MCP server for advanced web search using Tavily
npm install @bachstudio/tavily-mcp
!GitHub Repo stars
!npm
!smithery badge
The Tavily MCP server provides:
- search, extract, map, crawl tools
- Real-time web search capabilities through the tavily-search tool
- Intelligent data extraction from web pages via the tavily-extract tool
- Powerful web mapping tool that creates a structured map of website
- Web crawler that systematically explores websites
Connect directly to Tavily's remote MCP server instead of running it locally. This provides a seamless experience without requiring local installation or configuration.
Simply use the remote MCP server URL with your Tavily API key:
`` `
https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=
Get your Tavily API key from tavily.com.
Alternatively, you can pass your API key through an Authorization header if the MCP client supports this:
`
Authorization: Bearer
Click the ⬆️ Add to Cursor ⬆️ button, this will do most of the work for you but you will still need to edit the configuration to add your API-KEY. You can get a Tavily API key here.
once you click the button you should be redirect to Cursor ...
file where you have to add your-api-key.`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"tavily-remote-mcp": {
"command": "npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=",
"env": {}
}
}
}
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Claude desktop now supports adding
which is currently in beta. An integration in this case is the Tavily Remote MCP, below I will explain how to add the MCP as an integration in Claude desktop.$3
open claude desktop, click the button with the two sliders and then navigate to add integrations.
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click Add integrations
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Name the integration and insert the Tavily remote MCP url with your API key. You can get a Tavily API key here. Click to confirm.
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Retrun to the chat screen and you will see the Tavily Remote MCP is now connected to Claude desktop.
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Allow models to use remote MCP servers to perform tasks.
- You first need to export your OPENAI_API_KEY
- You must also add your Tavily API-key to , you can get a Tavily API key here`python
from openai import OpenAIclient = OpenAI()
resp = client.responses.create(
model="gpt-4.1",
tools=[
{
"type": "mcp",
"server_label": "tavily",
"server_url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=",
"require_approval": "never",
},
],
input="Do you have access to the tavily mcp server?",
)
print(resp.output_text)
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mcp-remote is a lightweight bridge that lets MCP clients that can only talk to local (stdio) servers securely connect to remote MCP servers over HTTP + SSE with OAuth-based auth, so you can host and update your server in the cloud while existing clients keep working. It serves as an experimental stop-gap until popular MCP clients natively support remote, authorized servers.
json
{
"tavily-remote": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"mcp-remote",
"https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey="
]
}
}
`Local MCP
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Before you begin, ensure you have:
- Tavily API key
- If you don't have a Tavily API key, you can sign up for a free account here
- Claude Desktop or Cursor
- Node.js (v20 or higher)
- You can verify your Node.js installation by running:
-
- Git installed (only needed if using Git installation method)
- On macOS:
- On Linux:
- Debian/Ubuntu:
- RedHat/CentOS:
- On Windows: Download Git for WindowsTavily MCP server installation ⚡
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bash
npx -y tavily-mcp@latest
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To install Tavily MCP Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:
bash
npx -y @smithery/cli install @tavily-ai/tavily-mcp --client claude
`Although you can launch a server on its own, it's not particularly helpful in isolation. Instead, you should integrate it into an MCP client. Below is an example of how to configure the Claude Desktop app to work with the tavily-mcp server.
Configuring MCP Clients ⚙️
This repository will explain how to configure VS Code, Cursor and Claude Desktop to work with the tavily-mcp server.
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For one-click installation, click one of the install buttons below:
 
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First check if there are install buttons at the top of this section that match your needs. If you prefer manual installation, follow these steps:
Add the following JSON block to your User Settings (JSON) file in VS Code. You can do this by pressing
(or Cmd + Shift + P on macOS) and typing Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON).`json
{
"mcp": {
"inputs": [
{
"type": "promptString",
"id": "tavily_api_key",
"description": "Tavily API Key",
"password": true
}
],
"servers": {
"tavily": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "tavily-mcp@latest"],
"env": {
"TAVILY_API_KEY": "${input:tavily_api_key}"
}
}
}
}
}
`Optionally, you can add it to a file called
in your workspace:`json
{
"inputs": [
{
"type": "promptString",
"id": "tavily_api_key",
"description": "Tavily API Key",
"password": true
}
],
"servers": {
"tavily": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "tavily-mcp@latest"],
"env": {
"TAVILY_API_KEY": "${input:tavily_api_key}"
}
}
}
}
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The easiest way to set up the Tavily MCP server in Cline is through the marketplace with a single click:
1. Open Cline in VS Code
2. Click on the Cline icon in the sidebar
3. Navigate to the "MCP Servers" tab ( 4 squares )
4. Search "Tavily" and click "install"
5. When prompted, enter your Tavily API key
Alternatively, you can manually set up the Tavily MCP server in Cline:
1. Open the Cline MCP settings file:
### For macOS:
bash
# Using Visual Studio Code
code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json
# Or using TextEdit
open -e ~/Library/Application\ Support/Code/User/globalStorage/saoudrizwan.claude-dev/settings/cline_mcp_settings.json
` ### For Windows:
bash
code %APPDATA%\Code\User\globalStorage\saoudrizwan.claude-dev\settings\cline_mcp_settings.json
`2. Add the Tavily server configuration to the file:
Replace
with your actual Tavily API key.
`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"tavily-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "tavily-mcp@latest"],
"env": {
"TAVILY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
},
"disabled": false,
"autoApprove": []
}
}
}
`3. Save the file and restart Cline if it's already running.
4. When using Cline, you'll now have access to the Tavily MCP tools. You can ask Cline to use the tavily-search and tavily-extract tools directly in your conversations.
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bash
Create the config file if it doesn't exist
touch "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json"Opens the config file in TextEdit
open -e "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json"Alternative method using Visual Studio Code (requires VS Code to be installed)
code "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json"
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bash
code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
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Replace
with your actual Tavily API key.`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"tavily-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "tavily-mcp@latest"],
"env": {
"TAVILY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
}
}
}
}
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1. Clone the repository:
bash
git clone https://github.com/tavily-ai/tavily-mcp.git
cd tavily-mcp
`2. Install dependencies:
bash
npm install
`3. Build the project:
bash
npm run build
`
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Follow the configuration steps outlined in the Configuring the Claude Desktop app section above, using the below JSON configuration.Replace
with your actual Tavily API key and /path/to/tavily-mcp with the actual path where you cloned the repository on your system.`json
{
"mcpServers": {
"tavily": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["/path/to/tavily-mcp/build/index.js"],
"env": {
"TAVILY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
}
}
}
}
``- Model Context Protocol for the MCP specification
- Anthropic for Claude Desktop