diff --git a/gitea/config.py b/gitea/config.py
index 3e88223..9ad747a 100644
--- a/gitea/config.py
+++ b/gitea/config.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ class AgentSettings(BaseSettings):
     agent_model_id: str = "qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b"
     agent_max_retries: int = 2
     searxng_url: str = ""
+    searxng_username: str = ""
+    searxng_password: str = ""
 
 
 def get_settings() -> AgentSettings:
@@ -30,9 +32,14 @@ GITEA_REPOS_ROOT: str = _agent_settings.gitea_repos_root
 AGENT_MODEL_ID: str = _agent_settings.agent_model_id
 AGENT_MAX_RETRIES: int = _agent_settings.agent_max_retries
 SEARXNG_URL: str = _agent_settings.searxng_url
+SEARXNG_USERNAME: str = _agent_settings.searxng_username
+SEARXNG_PASSWORD: str = _agent_settings.searxng_password
 
 import os
 os.environ["GITEA_SERVER_URL"] = GITEA_URL
 os.environ["GITEA_SERVER_TOKEN"] = GITEA_TOKEN
 os.environ["SEARXNG_URL"] = SEARXNG_URL
+os.environ["SEARXNG_USERNAME"] = SEARXNG_USERNAME
+os.environ["SEARXNG_PASSWORD"] = SEARXNG_PASSWORD
+
 
diff --git a/gitea/tools/research_tools.py b/gitea/tools/research_tools.py
index 3f3f89d..a26e423 100644
--- a/gitea/tools/research_tools.py
+++ b/gitea/tools/research_tools.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ from duckduckgo_search.exceptions import (  # type: ignore[import-untyped]
     RatelimitException,
 )
 
-from gitea.config import SEARXNG_URL
+from gitea.config import SEARXNG_URL, SEARXNG_USERNAME, SEARXNG_PASSWORD
 
 logger: logging.Logger = logging.getLogger("research-tools")
 
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ _USER_AGENT: str = (
 )
 # SearXNG instance
 _SEARXNG_URL: str = SEARXNG_URL
+_SEARXNG_USERNAME: str = SEARXNG_USERNAME
+_SEARXNG_PASSWORD: str = SEARXNG_PASSWORD
+
 
 
 
@@ -196,9 +199,13 @@ class ResearchTools:
         if time_range:
             params["time_range"] = time_range
 
+        auth = None
+        if _SEARXNG_USERNAME and _SEARXNG_PASSWORD:
+            auth = (_SEARXNG_USERNAME, _SEARXNG_PASSWORD)
+
         try:
             with httpx.Client(
-                timeout=_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, follow_redirects=True
+                timeout=_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT, follow_redirects=True, auth=auth
             ) as client:
                 response = client.get(
                     f"{_SEARXNG_URL}/search",
diff --git a/tests/test_research_tools.py b/tests/test_research_tools.py
index 9ba65b4..3e75ae4 100644
--- a/tests/test_research_tools.py
+++ b/tests/test_research_tools.py
@@ -191,6 +191,21 @@ class TestSearchSearxng:
         params = call_kwargs[1].get("params", call_kwargs[0][1] if len(call_kwargs[0]) > 1 else {})
         assert params.get("time_range") == "month"
 
+    @patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.httpx.Client")
+    def test_passes_basic_auth_if_configured(
+        self, mock_cls: MagicMock, tools: ResearchTools
+    ) -> None:
+        mock_cls.return_value.__enter__.return_value.get.return_value = (
+            self._make_searxng_response([])
+        )
+        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools._SEARXNG_USERNAME", "user"), \
+             patch("gitea.tools.research_tools._SEARXNG_PASSWORD", "pass"):
+            tools._search_searxng("q", num_results=5)
+        
+        mock_cls.assert_called_once()
+        kwargs = mock_cls.call_args[1]
+        assert kwargs.get("auth") == ("user", "pass")
+
     @patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.httpx.Client")
     def test_web_search_uses_searxng_first(
         self, mock_cls: MagicMock, tools: ResearchTools
@@ -228,7 +243,8 @@ class TestWebSearch:
         self, _mock_sleep: MagicMock, tools: ResearchTools
     ) -> None:
         mock_cls = MagicMock(return_value=self._mock_ddgs(self._make_ddgs_result()))
-        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", mock_cls):
+        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.ResearchTools._search_searxng", return_value=None), \
+             patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", mock_cls):
             result = tools.web_search("python httpx")
         assert "[1]" in result
         assert "foo.com" in result
@@ -238,14 +254,16 @@ class TestWebSearch:
         self, _mock_sleep: MagicMock, tools: ResearchTools
     ) -> None:
         mock_cls = MagicMock(return_value=self._mock_ddgs([]))
-        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", mock_cls):
+        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.ResearchTools._search_searxng", return_value=None), \
+             patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", mock_cls):
             result = tools.web_search("xyzzy-not-real")
         assert "No results" in result
 
     def test_clamps_num_results_max(self, tools: ResearchTools) -> None:
         ddgs_mock = self._mock_ddgs(self._make_ddgs_result())
         mock_cls = MagicMock(return_value=ddgs_mock)
-        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", mock_cls):
+        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.ResearchTools._search_searxng", return_value=None), \
+             patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", mock_cls):
             tools.web_search("q", num_results=999)
         # DDGS.text should be called with max_results clamped to 20
         ddgs_mock.text.assert_called_once()
@@ -255,7 +273,8 @@ class TestWebSearch:
     def test_clamps_num_results_min(self, tools: ResearchTools) -> None:
         ddgs_mock = self._mock_ddgs(self._make_ddgs_result())
         mock_cls = MagicMock(return_value=ddgs_mock)
-        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", mock_cls):
+        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.ResearchTools._search_searxng", return_value=None), \
+             patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", mock_cls):
             tools.web_search("q", num_results=0)
         _, kwargs = ddgs_mock.text.call_args
         assert kwargs.get("max_results", 0) >= 1
@@ -271,7 +290,8 @@ class TestWebSearch:
         ddgs_mock.__exit__ = MagicMock(return_value=False)
         ddgs_mock.text.side_effect = rate_exc
 
-        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", return_value=ddgs_mock), \
+        with patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.ResearchTools._search_searxng", return_value=None), \
+             patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DDGS", return_value=ddgs_mock), \
              patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.RatelimitException", type(rate_exc)), \
              patch("gitea.tools.research_tools.DuckDuckGoSearchException", ValueError):
             result = tools.web_search("q")