reached.

No. Raising SearXNG's autocomplete_min value delays external suggestion requests; it does not stop partial-query sharing once the typed text reaches the new threshold. If pre-submit sharing is unacceptable, the clearer control is to disable external autocomplete by leaving the autocomplete backend blank. Then audit submitted searches separately, because autocomplete is only one part of the search data path.

Last updated: July 29, 2026

Who This Is For

This guide is for people who:

self-host SearXNG for private web search
connect SearXNG to a local or hosted AI assistant
administer a public, home, or company SearXNG instance
want search suggestions without exposing short or sensitive prefixes
are deciding whether a larger autocomplete_min value is enough

The setting is useful, but its name can invite the wrong mental model. A minimum is a timing gate, not a redaction rule. It controls when the browser starts asking for suggestions. It does not remove names, medical terms, product codes, internal URLs, or other sensitive text from the request that eventually crosses the threshold.

For the broader data path, first read Does SearXNG Autocomplete Send Partial Queries To Another Provider?. This article focuses on the narrower follow-up: what changes when the minimum is raised.

What Is Confirmed In The Current SearXNG Code

The behavior can be traced through three current, public SearXNG components.

1. The Default Minimum Is Four Characters

At SearXNG master commit c01178d, dated July 28, 2026, the default settings.yml defines:

autocomplete_min: 4

That is a default, not a guarantee about every deployed instance. An administrator can change the effective configuration, and an older or customized client can behave differently.

2. The Browser Checks Length Before Requesting Suggestions

The current Simple theme autocomplete client reads the input value, reads settings.autocomplete_min, and returns without fetching suggestions when the query is shorter than the minimum.

Once the query is long enough, the client calls SearXNG's /autocompleter route with the query text. Raising the setting therefore moves the point at which this request may begin.

3. SearXNG Can Forward The Prefix To The Selected Backend

The current web application route reads the q value, extracts a suggestion prefix, reads the selected autocomplete backend, and calls search_autocomplete with that prefix.

The autocomplete source module shows external backends placing that query into provider-specific request parameters. Depending on the selected backend, the prefix can be sent to services such as Bing, Brave, DuckDuckGo, Google, Qwant, Startpage, Swisscows, Wikipedia, or others.

SearXNG's current search settings documentation lists the supported backends and says leaving the autocomplete setting blank turns the feature off.

The Threshold Rule In Plain English

The effective rule is:

If the current text is shorter than autocomplete_min, the standard client does not request suggestions. When the text reaches or exceeds the minimum, it may send that current text to the SearXNG instance, which may forward it to the selected autocomplete backend.

Consider a harmless example in which someone types:

Northstar merger risk

The following table shows the first prefix eligible to trigger autocomplete under several minimum values:

`autocomplete_min`	Shortest eligible prefix	What the change accomplishes	What it does not accomplish
1	`N`	Suggestions can begin immediately	Does not protect even the first character
4	`Nort`	Blocks one- to three-character requests	Does not protect a short name or acronym
8	`Northsta`	Delays the first eligible request	Does not protect the recognizable project name
12	`Northstar me`	Suppresses more early prefixes	Still shares a longer, possibly more revealing prefix
50	No request for this short query	Prevents autocomplete for this example	Still permits requests for queries that reach 50 characters

This is why a high threshold can reduce exposure without eliminating it. The longer prefix may be more identifying than the short prefix that was blocked.

Why A Longer Prefix Can Be More Sensitive

Short prefixes are often ambiguous:

acu
nor
cli
med

Longer prefixes can reveal the subject:

Acumen acquisition
Northstar merger
client termination
medical diagnosis

Raising the threshold may reduce the number of outbound suggestion requests, but it can also make the first eligible request more semantically complete. The setting is valuable for request reduction; it is not a privacy transformation.

The practical question is not only, "How many characters left the browser?" It is also:

Did the remaining characters identify a person, client, project, condition, or location?
Which SearXNG instance received them?
Which external autocomplete backend received them next?
Which network address did that backend see?
Did a reverse proxy, host, browser extension, or platform log the route?
Did the user ever submit the same query as a full search?

What Raising `autocomplete_min` Actually Improves

A higher minimum can provide real, limited benefits.

It Reduces Very Short Prefix Requests

If the minimum changes from 4 to 12, ordinary clients stop asking SearXNG for suggestions at characters 4 through 11. This can reduce request volume and block fragments that never become longer queries.

