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

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

How do I install Web Retrieval MCP or Intercept 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 Web Retrieval MCP and Intercept MCP free or paid?

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

Which MCP server has more tools and community activity?

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

Can I use both Web Retrieval MCP and Intercept 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

Web Retrieval MCP vs Intercept MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the Web Retrieval MCP and Intercept 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

Web Retrieval MCP

Search & Data Extraction · Local stdio

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

Intercept MCP

Search & Data Extraction · Local stdio

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

Verdict Summary: Choose Web Retrieval MCP if you need specialized Search & Data Extraction tools running via a local process. Choose Intercept 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 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.

Explore Web Retrieval MCP Details

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.

Feature & Specification Comparison

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

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Web Retrieval MCP Tools (2)

web_search

Neural web search via Exa. One block per result — each with its own title, URL, published date, highlights, and text — plus a `Sources` list. `mode` ∈ `auto` \

web_fetch

One URL's readable content through the tier chain, with a `[served by: …]` provenance header.

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

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).

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"
      }
    }
  }
}

Intercept MCP Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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