Tavily MCP Server

Remote MCP Server

Connect directly to Tavily's remote MCP server instead of running it locally. This provides a seamless experience without requiring local installation or configuration.

Simply use the remote MCP server URL with your Tavily API key:

Get your Tavily API key from tavily.com.

Alternatively, you can pass your API key through an Authorization header if the MCP client supports this:

Note: When using the remote MCP, you can specify default parameters for all requests by including a DEFAULT_PARAMETERS header containing a JSON object with your desired defaults. Example:

Connect to Claude Code

Claude Code is Anthropic's official CLI tool for Claude. You can add the Tavily MCP server using the claude mcp add command. There are two ways to authenticate:

Option 1: API Key in URL

Pass your API key directly in the URL. Replace <your-api-key> with your actual Tavily API key:

Option 2: OAuth Authentication Flow

Add the server without an API key in the URL:

After adding, you'll need to complete the authentication flow:

1. Run claude to start Claude Code
2. Type /mcp to open the MCP server management
3. Select the Tavily server and complete the authentication process

Tip: Add --scope user to either command to make the Tavily MCP server available globally across all your projects:

Once configured, you'll have access to the Tavily search, extract, map, and crawl tools.

Connect to Cursor

Click the ⬆️ Add to Cursor ⬆️ button, this will do most of the work for you but you will still need to edit the configuration to add your API-KEY. You can get a Tavily API key here.

once you click the button you should be redirect to Cursor ...

Step 1

Click the install button

Step 2

You should see the MCP is now installed, if the blue slide is not already turned on, manually turn it on. You also need to edit the configuration to include your own Tavily API key.

Step 3

You will then be redirected to your mcp.json file where you have to add your-api-key.

Remote MCP Server OAuth Flow

The Tavily Remote MCP server supports secure OAuth authentication, allowing you to connect and authorize seamlessly with compatible clients.

How to Set Up OAuth Authentication

A. Using MCP Inspector:

• Open the MCP Inspector and click "Open Auth Settings".
• Select the OAuth flow and complete these steps:
  1. Metadata discovery
  2. Client registration
  3. Preparing authorization
  4. Request authorization and obtain the authorization code
  5. Token request
  6. Authentication complete

Once finished, you will receive an access token that lets you securely make authenticated requests to the Tavily Remote MCP server.

B. Using other MCP Clients (Example: Cursor):

You can configure your MCP client to use OAuth without including your Tavily API key in the URL. For example, in your mcp.json:

If you need to clear stored OAuth credentials and reauthenticate, run:

Note:

• OAuth authentication is optional. You can still use API key authentication at any time by including your Tavily API key in the URL query parameter (?tavilyApiKey=...) or by setting it in the Authorization header, as described above.

Choosing an Account for OAuth

Each time you connect, Tavily asks whether to use your personal account or one of your organizations. To switch Tavily logins, choose Use a different account.

• Key used: the account's mcp_auth_default key. Tavily creates it if it doesn't exist.
• Organization keys: used even if another member created the key or your organization restricts key access.
• Personal accounts off: if an organization you belong to disables personal accounts, Personal isn't offered.
• Lost access: if you lose access to the account or its key is deleted, requests fail and ask you to reconnect. Tavily never switches accounts on its own.

Local MCP

Prerequisites 🔧

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• Tavily API key
  • If you don't have a Tavily API key, you can sign up for a free account here
• Claude Desktop or Cursor
• Node.js (v20 or higher)
  • You can verify your Node.js installation by running:
    • node --version
• Git installed (only needed if using Git installation method)
  • On macOS: brew install git
  • On Linux:
    • Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install git
    • RedHat/CentOS: sudo yum install git
  • On Windows: Download Git for Windows

Running with NPX

Default Parameters Configuration ⚙️

You can set default parameter values for the tavily-search tool using the DEFAULT_PARAMETERS environment variable. This allows you to configure default search behavior without specifying these parameters in every request.

Example Configuration

Example usage from Client

Identifying the End User (Optional)

You can optionally identify the end user on whose behalf requests are being made by setting the TAVILY_HUMAN_ID environment variable. When set, Tavily MCP forwards it as the X-Human-Id header on every API call, enabling per-user analytics.

This is entirely optional — leave it unset and behavior is unchanged.

Privacy note: Tavily hashes human_id server-side (SHA-256) before storage, so the raw value is never persisted. Even so, prefer opaque identifiers (e.g. an internal user ID) over raw PII like emails when possible.

Acknowledgments ✨

• Model Context Protocol for the MCP specification
• Anthropic for Claude Desktop