SearchMob Desktop

Private, on-device metasearch for Windows, macOS, and Linux. A Python port of SearchMob for Android with the same engines, the same privacy proxy, and the same store-nothing-by-default behavior.

Status: scaffold. The CLI is wired up but the metasearch, local HTTP server, encrypted storage, suggestions endpoint, and GUI are placeholders. Track progress in ROADMAP.md.

What it will do (parity with the Android app)

• Metasearch against DuckDuckGo, Mojeek, Marginalia, Mwmbl, and Wikipedia, plus optional bring-your-own Brave / Mojeek API keys. Never scrapes Google. Results are de-duplicated and merged.
• Privacy proxy: no cookies, no referrer, no user/device identifier; the User-Agent is rotated per request.
• Outbound traffic disclosure: the only outbound traffic is the searches you run, plus an optional once-a-day update check to GitHub that you can turn off in settings.
• Local HTTP server so any browser can use SearchMob as its default search engine. Loopback-only by default; opt-in network mode (0.0.0.0) for Tailscale or LAN use, with the same warning gate.
• Search-suggestions endpoint (OpenSearch application/x-suggestions+json) advertised in the descriptor, sourced from local history plus an opt-in upstream.
• Store-nothing by default. Opt-in encrypted history (SQLCipher + Argon2id); optional zero-knowledge passphrase.
• Three surfaces: a Qt-based GUI, a Typer CLI for headless and scripted use, and a background HTTP service.

Install (alpha)

The first published release is 26.05.00. Two install paths:

End users: native installer (recommended)

Grab the installer for your OS from the latest GitHub Release:

• Windows: searchmob-desktop-<version>.msi
• macOS: searchmob-desktop-<version>.dmg
• Linux (any modern distro): SearchMob_Desktop-<version>-x86_64.AppImage (one portable binary, chmod +x and run)

Every release also publishes a SHA256SUMS file you can verify before installing.

First release is unsigned. The .msi and .dmg are built with --adhoc-sign and will trigger SmartScreen / Gatekeeper warnings. Authenticode signing on Windows and Apple notarization on macOS land in a follow-up release once the signing secrets are wired into CI; the SHA256SUMS file is the integrity anchor for the alpha.

Developers / source install

pipx install git+https://github.com/FlintWave/SearchMob-Desktop@main
# or, with the GUI extra:
pipx install "searchmob-desktop[gui] @ git+https://github.com/FlintWave/SearchMob-Desktop@main"

searchmob-desktop --version
searchmob-desktop --help

CLI

searchmob-desktop search "privacy tools"   # one-shot metasearch (planned)
searchmob-desktop serve                    # local HTTP server (planned)
searchmob-desktop gui                      # launch the desktop GUI (planned)
searchmob-desktop --version

Versioning

Same Ubuntu-style scheme as the Android app: YY.MM.VV (e.g. 26.05.00). Releases are tagged vYY.MM.VV.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. We use Conventional Commits and build each feature on its own branch with green CI before merging. Please also read CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md and, for security reports, SECURITY.md.

Credits

App icon: Search icons created by Freepik - Flaticon.

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later. If you run a modified version that users interact with over a network, you must offer them the corresponding source.

Copyright © 2026 FlintWave. Contact: flintwave@tuta.com