Troubleshooting

Empty Results

search_humans returns an empty array. Here’s why and how to fix it.

Common causes

1. SearXNG rate limiting

SearXNG queries Google, Bing, and other engines through a residential proxy. If too many queries hit the same engine in a short window, the engine may temporarily block requests.

Symptoms: Results work intermittently. Some queries return data, others return empty.

Fix: Wait 30-60 seconds and retry. The split-engine strategy (one engine per query) is designed to minimize this, but high-volume usage can still trigger limits.

2. Google captcha / “sorry” page

Google sometimes returns a captcha page instead of results. SearXNG handles this transparently, but if the proxy IP is flagged, all Google queries will fail.

Symptoms: All searches return empty. Non-Google engines (Brave, DuckDuckGo) may still work.

Fix: Redeploy SearXNG to rotate the proxy IP, or wait for the block to expire (usually 1-2 hours).

3. Proxy issues

The DataImpulse residential proxy can occasionally drop connections or return errors.

Symptoms: All searches fail, not just specific queries.

Fix: Check proxy health. If the proxy is down, searches will fail across all engines.

4. Very uncommon name + no company context

If you search for a name with no company_name or company_domain, and the person has minimal web presence, SearXNG may not return enough results to match any profiles.

Symptoms: Empty results for obscure people, but well-known people work fine.

Fix: Add company_name or company_domain to give the search more context.

Debugging checklist

  1. Try searching for a well-known person (e.g. { name: "Brian Chesky", company_name: "Airbnb" }). If this works, the infrastructure is fine — the issue is with your specific query.
  2. Add company_name or company_domain if you haven’t already.
  3. Check if the person has a LinkedIn profile. If they don’t, confidence will be low and results may be empty.
  4. Try again after 60 seconds — transient rate limiting resolves quickly.

When to escalate

If a well-known person consistently returns empty results across multiple retries, the issue is likely infrastructure-level (proxy down, SearXNG misconfigured). Open an issue on GitHub.