What is the key difference between Intercept MCP and Web Retrieval MCP?

Intercept MCP belongs to the Search & Data Extraction category with local stdio execution, while Web Retrieval MCP belongs to the Search & Data Extraction category with local stdio execution.

How do I install Intercept MCP or Web Retrieval MCP in Claude Desktop or Cursor?

Copy the mcpServers JSON configuration snippet provided on this page into your claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json file and restart your AI client.

Are Intercept MCP and Web Retrieval MCP free or paid?

Intercept MCP operates under a Free / Open Source model (No auth required). Web Retrieval MCP operates under a BYOK (Pay Provider Direct) model (API Key required).

Which MCP server has more tools and community activity?

Intercept MCP lists 5 tools with 3 views and 9 GitHub stars. Web Retrieval MCP lists 2 tools with 3 views and 1 GitHub stars.

Can I use both Intercept MCP and Web Retrieval MCP together in the same MCP host?

Yes! MCP hosts like Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and VS Code support configuring multiple servers under the mcpServers object simultaneously.

Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison

Intercept MCP vs Web Retrieval MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the Intercept MCP and Web Retrieval MCP MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

At a Glance & Executive Verdict

Intercept MCP

Search & Data Extraction · Local stdio

Quality: 63/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required

Web Retrieval MCP

Search & Data Extraction · Local stdio

Quality: 53/100 (Good) | Auth: API Key required

Verdict Summary: Choose Intercept MCP if you need specialized Search & Data Extraction tools running via a local process. Choose Web Retrieval MCP if your workspace requires Search & Data Extraction integration with local subprocess execution. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Intercept MCP when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
Primary tools included: fetch, fetch_batch, research.

Explore Intercept MCP Details

Choose Web Retrieval MCP when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: API Key required (BYOK (Pay Provider Direct)).
You have access to required keys: EXA_API_KEY, FIRECRAWL_API_KEY, TAVILY_API_KEY.
Primary tools included: web_search, web_fetch.

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Intercept MCP bighippoman Search & Data Extraction	Web Retrieval MCP Search & Data Extraction
Summary	Multi-tier fallback chain for fetching web content as clean markdown. Handles tweets, YouTube, arXiv, PDFs, and regular pages with 9 fallback strategies.	MCP web search + tiered web fetch for AI agents (Exa, Firecrawl), SSRF-guarded, cross-platform.
Category & Scope	Search & Data Extraction

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Intercept MCP Tools (5)

fetch

Fetch a URL and return its content as clean markdown. Handles Twitter/X tweets, YouTube videos (with transcripts), arXiv papers, PDFs, Wikipedia articles, and GitHub repos/files/issues/PRs/releases directly. Direct image URLs (png/jpeg/gif/webp) are returned as an image block for vision. Otherwise checks a shared cache, then falls back through a multi-tier chain: Jina Reader, web archives (Wayback, archive.ph, Arquivo.pt), raw fetch, RSS, CrossRef, Semantic Scholar, HackerNews, Reddit, OG meta. Long pages are truncated at maxLength characters — paginate with startIndex. Results are cached for the session; pass noCache to force a live fetch.

fetch_batch

Fetch up to 10 URLs in parallel and return each as clean markdown. Same handler/fallback chain as the fetch tool, with a smaller per-URL length budget. Use after a search to pull several sources in one call.

research

Search the web and fetch the content of the top results in one call. Returns the full content of each result as markdown, ready to summarize or compare. Use this instead of separate search + fetch calls when researching a topic.

Search the web and return results. Uses Brave Search API if BRAVE_API_KEY is set, otherwise falls back to SearXNG and then DuckDuckGo. Supports domain filtering (site), freshness, and pagination (page).

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

Intercept MCP Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bighippoman-intercept-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "intercept-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Web Retrieval MCP Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "web-retrieval-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "web-retrieval-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "YOUR_EXA_API_KEY_HERE",
        "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "YOUR_FIRECRAWL_API_KEY_HERE",
        "TAVILY_API_KEY": "YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Intercept MCP is categorized under Search & Data Extraction and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Web Retrieval MCP belongs to Search & Data Extraction using local stdio subprocess. Select Intercept MCP when you need capabilities focused on search & data extraction and Web Retrieval MCP when you require tools for search & data extraction.

More alternatives to Intercept MCP More alternatives to Web Retrieval MCP Search & Data Extraction category hub