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TL;DR

Tavily is a Search MCP server that lets Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf and any MCP-compatible AI agent aI-optimized web search and extraction. Install in 1 minute with mcpizy install tavily.

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Tavily

Install verified 4 tools

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Last updated September 4, 2026 · By MCPizy team

AI-optimized web search and extraction

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Repo audit: 90/100 — actively maintained, documented and licensed

Scored on licence, adoption, maintenance and documentation of tavily-ai/tavily-mcp. We show the grade whether it flatters the server or not.

last commit 3 days ago · 2,349 stars · MIT licence · 47 open issues

Read the full audit on CheckMCP

Install Tavily

Via MCPizy CLI (recommended):
mcpizy install tavily
Or run directly:
npx -y tavily-mcp
View on GitHub

Tools exposed

4 tools available
tavily_search

AI-optimised web search with citations

Inputs

  • querystringrequired
  • max_resultsnumberoptional
tavily_extract

Extract content from one or more URLs

Inputs

  • urlsstring[]required
tavily_crawl

Crawl a website and return structured content

Inputs

  • urlstringrequired
tavily_map

Return the site map of a URL

Inputs

  • urlstringrequired

Configuration

Works identically across clients. Only the config file path differs.

Claude Code~/.claude.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "tavily-mcp@latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TAVILY_API_KEY": "tvly-..."
      }
    }
  }
}
Cursor.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "tavily-mcp@latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TAVILY_API_KEY": "tvly-..."
      }
    }
  }
}
Windsurf~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "tavily-mcp@latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TAVILY_API_KEY": "tvly-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Authentication setup

  1. 1

    Create an API key in the Tavily dashboard (free tier available)

    Get it TAVILY_API_KEY

What you can do with Tavily MCP

Paste any of these prompts into Claude Code, Cursor or another MCP-compatible client.

“Search the web for 'latest iPhone 17 release date' and give me 3 sources”

Uses: tavily_search

“Extract the full text of these 5 research papers”

Uses: tavily_extract

“Map the structure of docs.anthropic.com”

Uses: tavily_map

Works with

Claude Code
Claude Desktop
Cursor
Windsurf
VS Code + Copilot
Any MCP Client

More Search MCPs

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DuckDuckGo

Privacy-first web search engine

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Kagi Search

Search the web using Kagi's premium, ad-free search API. High-quality results without tracking.

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Inkeep

RAG search over your documentation and content. AI-powered knowledge base.

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Search1API

One API for search, crawling, and sitemaps. Unified web intelligence.

Alternatives to Tavily

If Tavily doesn't fit your stack, these Search MCP servers solve similar problems.

🔎

Exa

Neural search API for semantic web search

🦁

Brave Search

Web search via Brave Search API

🔎

Serper

Google Search API for structured results

Frequently asked questions

What is the Tavily MCP server?

Tavily is listed as an Search Model Context Protocol server whose documented purpose is to let an MCP-compatible agent aI-optimized web search and extraction. Client support, permissions and authentication remain specific to the upstream project.

How do I install Tavily MCP with Claude Code?

The fastest way is the MCPizy CLI: run `mcpizy install tavily` and MCPizy will add the server to your `.claude.json` automatically. You can also install it manually by adding an entry under `mcpServers` in `.claude.json` with the command `npx -y tavily-mcp` and restarting Claude Code.

Does MCPizy charge to view or install Tavily MCP?

No. Reading this profile and copying its install guidance is free. Upstream software, API, account or usage costs are separate, and licence coverage should be checked from the linked source when available.

Does Tavily MCP work with Cursor and Windsurf?

The MCP standard is supported by those clients, but a specific server can still have client-specific setup or transport limits. Use the configuration shown on this page when present and verify the upstream instructions before installation.

What can I do with Tavily MCP?

Its documented purpose is to let an MCP-compatible agent aI-optimized web search and extraction. The exact tools, permissions and write capabilities depend on the server version and configuration shown by the upstream project.

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