Lens vs BrowserAI Dev
A side-by-side look at the Lens and BrowserAI Dev MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
L
LensResearch · Remote HTTP/SSECreate shareable AI lens pages that answer questions from a person's own material, with citations.39FairAuth: no auth requiredVerdict: choose Lens for research work over a hosted endpoint; choose BrowserAI Dev 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?
LChoose Lens when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- You prefer a remote HTTP/SSE transport.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
Choose BrowserAI Dev when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Search & Data Extraction domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You have the keys it needs:
LASTSEARCH_API_KEY. - You want tools like
search, open, extract.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | L Lens | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research | Search & Data Extraction |
| Quality signal | 39/100 · Fair | 64/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Remote HTTP/SSE | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | API key required |
| Pricing | Not declared | Freemium |
| Required env vars | None listed | LASTSEARCH_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | — | 20 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 4 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | 13 |
| Full listing | View Lens | View BrowserAI Dev |
Tools & capabilities
Lens tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
BrowserAI Dev tools 13
searchSearch the web for information on any topicopenFetch and parse a web page into clean textextractExtract structured claims from a pageanswerFull pipeline: search + extract + cite. `depth`: `"fast"`, `"thorough"`, or `"deep"compareCompare raw LLM vs evidence-backed answerclarityAnti-hallucination answer engine — three modes: prompt (prompts only), answer (LLM), verified (LLM + web fusion)session_createCreate a research session (persistent memory)session_askResearch within a session (recalls prior knowledge)session_recallQuery session knowledge without new web searchsession_shareShare a session publicly (returns share URL)session_knowledgeExport all claims from a sessionsession_forkFork a shared session to continue the research- +1 more on the listing page
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.
Lens
{
"mcpServers": {
"lens": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"lens"
]
}
}
}
BrowserAI Dev
{
"mcpServers": {
"browseai-hq-browserai-dev": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"lastsearch"
],
"env": {
"LASTSEARCH_API_KEY": "YOUR_LASTSEARCH_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Lens is categorized under Research and uses a remote HTTP/SSE transport. BrowserAI Dev belongs to Search & Data Extraction and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Lens for research work and BrowserAI Dev 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.
Lens has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Auth: no auth required. BrowserAI Dev is listed as freemium — a free tier with paid plans. Auth: api key required. 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 lens and browseai-hq-browserai-dev as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Lens has a quality signal of 39/100 (Fair) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. BrowserAI Dev has 64/100 (Good) with 4 views, 0 installs and 20 GitHub stars.