Bocha Search
An AI-focused search engine that enables AI applications to access high-quality knowledge from billions of webpages and ecosystem content sources across various domains including weather, news, encyclopedia, medical information, train tickets, and im
What is Bocha Search?
Bocha Search is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to ai-focused search engine that enables ai applications to access high-quality knowledge from billions of webpages and ecosystem content sources across various domains including weather, news, encyclope...
An AI-focused search engine that enables AI applications to access high-quality knowledge from billions of webpages and ecosystem content sources across various domains including weather, news, encyclopedia, medical information, train tickets, and im
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- An AI-focused search engine that enables AI applications to
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx bocha-search-mcpConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Bocha Search
Bocha Search MCP is an AI-focused search engine MCP server that gives AI applications access to high-quality web knowledge from nearly 10 billion webpages and structured content sources across domains including weather, news, encyclopedias, medical information, train schedules, and more. It exposes two tools — a general web search and an AI Search that returns structured semantic cards (weather cards, stock prices, encyclopedias, etc.) alongside web results. It is widely used in China as a Bing Search API alternative and serves as the official web search backend for DeepSeek and applications recommended by Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10 or later with uv package manager installed
- A Bocha AI API key obtained from https://open.bochaai.com
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, or a Python-based MCP client
Get a Bocha API key
Register and log in at the Bocha AI open platform (https://open.bochaai.com) to obtain your API key. The key begins with 'sk-'.
Clone the repository
Clone the Bocha Search MCP repository to your local machine.
git clone https://github.com/BochaAI/bocha-search-mcp.git
cd bocha-search-mcpConfigure your MCP client
Add the Bocha Search MCP server to your claude_desktop_config.json. On macOS, the config is at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Replace /path/to/bocha-search-mcp with the actual clone path.
{
"mcpServers": {
"bocha-search-mcp": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/path/to/bocha-search-mcp",
"run",
"bocha-search-mcp"
],
"env": {
"BOCHA_API_KEY": "sk-your-api-key-here"
}
}
}
}Restart your MCP client
Restart Claude Desktop or your MCP client to load the new server configuration. The Bocha Search tools should now appear as available MCP tools.
Test with the MCP Inspector (optional)
Use the MCP Inspector to debug and test the Bocha Search tools before using them in your AI client.
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv --directory /path/to/bocha-search-mcp run bocha-search-mcpBocha Search Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the Bocha Search MCP server, using uv to run the Python server with the BOCHA_API_KEY environment variable.
{
"mcpServers": {
"bocha-search-mcp": {
"command": "uv",
"args": [
"--directory",
"/Users/yourname/bocha-search-mcp",
"run",
"bocha-search-mcp"
],
"env": {
"BOCHA_API_KEY": "sk-your-api-key-here"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts using Bocha Web Search and Bocha AI Search, including queries that benefit from structured modal cards.
- "Search for the latest news about AI regulation in China"
- "What is the current weather in Shanghai?"
- "Search for information about the Alibaba 2024 ESG report and summarize the key points"
- "Find the train schedule from Beijing to Shanghai for tomorrow"
- "What is the current price of gold and how has it changed this week?"
- "Search for recent research papers on large language model safety"Troubleshooting Bocha Search
Search returns an authentication error or 401 response
Verify your BOCHA_API_KEY is correct and starts with 'sk-'. Obtain a fresh key from https://open.bochaai.com if it has expired or been invalidated.
uv command not found when starting the MCP server
Install uv with 'pip install uv' or 'curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh'. Ensure the uv binary is on your system PATH and restart your MCP client after installation.
Bocha AI Search modal cards are not appearing in results
Modal cards (weather, stocks, encyclopedias) are only returned by the 'Bocha AI Search' tool, not the basic 'Bocha Web Search' tool. Make sure your agent is invoking the correct tool. Also note that some card types are only triggered by specific query patterns recognized by Bocha's semantic analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bocha Search
What is Bocha Search?
Bocha Search is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that ai-focused search engine that enables ai applications to access high-quality knowledge from billions of webpages and ecosystem content sources across various domains including weather, news, encyclopedia, medical information, train tickets, and im It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Bocha Search?
Follow the installation instructions on the Bocha Search GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Bocha Search?
Bocha Search works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Bocha Search free to use?
Yes, Bocha Search is open source and available under the MIT license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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