diff --git a/dankclaw/open-webui/quadlet/open-webui.container b/dankclaw/open-webui/quadlet/open-webui.container
index 8f30a11..fb05bcb 100644
--- a/dankclaw/open-webui/quadlet/open-webui.container
+++ b/dankclaw/open-webui/quadlet/open-webui.container
@@ -32,6 +32,20 @@ PublishPort=3005:8080
 Environment=OPENAI_API_BASE_URL=http://192.168.0.143:7770
 Environment=ANONYMIZED_TELEMETRY=False
 Environment=DO_NOT_TRACK=True
+
+# Web search -> SearXNG, reached over the host-published port (NOT the
+# search.franksdank.cloud vhost): the Anubis->Authentik guard chain is a
+# browser mechanism and a plain HTTP client cannot solve it. The internal
+# port bypasses Caddy entirely. These env vars SEED the per-key config DB on
+# first run (fill-missing only); once the keys exist in /app/backend/data the
+# DB is authoritative, so this block documents the intent and makes a fresh
+# data dir come up wired. SearXNG's limiter exempts this source (the bridge
+# egress 10.89.x is in pass_ip), so the 4-req/IP/hour JSON cap never applies.
+Environment=ENABLE_WEB_SEARCH=True
+Environment=WEB_SEARCH_ENGINE=searxng
+Environment=SEARXNG_QUERY_URL=http://192.168.0.143:8081/search
+Environment=SEARXNG_LANGUAGE=all
+Environment=WEB_SEARCH_RESULT_COUNT=6
 Volume=/home/dank/Containers/open-webui/data:/app/backend/data
 
 # App liveness (/health) AND network liveness (a non-loopback interface must
diff --git a/serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankclaw/OpenWebUI.md b/serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankclaw/OpenWebUI.md
index 6c96c30..693fb39 100644
--- a/serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankclaw/OpenWebUI.md
+++ b/serverAppConfigs-docs/Dankclaw/OpenWebUI.md
@@ -39,6 +39,26 @@ OpenAI connection at `http://192.168.0.235:7770/v1` (key `none`).
 sizing, and spec tuning happen there. See the [LLM knowledge
 base](../LLM/index.md).
 
+## Web search
+
+Chat web search is served by [[SearXNG]] on this host, wired in the quadlet
+(`ENABLE_WEB_SEARCH`, `WEB_SEARCH_ENGINE=searxng`, `SEARXNG_QUERY_URL`).
+
+- **Access path:** the backend calls `http://192.168.0.143:8081/search?format=json`
+  directly — gluetun's published port, NOT the `search.franksdank.cloud` vhost.
+  The Anubis→Authentik guard chain is a browser mechanism (proof-of-work +
+  session flow); a plain HTTP client cannot solve it, and the internal port
+  bypasses Caddy entirely.
+- **Limiter:** SearXNG caps non-HTML (JSON) requests at 4/IP/hour (`API_MAX`,
+  a hardcoded Python constant — no config knob). The `pass_ip` list is checked
+  FIRST and short-circuits the whole botdetection chain, and OpenWebUI's bridge
+  egress (`10.89.x`) is in `pass_ip`, so the cap never applies. Verified: an
+  8-request burst from the container returned 8×200.
+- **Config storage:** OpenWebUI keeps web-search settings per-key in its SQLite
+  config table (`webui.db`, `web.search.*`). The quadlet env vars seed that
+  table on first start (fill-missing only); afterwards the DB is authoritative
+  and Admin-UI edits persist there.
+
 ## Boot persistence (Quadlet)
 
 The unit lives at `dankclaw/open-webui/quadlet/open-webui.container`. On the host it installs to `~/.config/containers/systemd/open-webui.container`. The generator turns it into `open-webui.service`. Because the unit sets `[Install] WantedBy=default.target` and user linger is on, it starts at boot. `systemctl --user is-enabled open-webui.service` reports `generated` (the quadlet boot-start state).