Agent Search MCP vs Search1API
A side-by-side look at the Agent Search MCP and Search1API MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Agent Search MCP for search & data extraction work as a local process; choose Search1API for search & data extraction as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Agent Search MCP when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You want tools like
free_search, free_search_advanced, free_extract.
Choose Search1API when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You have the keys it needs:
SEARCH1API_KEY. - You want tools like
search, news, crawl.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Search & Data Extraction | Search & Data Extraction |
| Quality signal | 67/100 · Great | 68/100 · Great |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | Not declared |
| Pricing | Free | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | SEARCH1API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 112 | 173 |
| Directory activity | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 7 | 7 |
| Full listing | View Agent Search MCP | View Search1API |
Tools & capabilities
Agent Search MCP tools 7
free_searchQuick public-web search for current facts and discovery. Use free_search_advanced for verification or domain filters. Use free_extract for one selected URL. Returns compact multi-source evidence with confidence, relevance, source_count, stop_reason, evidence_budget, and partialFailures. Provider families are counted once even when several adapters use the same upstream. Optional API providers run only when credentials and policy allow. @readOnly true @idempotent true — makes outbound HTTP requests to configured search engines. Injection detection and SSRF protection active.free_search_advancedVerification-oriented search with domain filters and waterfall fallback. Use for claim checking, Chinese-source search, or publisher restrictions. Start with free_search for quick discovery. The response exposes source_count, stop_reason, evidence_budget, and partialFailures. @readOnly true @idempotent true — runs waterfall progressive search across policy-allowed engines. Makes outbound HTTP requests to search engines and optionally to Jina Reader for content enrichment.free_extractExtract one selected URL into clean Markdown. Use after search when snippets are insufficient, or for a URL supplied by the user. It fetches one page; it does not search or bulk-extract URLs. Behavior: Makes an outbound HTTP request to Jina Reader (r.jina.ai) which fetches and converts the page to markdown. Has SSRF protection: blocks private IPs, localhost, and metadata endpoints. 10s request timeout — pages exceeding this will fail with a timeout error. HTTP errors (4xx, 5xx) are returned as structured error responses.fetch_github_readmeFetch README content from a GitHub repository. Best for: Getting project documentation quickly. Not recommended for: Non-GitHub URLs — use free_extract instead. @readOnly true @idempotent true — makes outbound HTTP requests to raw.githubusercontent.com.fetch_csdn_articleFetch content from a CSDN blog article. Best for: Chinese developer blog content on CSDN. Not recommended for: Other Chinese sites — use free_extract instead. @readOnly true @idempotent true — makes outbound HTTP requests to the CSDN article URL.fetch_juejin_articleFetch content from a Juejin article. Best for: Chinese developer articles on Juejin. Not recommended for: Non-Juejin content — use free_extract instead. @readOnly true @idempotent true — makes outbound HTTP requests to juejin.cn API.search_with_synthesisOpt-in deep search with waterfall verification and content enrichment. Returns structured results plus a prompt_hint; it does not call an external LLM. Use when multi-source evidence needs a synthesis handoff. free_search is the default for discovery; this path uses more tokens and network time. @readOnly true @idempotent true — runs waterfall search across free+paid engines with content enrichment.
Search1API tools 7
searchSearch the live public web when the user needs current information, sources, or research. Returns citable results with id, title, URL, and text. Each result includes a URL that can be read in full.newsSearch current news when the user asks about recent events, announcements, or coverage. Returns citable article results with title, URL, snippet, and optional extracted text.crawlExtract the readable title and full text from a public URL supplied by the user or returned by search.sitemapDiscover related public links from a page or domain when the user wants to explore a site's structure or available pages.trendingList currently trending repositories or stories from GitHub or Hacker News when the user asks what is popular now.askDescribe what you are looking for in natural language when you do not know which source to search. Search1API picks up to five engines (web, Hacker News, Reddit, GitHub, X, arXiv, Wikipedia, and more), infers a time window from phrases such as "this week", and returns at most 10 relevant results ranked by relevance. Costs 5 credits; use search when you already know the engine.render_resultsPresent already retrieved source results as source cards when the host supports UI, with a complete readable text list otherwise. Use when the user wants to browse sources or a visual list helps the task. Pass existing results in the desired order; never invent source URLs or factual titles. Does not search, crawl, fetch URLs, verify sources, or consume search credits. Do not call for intermediate research results or when a text answer is sufficient.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Agent Search MCP
{
"mcpServers": {
"lennney-agent-search-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"agent-search-mcp"
]
}
}
}
Search1API
{
"mcpServers": {
"search1api": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"search1api-mcp"
],
"env": {
"SEARCH1API_KEY": "YOUR_SEARCH1API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Agent Search MCP is categorized under Search & Data Extraction and uses a local stdio subprocess. Search1API belongs to Search & Data Extraction and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Agent Search MCP for search & data extraction work and Search1API for search & data extraction.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Agent Search MCP is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. Search1API has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add lennney-agent-search-mcp and search1api as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Agent Search MCP has a quality signal of 67/100 (Great) with 4 views, 0 installs and 112 GitHub stars. Search1API has 68/100 (Great) with 1 views, 0 installs and 173 GitHub stars.