Free Search — Claude Code MCP server: search and install
Searches across engines, fetches page text, and reads documents. Use it when an agent needs web sources without a search API key.
claude mcp add --env SEARCH_MCP_PROXY=<SEARCH_MCP_PROXY> --env SEARCH_MCP_REGION=<SEARCH_MCP_REGION> --env SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR=<SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR> --transport stdio free-search -- uvx free-search-mcpWhat Free Search does
Free Search brings search and page fetching together. Its research tool returns source links with page text formatted as Markdown in a single call. Other tools search across engines, compare pages, and read PDFs, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, EPUB, and more.
The server includes 11 tools, including full-text search over previously fetched pages and metadata extraction. It requires uv to run, but no search API key. Chromium is needed only for browser-rendered engines and JavaScript-heavy pages, so those requests will not work without it.
What it helps with
- search several engines for pages on a question
- return source pages alongside search results
- read a PDF or DOCX for an agent's answer
- compare URLs against a specific question
- search pages fetched earlier
Example prompts for the agent
- Find sources on reciprocal rank fusion and make a brief with the page text.
- Read this PDF and answer a question using its contents.
- Compare these pages based on how they explain caching.
How to install Free Search
Platform CLI
claude mcp add --env SEARCH_MCP_PROXY=<SEARCH_MCP_PROXY> --env SEARCH_MCP_REGION=<SEARCH_MCP_REGION> --env SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR=<SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR> --transport stdio free-search -- uvx free-search-mcpReplace <…> with your own values. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from free-search-mcp <command>
Platform CLI
codex mcp add free-search --env SEARCH_MCP_PROXY=<SEARCH_MCP_PROXY> --env SEARCH_MCP_REGION=<SEARCH_MCP_REGION> --env SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR=<SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR> -- uvx free-search-mcpReplace <…> with your own values. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from free-search-mcp <command>
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"free-search": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"free-search-mcp"
],
"env": {
"SEARCH_MCP_PROXY": "<SEARCH_MCP_PROXY>",
"SEARCH_MCP_REGION": "<SEARCH_MCP_REGION>",
"SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR": "<SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from free-search-mcp <command>
Config file
{
"servers": {
"free-search": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"free-search-mcp"
],
"env": {
"SEARCH_MCP_PROXY": "<SEARCH_MCP_PROXY>",
"SEARCH_MCP_REGION": "<SEARCH_MCP_REGION>",
"SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR": "<SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from free-search-mcp <command>
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e SEARCH_MCP_PROXY=<SEARCH_MCP_PROXY> -e SEARCH_MCP_REGION=<SEARCH_MCP_REGION> -e SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR=<SEARCH_MCP_CACHE_DIR> free-search uvx free-search-mcpReplace <…> with your own values. uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from free-search-mcp <command>
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about Free Search
How do I install Free Search in Claude Code?
Add the server with claude mcp add free-search-mcp -e SEARCH_MCP_PROXY=<SEARCH_MCP_PROXY> -- uvx free-search-mcp. You need uv to run it.
What does Free Search do?
It searches across multiple engines, fetches pages, and reads documents. Its research tool combines a search with page retrieval and returns a Markdown brief.
Does Free Search require Chromium?
Chromium is needed for browser-rendered search engines and JavaScript-heavy pages. Other functions work without it.
