Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison
Agent Search MCP vs MCP Server Tavily
In-depth architectural comparison of the Agent Search MCP and MCP Server Tavily 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
Agent Search MCP
Search & Data Extraction · Local stdio
Quality: 68/100 (Great) | Auth: No auth required
MCP Server Tavily
Search & Data Extraction · Remote HTTP/SSE
Quality: 40/100 (Fair) | Auth: API Key required
Verdict Summary: Choose Agent Search MCP if you need specialized Search & Data Extraction tools running via a local process. Choose MCP Server Tavily if your workspace requires Search & Data Extraction integration with remote web transport. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's
mcpServers manifest.Which MCP Server Should You Choose?
Choose Agent Search 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: free_search, free_search_advanced, free_extract.
Choose MCP Server Tavily when:
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
- You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
- Your security boundary fits: API Key required (BYOK (Pay Provider Direct)).
- You have access to required keys:
TAVILY_API_KEY. - Primary tools included: Tavily-backed web search, Required query argument, Basic or advanced search depth.
Feature & Specification Comparison
Tools & Capabilities Breakdown
Agent Search MCP Tools (7)
free_search
Quick 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_advanced
Verification-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_extract
Extract 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.
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).
Agent Search MCP Configuration
MCP Server Tavily Configuration
Frequently Asked Questions
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