tavily_search
Search the web for current information on any topic. Use for news, facts, or data beyond your knowledge cutoff. Returns snippets and source URLs.
LABSCO SUMMARY
Domain restriction is the filter that turns a search tool into a research tool.
Most agent searches fail not because the answer is missing but because the top results are content marketing. Pinning a search to the domains you trust — a vendor's docs, a regulator, a handful of publications — changes what comes back more than any prompt tuning will. One caution: passing the key as a URL parameter puts a credential into config files and shell history; prefer the header or OAuth where your client supports it.
What it is
Tavily's own hosted endpoint for agent web research. Their search is built for retrieval by models rather than for human browsing, which shows in the filtering.
What you get
- tavily_search — live web search with filters, including restricting results to the domains you name
- tavily_extract — the content of one or more pages, as markdown or plain text
- tavily_crawl — crawl a site from a starting URL, with depth, breadth and plain-language instructions for what to collect
- tavily_map — list the URLs on a site, starting from a base URL
- tavily_research — research a question across several sources and return a detailed answer, up to 20 requests a minute
Requirements
- An API key from Tavily's console, or OAuth sign-in. Either one runs every tool.
- With no key, connect with the keyless header instead: tavily_search and tavily_extract run, free and rate-limited; tavily_crawl, tavily_map and tavily_research need a key or sign-in.
Setup effort
Paste a URL, then authorize — add the endpoint to your client, then approve the OAuth consent screen
USE CASES
01
Searching within sources you trust
Restrict to specific domains rather than filtering the noise afterwards.
02
Reading the page properly
Extraction that returns the content, not the chrome.
03
Covering a whole site
Map a site's URLs, then crawl the sections you need with plain-language instructions.
5 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
tavily_extract
Extract content from URLs. Returns raw page content in markdown or text format.
tavily_crawl
Crawl a website starting from a URL. Extracts content from pages with configurable depth and breadth.
tavily_map
Map a website's structure. Returns a list of URLs found starting from the base URL.
tavily_research
Perform comprehensive research on a given topic or question. Use this tool when you need to gather information from multiple sources, including web pages, documents, and other resources, to answer a question or complete a task. Returns a detailed response based on the research findings. Rate limit: 20 requests per minute.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
5 tools when we connected.
Requires
- an MCP client that can reach a remote endpoint
- OAuth, which the vendor recommends, or an API key as a URL parameter or bearer header
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 5 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Add the endpoint to your client, then approve the OAuth consent screen.
Server setup
ENDPOINT URL
https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/Requirements
- OAuth, which the vendor recommends, or an API key as a URL parameter or bearer header
MCP Clients
Claude Code — API key
CLAUDE CODE — API KEY · TERMINAL
claude mcp add --transport http tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY>Claude Code — OAuth
CLAUDE CODE — OAUTH · TERMINAL
claude mcp add --transport http tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcpClaude Code — all projects
CLAUDE CODE — ALL PROJECTS · TERMINAL
claude mcp add --transport http --scope user tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY>Cursor — API key
CURSOR — API KEY · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"tavily-remote-mcp": {
"command": "npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=<YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY>",
"env": {}
}
}
}Cursor — OAuth
CURSOR — OAUTH · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"tavily-remote-mcp": {
"command": "npx mcp-remote https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp",
"env": {}
}
}
}Claude Desktop — local, Cursor — local
JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"tavily-mcp": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"tavily-mcp@latest"
],
"env": {
"TAVILY_API_KEY": "<YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Claude Code — keyless
Connect to the Tavily Remote MCP with the keyless header.
CLAUDE CODE — KEYLESS · TERMINAL
claude mcp add tavily-remote-mcp --transport http https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/ \
--header "X-Tavily-Access-Mode: keyless"The header is required — without it the server asks your client to sign in. Clients that only accept a URL can't send it; use an API key with those.
