Root cause of the 429s: the ip_limit rate limiter caps JSON (format!=html)
requests at API_MAX=4 per IP per hour, and that constant is hardcoded in
Python (searx/botdetection/ip_limit.py), not settable in limiter.toml. The
only bypass is pass_ip (filter_request returns before ip_limit runs).
Rootless podman strips the client IP on published-port hits, so the container
sees a slirp/bridge source (10.88.x/10.89.x), never the real client - hence
even a LAN-IP curl 429'd on /search. Expand pass_ip to loopback + the host's
private podman/slirp ranges (plus the existing LAN) so local subagents present
a trusted source and skip the rate limit entirely. All these ranges are
reachable only from the host or LAN, never the internet.
The trusted group lives in limiter.toml, not settings.yml. Add
shared/searxng/limiter.toml trusting 192.168.0.0/24 in pass_ip and
trusted_proxies, copy it into /opt/searxng/config on deploy, and correct
the SearXNG doc. New test seam: tests/searxng_limiter.bats.
Frank