Web Search
A Model Context Protocol server that provides real-time web search capabilities to AI assistants through pluggable search providers, currently integrated with the Brave Search API.
What is Web Search?
Web Search is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to model context protocol server that provides real-time web search capabilities to ai assistants through pluggable search providers, currently integrated with the brave search api.
A Model Context Protocol server that provides real-time web search capabilities to AI assistants through pluggable search providers, currently integrated with the Brave Search API.
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- A Model Context Protocol server that provides real-time web
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx mcp-web-search-toolConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Web Search
The MCP Web Search Tool is a TypeScript MCP server that gives AI assistants real-time web search capabilities through a pluggable provider architecture, currently integrated with the Brave Search API. It exposes four tools — web_search, news_search, image_search, and fetch_url — allowing Claude and other MCP clients to search the web, retrieve current news, find images, and read full page content during conversations. Developers and researchers use it to augment their AI assistant with live internet access for answering time-sensitive questions and verifying current information.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 20.18 or higher and npm 10+
- A Brave Search API key (free tier available at https://api.search.brave.com/) — required for news and image search; web_search can work without it when ALLOW_KEYLESS is true
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, VS Code, Cursor, or Windsurf
Clone and install the project
Clone the repository and install Node.js dependencies.
git clone https://github.com/gabrimatic/mcp-web-search-tool.git
cd mcp-web-search-tool
npm installConfigure environment variables
Copy the example environment file and add your Brave Search API key along with any optional settings.
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env:
# BRAVE_API_KEY=your-brave-api-key
# MAX_RESULTS=10
# REQUEST_TIMEOUT=10000
# ALLOW_KEYLESS=trueBuild the TypeScript project
Compile the TypeScript source to JavaScript before running.
npm run buildStart the MCP server
Launch the server so your MCP client can connect to it.
npm startAdd the server to your MCP client configuration
Register the web search tool in your client's MCP config file with the Brave API key as an environment variable.
Web Search Examples
Client configuration
Claude Desktop configuration for the MCP Web Search Tool with Brave API key.
{
"mcpServers": {
"web-search": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["/path/to/mcp-web-search-tool/dist/index.js"],
"env": {
"BRAVE_API_KEY": "your-brave-api-key",
"MAX_RESULTS": "10",
"ALLOW_KEYLESS": "true"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Example prompts that use the web search, news search, and URL fetch tools.
- "Search the web for the latest benchmarks comparing GPT-4o and Claude 3.7 Sonnet"
- "What are today's top headlines about artificial intelligence?"
- "Find images of the Eiffel Tower at night"
- "Fetch and summarize the content at https://example.com/article"
- "What were the biggest tech company earnings announcements this week?"Troubleshooting Web Search
news_search or image_search return authentication errors
These tools require a valid BRAVE_API_KEY. Sign up at https://api.search.brave.com/, generate an API key, and add it to your .env file or MCP client env config.
web_search returns no results without an API key
Set ALLOW_KEYLESS=true in your environment. This enables a keyless fallback for basic web_search. For higher rate limits and news/image search, obtain a Brave API key.
fetch_url times out on large pages
Increase the FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS variable (default 15000 ms) and optionally reduce FETCH_MAX_BYTES if memory is constrained. Very large pages may still be truncated for performance.
Frequently Asked Questions about Web Search
What is Web Search?
Web Search is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that model context protocol server that provides real-time web search capabilities to ai assistants through pluggable search providers, currently integrated with the brave search api. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Web Search?
Follow the installation instructions on the Web Search GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Web Search?
Web Search works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Web Search free to use?
Yes, Web Search is open source and available under the MIT License license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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Browse More Search & Data Extraction MCP Servers
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