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[GH-ISSUE #1239] Searching no longer work #735
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Originally created by @ArrowNemesis on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search/issues/1239
Using Chrome Version 139.0.7258.154 says:
"Update your browser
Your browser isn't supported any more. To continue your search, upgrade to a recent version."
@hobby-grade commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
I am also experiencing this issue and think it may be related to the user agent change to allow searches to work earlier this year when Google stopped Javascript-free searches.
I don't believe that this has anything to do with the local browser being used, but I am including my browser info for reference.
@jrg72 commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
Jumping on this also, I'm locked out in the same way from using Whoogle. I'm using Zen (essentially Firefox) but I also doubt that's relevant, as I think this is a Google change.
@blackletum commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
I checked the Lynx site to see if maybe we're just using an outdated UA version but alas we're using 2.9.2 which is what Lynx' latest version is.
@adelcastillo commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
Same behaviour here, using latest firefox version, also I changed the value of
WHOOGLE_USER_AGENTandWHOOGLE_USER_AGENT_MOBILEtoLynx/2.9.2 libwww-FM/2.14 SSL-MM/1.4.1 OpenSSL/3.4.0a few months ago in order to solve other problem, in case that this matters.@hobby-grade commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
When browsing to Google.com within Lynx, the same error is presented, so this is definitely due to the Lynx user agent. We may have to search for another user agent, or see if the Lynx developer has an update if we continue to use the Lynx user agent.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
As part of that fix I enabled the ability to change the UA from the Configuration dropdown on the Search page. I can confirm that there are UAs that do still work even though the Lynx no longer works. I’m afraid to post what does work though because I’m sure the big G is monitoring this and will kill off UAs we publicly list as working.
All that being said, this is not a bug with Whoogle, you just need to search to find a UA string that works for you and add it to your configuration. I’d request that anyone who does find a working one not post it publicly or we risk it becoming one more that Google stops allowing.
@mclardass commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
@Don-Swanson Thanks for the UA pointer, I was able to get my install working again using a string from.. my old high-school Colecovision.. Yeah, that's it. Hate these cat-and-mouse games but capitalism..
@hobby-grade commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
@Don-Swanson +1 on the thanks for the UA information. When I changed
WHOOGLE_USER_AGENTandWHOOGLE_USER_AGENT_MOBILEto the same value, the search works on desktop, but not on a mobile device. Any insight as to why that could be the case?@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
@hobby-grade
The config change I’m referring to is on the Whoogle Search Home page that you can live/on-demand change without having to change the UA on the backend.
If you are using that option on the Search page drop down, and it’s not working on mobile, it must be something with your browser or UA. The one I configured on my desktop, I just tried on my mobile and it works. Maybe you used a UA that Google knows would never be Mobile? Not sure
@hobby-grade commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
@Don-Swanson
Thank you for the reply. I added a working UA using your configuration on the Whoogle Search Home page and then figured I should just use that same one in the environment variables to prevent from having to type that UA in on each device I access from. I did try that same UA using the homepage config option on my mobile device and it works, so I guess my device is not triggering the environment variable set by the
WHOOGLE_USER_AGENT_MOBILEoption.I will do some more testing to see if I can figure it out, I appreciate your contribution to this project and your assistance!
@pred2k commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
I've could get whoogle working on one of my instance by setting a UA via Configuration in the UI.
But i can't get it working on my other instance by setting it as a env var in my
docker-compose.yamlDoes anyone has a idea?
@hobby-grade commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
@pred2k
I have the same issue, seems like it's ignoring those environment variables.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
You’re absolutely right, it doesn’t seem to be respecting the ENV variables. I’ll see about fixing that up tonight.
@LupinThidr commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
I mentioned this in #1211 earlier this year (buried in a sea of "+1" and "same here"):
Other embedded / lower spec devices they can't just suddenly kill (as the amount of legitimate Lynx users was probably in the triple digits) might also be worth investigating are UAs corresponding to built in browsers in older phones, smart TVs.
@blackletum commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
I think it has to do with the change back in January possibly:
github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search@6f1e1e6847I even tried to see if I could redefine
LYNX_UAas a var, but it didn't respect that either@madindehead commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
Don't you have to also set
WHOOGLE_USE_CLIENT_USER_AGENT=0so the client doesn't try to overwrite it?@blackletum commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
what configuration do you speak of?
@S-h-i-n-r-a commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
I share the sentiment I found somewhere of not sharing working UAs due to G watching along, but I can at least alleviate the search for some in that suggestions of opera mini (server side rendering might have made it viable), Wii, 3DS, and a few other UAs do not resolve the issue as of time of writing.
Unless we can find a UA that is critical in a way that means G simply has to support it this is a problem that needs a solution other than a UA spoof imo.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Sep 10, 2025):
I've made an update so the UI Config should follow the following Logic:
I'm assuming once @benbusby has a chance to review and merge, it should build a new release and all should be right in the world again for a short while.