It Can Prevent Autocomplete For Short Queries

A query shorter than the threshold never becomes eligible in the standard client. A large minimum can therefore behave like "off" for short searches while leaving autocomplete available for long searches.

It Can Reduce Timing Detail

Fewer requests can reveal fewer intermediate typing states. That is useful, although it does not establish what the SearXNG instance, reverse proxy, or suggestion provider retains.

It Can Be A Usability Compromise

Some operators want suggestions for long research queries but not for every short word. A higher threshold can be a reasonable usability policy when the remaining pre-submit sharing is understood and accepted.

What Raising The Minimum Does Not Fix

It Does Not Sanitize The Prefix

SearXNG does not automatically replace a client name with a generic category or strip a medical condition from the query merely because the threshold is high. The current text is still the input to the suggestion request.

It Does Not Disable The External Backend

If Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Brave, Wikipedia, or another external service remains selected, reaching the threshold can still cause SearXNG to contact that service.

It Does Not Make The Full Search Local

Submitted searches can still go to one or more configured search engines. Page fetching, DNS, proxies, hosting, AI-model processing, and operational logs remain separate data paths.

It Does Not Prove That Every Client Honors The Setting

The current Simple theme uses autocomplete_min, but a browser address-bar integration, extension, custom theme, mobile wrapper, API client, or fork can implement suggestions differently. Audit the actual client and instance.

It Does Not Establish A Retention Policy

The threshold controls request eligibility. It says nothing by itself about whether the SearXNG instance, reverse proxy, hosting provider, or autocomplete backend stores request text or metadata.

Raising The Minimum vs Disabling Autocomplete

Question	Raise `autocomplete_min`	Leave `autocomplete` blank
Blocks very short prefixes	Yes	Yes
Blocks longer eligible prefixes	No	Yes, for SearXNG's external autocomplete path
Keeps search suggestions	Yes, after the threshold	No external SearXNG suggestions
Stops submitted searches	No	No
Stops browser address-bar suggestions	Not necessarily	Not necessarily
Stops reverse-proxy or host logging	No	No
Best choice when no pre-submit sharing is acceptable	No	Yes, followed by verification

The official search settings documentation makes the disabling control explicit: leave autocomplete blank.

A Four-Level Configuration Strategy

Level 1: Keep The Default And Avoid Sensitive Text

This is the convenience-first option. Treat the search box as an external input path and do not type client names, credentials, private URLs, health details, or unreleased project terms.

Level 2: Raise The Minimum

Use a higher value to suppress short prefixes and reduce request frequency. Document that longer prefixes can still be sent. This is risk reduction, not elimination.

Level 3: Disable External Autocomplete

Leave search.autocomplete blank. This removes SearXNG's external suggestion-provider call in the documented configuration. It does not disable normal submitted searches.

Level 4: Verify No Unintended Suggestion Path Remains

Test the deployed system because configuration labels are not proof of runtime behavior. Check the browser, SearXNG route, reverse proxy, extensions, and outbound connections.

How To Verify The Threshold Safely

Use a harmless canary phrase that cannot be mistaken for real sensitive data.

Choose a unique test phrase, such as violet-cactus-7421.
Open browser developer tools and select the Network panel.
Filter for autocompleter.
Type one character at a time and note the first request.
Confirm the request does not appear before the configured threshold.
Inspect whether the request uses GET or POST and whether the query is visible in the URL, form body, browser history, or logs.
On the SearXNG host, inspect outbound destinations while repeating the test.
Confirm which external autocomplete provider receives the request.
Disable autocomplete, repeat the test, and verify that the route no longer triggers an external suggestion request.
Submit a normal search separately and map that different data path.

Do not test with a real credential, patient detail, client name, acquisition codename, or internal URL. A canary should be recognizable in your own telemetry without creating harm if it leaves the system.

Nine Checks Before Treating A Higher Minimum As Enough

[ ] What is the effective autocomplete_min value in the deployed client?
[ ] Which autocomplete backend is actually selected?
[ ] Can users override the administrator's choice?
[ ] Does the Simple theme match the deployed frontend?
[ ] Does the browser address bar send its own suggestion requests?
[ ] Do extensions or wrappers add another autocomplete path?
[ ] Does the reverse proxy log /autocompleter requests or request bodies?
[ ] Which outbound IP, proxy, or Tor exit does the suggestion provider see?
[ ] Are users trained not to type sensitive text into a search field?

