Web Search

What the pskill9/web-search MCP server does

The pskill9/web-search MCP server exposes web search through Google’s search result pages. It is intended for agents that need to find web resources, inspect search results, or gather starting points for further research without an external search API account.

Search responses are structured records with three fields: a result title, its URL, and an available description. The server provides one MCP tool, search, rather than a broader browser-control interface. It does not require an API key or other authentication.

How it works

An MCP client sends a text query to the search tool. The tool also accepts an optional limit value that controls how many results are returned. Five results are returned by default, and the supported maximum is ten.

The pskill9/web-search MCP server obtains its data by scraping Google’s HTML response. That approach avoids a paid search API, but it also makes behavior dependent on Google’s page structure and request policies. Search results may have incomplete descriptions or other missing metadata, and advanced search operators may not behave consistently.

Setup and configuration

Install the project dependencies with npm, compile the source, and then configure the built Node.js entry point as an MCP server. The documented sequence is:

1. Clone or download the repository.
2. Run npm install.
3. Run npm run build.
4. Point the MCP client at build/index.js using the node command.

The README provides configurations for Claude Desktop and the VSCode Claude Dev Extension. Because the configuration uses a local file path to the compiled entry point, that path must be set to the location where the project was built. No credential or environment variable is listed for configuration.

Tools and capabilities

The pskill9/web-search MCP server exposes the following tool:

• search: Accepts a required query string and an optional numeric limit. It returns search results with titles, URLs, and descriptions.

Example inputs include a query alone or a query with a limit such as 3. Values above the documented maximum of ten are not supported by the stated interface.

Limitations and notes

Google may temporarily block requests when searches are made too frequently. Applications using the pskill9/web-search MCP server should keep request rates reasonable, avoid unnecessarily high result limits, and consider adding delays between searches.

Results are not guaranteed to be complete or stable. Google can change its HTML structure, which may affect extraction, and some pages may not provide all expected metadata. The README also notes that complex search operators may not work as expected.

The project is described for personal use. Implementers should consider Google’s terms of service and add suitable request throttling for their application.