I'm sure we're all open to ideas, but it seems to me like the issue is that G originally broke the project by requiring javascript (to likely prevent AI using their engine for free), then broke again by blacklisting specific UA Strings that had been previously allowed because they didn't support javascript. So right now it's a game of whack-a-mole until a solution that can bypass their js requirement or work with it while preserving privacy is found.
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
I have tried setting my user agent to "Mozilla/5.0" and "Chrome/132.0.0.0" I get:
@bamzero commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Dammit Google, just let us have our Javascript free searches..
Hopefully not the end of the line for Whoogle...
@kraetos10 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Was there a workaround for this ?
@bamzero commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
This feels like Play Integrity Fix all over again... 😣
@xaquib666 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Tried multiple different UA, nothing worked. How do I find a UA that will work?
@rstefko commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
If Google don't want to support Lynx anymore then I'm afraid this is the end, modern UAs were not working starting January.
I have currently updated my NGINX config to this...
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Guys y’all need to read the responses and be patient. I’ve published a fix, it just needs to be merged and built. If you don’t feel like waiting you can see the changes I’ve made in the PR and build it yourself.
@rstefko commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
@Don-Swanson Could you elaborate on how does it fix the issue? I have looked into the PR, but don't see the point. I have tried the UA mentioned there, but have the same problem.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
@rstefko There are 2 problems in play currently.
For now, you can just set the UA to custom in the UI and add the UA there.
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Thanks so much for working hard on this project. I know I appreciate it very much.
the problem I see with the "merged and built" part is people like me don't know what that means. We see "I have made an update" and assume we just pull the new docker container 3 seconds after that post, and we have a working whoogle again. It would help at least me if something like "The new version will be ready tomorrow" was added to that, as I am a non-programmer and just don't understand (And still can't wrap my head around) that a fix needs time to merge and built, and how much time that could or should take.
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
And I still must be doing something wrong. I am still on version 0.9.3, and I am having the exact problem above. I have set the user agent to "Chrome/132.0.0.0" in the UI and still get the "unusual" screen from my post yesterday when searching, when clicking "images" I am presented with "Update your browser" Docker is set to pull the latest version. I just don't know what i am doing wrong.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
@ShadowWizard11
I wish I could help, unfortunately I don’t own the repo, nor do I have any right to it. It’s a project owned by @benbusby so I cannot control when he reviews or approves the changes so that you can pull a new image. Since this is an open source project he has built and shared freely from his own kindness, we have to wait for him to have free time. If times go on where he doesn’t review, I’ll consider branching and building based on my repo, but I don’t want to create divisions in a project unnecessarily.
If you have an urgent need to fix, you can find a working UA string and add it to the custom UA section in the UI config temporarily. And I highly doubt any Chrome UA string will work.
@Ajilis commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Thanx @Don-Swanson !
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Thank you so much for the quick reply and explanation. I just assumed this was your project. (See, not a programmer here, lol)
I managed to find a working UA, but still don't fully understand them. I thought if I told it I was chrome, it would just work. I am still convinced 1/2 the problem is me, but at least I found one that is working. Thank you for taking the time to help and explain.
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Why?
@Ajilis commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
The G is looking the repo.
if you search a little you find the UA that works by yourself;
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
Makes sense. Updated.
And for google. Come on now.. For the ultra small subset of people that use this project, is this really worth your time? Even when I used google directly I always searched for things that made no sense just to throw you guys off. Searching for thing like "Pet hair vacuum" even though I have no pets.. Or is this another lie to confuse the google, lol.
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
However I think I will need help understanding this user agent thing.. Cause even entering the user agent of the browser I am currently using, collected from the console tab in devtools, I still get that strange unfinished search. I'll post it again cause it looks like its trying.. But still get the update browser when I click on images.
Sorry my "Black and white" brain has a really hard time understanding/following many concepts. I just can't wrap my head around this, and its rather frustrating.. Does the user agent need to be formated in a specific way? With quotes? IN json? XML? Proceeded by "My user agent is:" or something. Basically, I have something I am pretty sure SHOULD work.. But I can't seem to enter it properly.. UNless I am way off in left field again.
@RoyalOughtness commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
@Don-Swanson do you have the bandwidth to maintain a fork for this? It doesn't appear to be actively developed anymore and could use some TLC. For example I've been waiting for a review on this bugfix PR for two months https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search/pull/1235
I don't have enough time right now to maintain a fork for this, but can contribute to a fork if you were to do so.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
@RoyalOughtness
I could, but I’d like to give Ben the due respect of allowing him some time for the opportunity to review and make the decision himself if he wants to continue supporting. I strongly dislike when someone just makes a fork and tries to steal away user base just because they didn’t think the owner was responsive enough. If in a weeks time we don’t hear back from him, I’ll try to reach out directly and gauge his interest and willingness to let me take over.
@RoyalOughtness commented on GitHub (Sep 11, 2025):
@Don-Swanson Makes sense, and I wasn't implying that we should do otherwise. Just gauging whether forking was something you'd consider, if it came to that. Let me know if you decide to.
