What is the key difference between Web Retrieval MCP and MCP Local Rag?

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

How do I install Web Retrieval MCP or MCP Local Rag 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 MCP Local Rag free or paid?

Web Retrieval MCP operates under a BYOK (Pay Provider Direct) model (API Key required). MCP Local Rag 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. MCP Local Rag lists 5 tools with 2 views and 134 GitHub stars.

Can I use both Web Retrieval MCP and MCP Local Rag 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 MCP Local Rag

In-depth architectural comparison of the Web Retrieval MCP and MCP Local Rag 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

MCP Local Rag

Search & Data Extraction · Local stdio

Quality: 69/100 (Great) | Auth: No auth required

Verdict Summary: Choose Web Retrieval MCP if you need specialized Search & Data Extraction tools running via a local process. Choose MCP Local Rag 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 MCP Local Rag 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: rag_search_ddgs, rag_search_google, deep_research.

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Web Retrieval MCP Search & Data Extraction	MCP Local Rag nkapila6 Search & Data Extraction
Summary	MCP web search + tiered web fetch for AI agents (Exa, Firecrawl), SSRF-guarded, cross-platform.	"primitive" RAG-like web search model context protocol (MCP) server that runs locally. No APIs needed.
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.

MCP Local Rag Tools (5)

rag_search_ddgs

Search the web for a given query using DuckDuckGo. Returns context to the LLM with RAG-like similarity scoring to prioritize the most relevant results. This tool fetches web search results, scores them by semantic similarity to the query using text embeddings, and returns the top-ranked content as markdown text.

rag_search_google

Search on Google for a given query using ddgs. Give back context to the LLM with a RAG-like similarity sort.

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"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP Local Rag Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nkapila6-mcp-local-rag": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--python=3.10",
        "--from",
        "git+https://github.com/nkapila6/mcp-local-rag",
        "mcp-local-rag"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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