diff --git a/gitea/config.py b/gitea/config.py
index 4821011..3e88223 100644
--- a/gitea/config.py
+++ b/gitea/config.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ class AgentSettings(BaseSettings):
     gitea_repos_root: str = ""
     agent_model_id: str = "qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b"
     agent_max_retries: int = 2
-    searxng_url: str = "https://searxng.meeks.freeddns.org"
+    searxng_url: str = ""
 
 
 def get_settings() -> AgentSettings:
diff --git a/gitea/tools/research_tools.py b/gitea/tools/research_tools.py
index 36916b8..1bf6894 100644
--- a/gitea/tools/research_tools.py
+++ b/gitea/tools/research_tools.py
@@ -179,6 +179,9 @@ class ResearchTools:
         Returns formatted results string on success, or None if the instance
         is unreachable so the caller can fall through to the next backend.
         """
+        if not _SEARXNG_URL:
+            logger.info("SearXNG URL is not configured; skipping SearXNG search.")
+            return None
         params: dict[str, Any] = {
             "q": query,
             "format": "json",