@Sebastix commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2025):
I fixed my Whoogle instance with the changes from https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search/pull/1240 by @Don-Swanson.
I'm using Docker compose and this is what I've done.
On line 7 in
docker-compose.ymlreplaceimage: ${WHOOGLE_IMAGE:-benbusby/whoogle-search}with
build: .Now build the image and (re)start the docker containers
Now with the Whoogle instance back running with these changes, I needed to change the User Agent setting from ‘Use ENV Conf’ to ‘Default’ in the configuration to get search results again:
I haven’t test it (yet) to use a UserAgent ENV in the
docker-compose.yml, but that can be found on line 24 below*#environment: # Uncomment to configure environment variables.* where you could setWHOOGLE_USER_AGENTandWHOOGLE_USER_AGENT_MOBILEvariables.Hope this can help anyout out till the moment that @benbusby takes care of https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search/pull/1240
@sorcer1122 commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2025):
I confirm that @Sebastix approach is working. Thank you and @Don-Swanson for quickly fixing this.
@C8opmBM commented on GitHub (Sep 12, 2025):
How are other proxy engines like searxng managing to have google up without hiccups? I might be a bit biased since I love whoogle a loooot more since I dont need anything but google searches, but man, I gave that a spin and it just work, fast. After disabling lots of stuff.
How can they do it without the dreaded rate limiting every now and then, and now this? Curious.
Btw, thanks for the quick fix, hope will be merged soon! Please.
@benbusby commented on GitHub (Sep 13, 2025):
I haven't caught up on all of the comments yet, but I merged @Don-Swanson's fix and granted him contributor access to the repo since I've been away. Hopefully that fix lasts longer than the last one. I'll discuss with him more about the next steps for Whoogle and hopefully get things back to regular maintenance. Likely the repo will get moved to an org instead of staying on my personal account, but there's a few things involved in that which I'd like to discuss with him.
I'm sure anyone can guess that I've hit a point of being burnt out. After maintaining Whoogle primarily by myself for ~5 years I just don't really have the interest anymore. I kept hoping that I'd suddenly get inspired to work on the project again, but the longer I spent away from it, the less I wanted to come back. It's upsetting to have something I've spent so much time on suddenly become something I don't want to work on at all. I should've brought on another maintainer sooner, so that's my fault, and I apologize for not being more transparent about that.
I appreciate everyone's patience and support over the years and am thankful that the project's maintenance can resume under new leadership.
@mclardass commented on GitHub (Sep 13, 2025):
I appreciate the efforts you've put into this project and the work performed for years to make it so useful. I've gotten spoiled just having it work, even with the occasional hiccup, and when it's not there I truly miss the functionality.
Take care of yourself, it's okay to move on and find (or create) some other passion project. Thanks again for making Whoogle what it is and hopefully a new maintainer can carry your vision onward.
@kristianrd commented on GitHub (Sep 13, 2025):
Thanks for the time and work you guys put into this.
@Br0kenSilos commented on GitHub (Sep 13, 2025):
I just want to say Thank you @benbusby for creating and working so hard on Whoogle. I have been using it religiously for a few year now. But I totally get the burn out and loss of interest. The demands from my family and day job have caused me similar issues with my favorite projects (not development as I wouldn't have a clue). Best wishes to you man.
@MathNodes commented on GitHub (Sep 14, 2025):
Yes. I got it working again with a different UA. Please people, do not post the UA you use here in order to keep the project alive.
@inittux111 commented on GitHub (Sep 14, 2025):
@benbusby As others have already stated I appreciate the work you have done on Whoogle! I have donated a few times, not sure if more people would donate that would keep a developer like yourself motivated or are there are things that keep you motivated with a project?
@sorcer1122 commented on GitHub (Oct 11, 2025):
Unfortunately, it has stopped working a few days ago. Any suggestion on how to fix it?
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Oct 11, 2025):
I don’t suppose you tried searching/looking at any issues from the past few weeks or looked at the release notes for the releases?
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Oct 11, 2025):
I know I have. But don't seem to have the skill set to understand what is out there (At least what I can find)
I managed to get one UA working, by sheer luck, and now it has stopped. I personally need better directions then I can find to get it working (All I have found is "Find a working UA online") not what could be valid or anything. So I a basically plugging in random strings in 3-4 different formats to see what works. I had to go back to searching using normal google. :(
If someone comes out with a "How to find a user agent like I am 5" please let me know.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Oct 11, 2025):
If you truly have been, then you should be aware that the game of changing User Agent Strings is up. We have a stopgap release out while we investigate new options, you just need to update. Please look at the release notes for the latest release.
@ShadowWizard11 commented on GitHub (Oct 11, 2025):
I had tried that when I first read that somewhere, but it didnt' work. Seems to have started working now.. There is another issue (No pictures option) but I will address that in another issue later when I have a bit more time.
@Don-Swanson commented on GitHub (Oct 11, 2025):
Again, read the release notes in full please, they also address/answer this question