by Aas-ee · Aas-ee/open-webSearch
Multi-engine search behind one MCP — fall back across Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Brave when one rate-limits.
Open WebSearch aggregates several search engines under one MCP. Automatic fallback handles rate limits. Useful when a single engine isn't reliable enough for your agent.
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json{
"mcpServers": {
"open-web-search-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"open-websearch"
]
}
}
}Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.
{
"mcpServers": {
"open-web-search-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"open-websearch"
]
}
}
}Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.
{
"mcpServers": {
"open-web-search-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"open-websearch"
]
}
}
}Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".
{
"mcpServers": {
"open-web-search-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"open-websearch"
]
}
}
}Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.
{
"mcpServers": [
{
"name": "open-web-search-mcp",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"open-websearch"
]
}
]
}Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.
{
"context_servers": {
"open-web-search-mcp": {
"command": {
"path": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"open-websearch"
]
}
}
}
}Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.
claude mcp add open-web-search-mcp -- npx -y open-websearchOne-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.
When to use: Your research agent gets rate-limited on a single engine.
Outcome: No single-engine bottleneck for research workflows.
Search here, deep-crawl with Firecrawl
| Tool | Inputs | When to call | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| search | (see docs) | Multi-engine search | 1 call |
| fetch | (see docs) | Pull a result page as markdown | 1 call |
scrape with hostile UA stringsAll engines rate-limitWait and retry; or add an API-key engine like Brave Search API
| Alternative | When to use it instead | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| exa-mcp | You want LLM-tuned search | Paid above free tier |