Noodle

A self-hosted search engine that uses LLMs to return relevant results—like Google used to, before enshittification started.

Why?

Modern search engines prioritize ad revenue over relevance. Noodle uses AI to search the web and return results ranked purely by how well they answer your question.

No ads. No SEO spam. No affiliate links. Just results.

Features

• Classic Google UI - Clean, fast, familiar interface
• Claude CLI integration - Uses your local Claude installation (recommended)
• OpenAI support - Alternative provider with API key
• Lucky Me - Jump directly to the top result
• Caching - Results cached for 6 hours, persists across restarts
• Pagination - Browse through pages of results
• Browser integration - Add as your default search engine
• Self-hosted - Your searches, your server, your privacy
• API included - JSON endpoint for programmatic access

Quick Start

npx @dwk/noodle

On first run, you'll be prompted to:

1. Choose a provider (Claude CLI or OpenAI)
2. Enter your API key (OpenAI only)
3. Select a port

Then open http://localhost:3000 and search!

Installation

Global install (recommended)

npm install -g @dwk/noodle
noodle

Run without installing

npx @dwk/noodle

Clone and run locally

git clone https://gitlab.com/dwk-io/noodle.git
cd noodle
npm install
npm start

Configuration

Config is stored in ~/.noodle/config.json:

{
  "provider": "claude",
  "providers": {
    "openai": {
      "apiKey": "sk-...",
      "model": "gpt-4o"
    }
  },
  "port": 3000
}

Cache is stored in ~/.noodle/cache.json and persists across server restarts.

CLI Options

noodle                     # Start with saved config
noodle --port 8080         # Use different port
noodle --provider openai   # Use OpenAI instead of default
noodle --cache-ttl 12      # Set cache TTL to 12 hours
noodle --setup             # Run setup wizard again
noodle --help              # Show help

Adding as Default Search Engine

Chrome / Edge / Brave

1. Visit http://localhost:3000
2. Right-click the URL bar
3. Select "Add as search engine" or go to Settings → Search engines
4. Find "Noodle" and set as default

Firefox

1. Visit http://localhost:3000
2. Click the address bar
3. At the bottom, click the Noodle icon with the + symbol
4. Go to Settings → Search → Default Search Engine

Safari

Safari doesn't support custom search engines natively. Options:

• Use the Finicky app to redirect searches
• Use a browser extension like Search Engines for Safari

API

Search (JSON)

curl "http://localhost:3000/api/search?q=best+mechanical+keyboards"

Response:

{
  "query": "best mechanical keyboards",
  "results": [
    {
      "title": "The Best Mechanical Keyboards for 2024",
      "url": "https://example.com/keyboards",
      "snippet": "We tested 50 mechanical keyboards...",
      "domain": "example.com"
    }
  ],
  "totalResults": 1500000,
  "page": 1,
  "duration": 2341,
  "provider": "claude",
  "error": null,
  "cached": false
}

Query Parameters

| Parameter | Description | |-----------|-------------| | q | Search query (required) | | page | Page number (default: 1) | | refresh | Set to 1 to bypass cache |

OpenSearch

GET /opensearch.xml

Returns the OpenSearch description document for browser integration.

How It Works

1. You enter a search query
2. Noodle sends it to your chosen LLM (Claude CLI or GPT-4) with web search enabled
3. The LLM searches the web and applies this ranking criteria:
   • Direct relevance to query intent
   • Source authority and trustworthiness
   • Content quality and depth
   • Recency (when time-sensitive)
4. Results that are primarily ads, SEO spam, or affiliate content are filtered out
5. Results are cached for 6 hours to speed up repeated searches
6. You get clean, relevant results

Providers

| Provider | Requirements | Search Method | |----------|--------------|---------------| | Claude CLI (recommended) | claude CLI installed | WebSearch tool | | OpenAI | API key | Web browsing tool |

Claude CLI Setup

1. Install the Claude CLI:

   npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

2. Authenticate with your Anthropic account:

   claude

   Follow the prompts to sign in. This only needs to be done once.

3. Run noodle and select Claude as your provider. No API key needed—it uses your local Claude installation.

OpenAI Setup

1. Go to https://platform.openai.com
2. Create an account and add billing
3. Generate an API key
4. Run noodle --setup and select OpenAI

Caching

Noodle caches search results to reduce API costs and speed up repeated searches:

• TTL: 6 hours
• Storage: ~/.noodle/cache.json
• Persistence: Survives server restarts
• Refresh: Click "(cached)" link or add ?refresh=1 to bypass

Cost

Each search costs approximately:

• Claude CLI: Uses your Claude subscription/credits
• OpenAI: ~$0.01-0.05 depending on result complexity

Caching significantly reduces costs for repeated searches.

Privacy

• Noodle runs entirely on your machine
• Searches are sent to your chosen AI provider
• Results are cached locally in ~/.noodle/cache.json
• No analytics, tracking, or telemetry

Contributing

PRs welcome! Some ideas:

• [ ] Speed optimizations
• [ ] Search suggestions/autocomplete
• [ ] Search history
• [ ] Did you mean? (spelling)
• [ ] Related searches

License

ISC