# Web Researcher MCP An MCP server for web search and link verification: your agent searches the whole web or a trusted list of sites and cites real sources. - MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed · ★ 70 - Author: zoharbabin - License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author - Source: https://github.com/zoharbabin/web-researcher-mcp - Updated: 2026-10-22 - HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/web-researcher-mcp ## What it does Web Researcher MCP plugs into your agent as an MCP server and exposes search and citation-checking tools. You can search the entire web or narrow it to specific sites — medical journals, court databases, news outlets, academic papers. It reads the full source instead of a snippet, so the links in the answer work. Installation runs through Docker: the container `ghcr.io/zoharbabin/web-researcher-mcp:1.50.3` starts with `GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY`, `GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID`, `SEARCH_PROVIDER`, `SEARCH_ROUTING` and `BRAVE_API_KEY`. Search works over DuckDuckGo without keys, but `image_search` and `news_search` need one. There is also a Python SDK with a `WebResearcherClient`, sync and async. No Docker on the machine means the server will not start: the connect commands for Claude, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot and Gemini CLI all wrap `docker run`. The ready-made Cursor and GitHub Copilot configs go into the MCP settings file by hand. ## Requirements - Needs: Docker - Environment variables: `GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY`, `GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID`, `SEARCH_PROVIDER`, `SEARCH_ROUTING`, `BRAVE_API_KEY`, `SERPER_API_KEY`, `SEARCHAPI_API_KEY`, `SEARXNG_URL`, `TAVILY_API_KEY`, `EXA_API_KEY` — keys and tokens: ask the human for the values, never commit them or put them in shared files. ## Install ### Claude Code (native platform) **Platform CLI** ```bash claude mcp add --env GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY= --env GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID= --env SEARCH_PROVIDER= --env SEARCH_ROUTING= --env BRAVE_API_KEY= --transport stdio web-researcher-mcp -- docker run -i --rm -e GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY -e GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID -e SEARCH_PROVIDER -e SEARCH_ROUTING -e BRAVE_API_KEY ghcr.io/zoharbabin/web-researcher-mcp:1.50.3 ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 9 more environment variables are in the server README ### Codex **Platform CLI** ```bash codex mcp add web-researcher-mcp --env GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY= --env GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID= --env SEARCH_PROVIDER= --env SEARCH_ROUTING= --env BRAVE_API_KEY= -- docker run -i --rm -e GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY -e GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID -e SEARCH_PROVIDER -e SEARCH_ROUTING -e BRAVE_API_KEY ghcr.io/zoharbabin/web-researcher-mcp:1.50.3 ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 9 more environment variables are in the server README ### Cursor **Config file** File `.cursor/mcp.json`: ```json { "mcpServers": { "web-researcher-mcp": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY", "-e", "GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID", "-e", "SEARCH_PROVIDER", "-e", "SEARCH_ROUTING", "-e", "BRAVE_API_KEY", "ghcr.io/zoharbabin/web-researcher-mcp:1.50.3" ], "env": { "GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY": "", "GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID": "", "SEARCH_PROVIDER": "", "SEARCH_ROUTING": "", "BRAVE_API_KEY": "" } } } } ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 9 more environment variables are in the server README ### GitHub Copilot **Config file** File `.vscode/mcp.json`: ```json { "servers": { "web-researcher-mcp": { "type": "stdio", "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "-i", "--rm", "-e", "GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY", "-e", "GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID", "-e", "SEARCH_PROVIDER", "-e", "SEARCH_ROUTING", "-e", "BRAVE_API_KEY", "ghcr.io/zoharbabin/web-researcher-mcp:1.50.3" ], "env": { "GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY": "", "GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID": "", "SEARCH_PROVIDER": "", "SEARCH_ROUTING": "", "BRAVE_API_KEY": "" } } } } ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 9 more environment variables are in the server README ### Gemini CLI **Platform CLI** ```bash gemini mcp add -e GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY= -e GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID= -e SEARCH_PROVIDER= -e SEARCH_ROUTING= -e BRAVE_API_KEY= web-researcher-mcp docker run -i --rm -e GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_API_KEY -e GOOGLE_CUSTOM_SEARCH_ID -e SEARCH_PROVIDER -e SEARCH_ROUTING -e BRAVE_API_KEY ghcr.io/zoharbabin/web-researcher-mcp:1.50.3 ``` Replace <…> with your own values. 9 more environment variables are in the server README ## When to use it - find sources on a narrow topic without invented links - restrict a search to trusted sites instead of the whole web - check that a cited URL actually exists - pull data out of academic papers and court databases - run image and news search from code via the Python SDK ## Example prompts - Find recent papers on CRISPR off-target effects and give me the source links - Search only medical journals for what is known about this drug - Verify that every link in this report is live ## Similar - [Scrapling MCP Server](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/scrapling-mcp-server.md) — MCP server · ★ 89433 - [browser-use](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/browser-use.md) — MCP server · ★ 119160 - [AIHawk](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/aihawk.md) — MCP server · ★ 32221 - [Skyvern](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/skyvern.md) — MCP server · ★ 23263 - [SeleniumBase MCP](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/seleniumbase-mcp.md) — MCP server · ★ 13169 - [apify-mcp-server](https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/apify-mcp-server.md) — MCP server · ★ 12927 --- NeVibeCode on affpapa.org. 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