How do I install Tavily?

Copy the stdio config for Cursor, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or VS Code on this page. It uses the publisher's install, not a PlugMCP proxy.

Does Tavily need an API key?

No required environment variable is listed on this record.

What transport does Tavily use?

Tavily runs locally over stdio.

When was Tavily last checked?

Last checked 2026-11-11. MCP server for advanced web search using Tavily

Tavily MCP sunucusu

Power your agent

Bu sunucuyu ekle

The publisher's own command. Not a PlugMCP endpoint.

Add to Cursor Add to VS Code PlugMCP’de çalıştır

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Local command

npx -y [email protected]

Claude Code has no install link for a local command. Copy the command below and run it in a terminal.

shClaude Code

1claude mcp add tavily-mcp -- npx -y tavily-mcp@0.2.22

Run in a terminal.

jsonClaude Desktop

1{2  "mcpServers": {3    "tavily-mcp": {4      "command": "npx",5      "args": [6        "-y",7        "[email protected]"8      ]9    }10  }11}

claude_desktop_config.json

Local · npmPublisher installStep-by-step: add this in Claude

Remote URL or a command on your machine? How the two installs differ

PlugMCP’de çalıştır

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

A new server you create. It is not this listing's official endpoint. Use the publisher install when you want their URL and their credentials.

Başlat

Server facts

Local

Transport: stdio
Version: 0.2.22
Last checked

Tools

No tool list yet. Remote servers get one after the first health check.

FAQ

Questions

Tavily MCP Server

The Tavily MCP server provides:

search, extract, map, crawl tools
Real-time web search capabilities through the tavily-search tool
Intelligent data extraction from web pages via the tavily-extract tool
Powerful web mapping tool that creates a structured map of website
Web crawler that systematically explores websites

📚 Helpful Resources

Tutorial on combining Tavily MCP with Neo4j MCP server
Tutorial on integrating Tavily MCP with Cline in VS Code

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:

https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<your-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:

Authorization: Bearer <your-api-key>

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:

{"include_images":true, "search_depth": "basic", "max_results": 10}

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:

claude mcp add --transport http tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<your-api-key>

Option 2: OAuth Authentication Flow

Add the server without an API key in the URL:

claude mcp add --transport http tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp

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

Run claude to start Claude Code
Type /mcp to open the MCP server management
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:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<your-api-key>

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.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily-remote-mcp": {
      "command": "npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<your-api-key>",
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

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:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily-remote-mcp": {
      "command": "npx mcp-remote https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp",
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

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

rm -rf ~/.mcp-auth

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.

Selecting Which API Key Is Used for OAuth

After successful OAuth authentication, you can control which API key is used by naming it mcp_auth_default:

If you set a key named mcp_auth_default in your personal account, that key will be used for the auth flow.
If you are part of a team that has a key named mcp_auth_default, that key will be used for the auth flow.
If you have both a personal key and a team key named mcp_auth_default, the personal key will be prioritized.
If no mcp_auth_default key is set, the default key in your personal account will be used. If no default key is set, the first available key will be used.

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

npx -y tavily-mcp@latest

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

export DEFAULT_PARAMETERS='{"include_images": true}'

Example usage from Client

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "tavily-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "TAVILY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "DEFAULT_PARAMETERS": "{\"include_images\": true, \"max_results\": 15, \"search_depth\": \"advanced\"}"
      }
    }
  }
}

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.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "tavily-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "TAVILY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "TAVILY_HUMAN_ID": "your-user-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

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

Bu sunucuyu ekle

Host a copy with our keys and logs.

Server facts

Tools

Questions

How do I install Tavily?

Does Tavily need an API key?

What transport does Tavily use?

When was Tavily last checked?

Documentation

Tavily MCP Server

📚 Helpful Resources

Remote MCP Server

Connect to Claude Code

Option 1: API Key in URL

Option 2: OAuth Authentication Flow

Connect to Cursor

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Remote MCP Server OAuth Flow

How to Set Up OAuth Authentication

Selecting Which API Key Is Used for OAuth

Local MCP

Prerequisites 🔧

Running with NPX

Default Parameters Configuration ⚙️

Example Configuration

Example usage from Client

Identifying the End User (Optional)

Acknowledgments ✨