If any answer is unknown, describe the control narrowly: "short prefixes are suppressed in this client," not "queries stay private."

What This Does Not Mean

A higher minimum or disabled autocomplete does not automatically mean:

the SearXNG instance is fully private
no query text leaves the device
the instance keeps zero logs
submitted searches remain local
AI-generated search queries avoid sensitive details
a proxy removes the words from a request
public instances and private instances have identical trust boundaries
browser extensions cannot observe the text
providers delete suggestion requests immediately
OpenVeil or another hosted AI product is fully offline

The defensible claim is narrower: raising the minimum delays eligible autocomplete requests; disabling the backend removes SearXNG's documented external suggestion request, while the rest of the search workflow still needs its own audit.

Where OpenVeil Fits

OpenVeil is a paid, privacy-focused AI chat workspace with browser-local chat history and no server-side chat-history record for normal private chat sessions. It supports web search, uploads, voice, and image tools where enabled.

This article does not claim that OpenVeil uses SearXNG or any particular autocomplete provider. OpenVeil's documented boundary is that active requests may still be processed by OpenVeil and necessary AI, search, upload-processing, hosting, routing, security, billing, and infrastructure providers.

The practical difference is hosted convenience. OpenVeil users do not need to deploy SearXNG, choose suggestion and search backends, maintain proxies, or audit application updates themselves. That convenience does not make web search fully offline or remove the need to minimize sensitive search terms.

Read Can AI Web Search Expose Sensitive Terms Even When The Full Prompt Is Not Shared? and Does Self-Hosting SearXNG Keep Every AI Search Query Private?. Then review the OpenVeil privacy policy before using web search with sensitive material.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does `autocomplete_min` Do In SearXNG?

It sets the minimum number of typed characters the current Simple theme requires before it requests autocomplete results. The current default is four characters.

Does Setting `autocomplete_min` To 20 Stop Partial Queries?

It stops autocomplete requests for queries shorter than 20 characters in the standard client. A query that reaches 20 characters can still be sent as a prefix for suggestions.

Is A 20-Character Prefix Safer Than A Four-Character Prefix?

Not necessarily. It creates fewer early requests, but the first eligible 20-character prefix may reveal more meaning than four characters did.

How Do I Turn Off SearXNG Autocomplete?

The current SearXNG search settings documentation says to leave the autocomplete setting blank. Verify the effective configuration and runtime behavior after changing it.

Does Disabling Autocomplete Stop SearXNG From Contacting Google Or Bing?

It stops SearXNG's configured autocomplete call to an external suggestion backend. Normal submitted searches can still contact Google, Bing, or other configured engines.

Does The Autocomplete Provider See My Browser's IP Address?

When SearXNG brokers the request, the provider generally sees the SearXNG instance's outbound IP, a configured proxy, or a Tor exit rather than the browser's direct connection. A home-hosted server's public IP may still be linkable to the household or operator.

Can I Keep Suggestions Completely Local?

Only if the suggestions are generated from a local data source by a local implementation. Selecting a different external provider changes who receives the prefix; it does not keep the request local.

Does An AI App Using SearXNG Trigger This Autocomplete Route?

Often it does not. An AI application may call SearXNG's search API with a model-generated query rather than type into the human-facing search box. That can skip UI autocomplete while still sending the submitted query through SearXNG and its search engines.

Should I Use A Very Large Minimum Instead Of Disabling Autocomplete?

Only if you intentionally want suggestions for unusually long queries. A large number can approximate "off" for normal searches, but leaving the backend blank is clearer and easier to audit when no external autocomplete is wanted.

Bottom Line

Raising SearXNG's autocomplete_min reduces early autocomplete requests but does not stop partial-query sharing. Once the current text reaches the threshold, the standard client can send that prefix to the SearXNG instance, which can forward it to the selected external autocomplete backend.

Use a higher minimum when fewer early requests are an acceptable compromise. Leave autocomplete blank when pre-submit sharing is unacceptable, then verify the deployed client and network behavior with a harmless canary. Finally, audit submitted search engines, page fetching, DNS, proxies, hosting, logs, and AI processing separately.

Explore OpenVeil or read the privacy policy before using web search with sensitive material.

Sources

When privacy, account control, uploads, and search matter, OpenVeil gives you a private AI workspace designed for that job.