Google Search MCP

Overview

Google Search MCP provides access to Google Custom Search API, enabling AI agents to perform web searches and retrieve relevant results. It's ideal for research, fact-checking, and gathering current information from the web.

Features

• Web Search: Search the web for relevant results with customizable query parameters
• Site-specific Search: Restrict searches to specific domains or websites
• Result Filtering: Filter by date, language, and other criteria
• Rich Results: Get titles, snippets, URLs, and metadata for each result
• Pagination: Retrieve multiple pages of results for comprehensive searches

Installation

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-google-search

Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-google-search"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
        "GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID": "your-search-engine-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Getting API Credentials

1. Google Custom Search API Key: Google Cloud Console
2. Search Engine ID: Create a custom search engine at Programmable Search Engine

Available Tools

Tool	Description
search	Search the web with a query
search_site	Search within a specific site
search_with_params	Advanced search with filters

Usage Examples

Basic Web Search

Search for: "best AI agent frameworks 2025"

Site-specific Search

Search on GitHub for: "LangGraph examples"

Advanced Search

Search with filters:
- Query: "CrewAI documentation"
- Date range: past year
- Language: English
- Safe search: moderate

Claude Desktop Setup

1. Install the MCP server
2. Add configuration to claude_desktop_config.json
3. Restart Claude Desktop
4. The Google Search tool will appear in your available tools

Pros

• ✅ Official Google search results
• ✅ Site-specific search capability
• ✅ Fine-grained control over search parameters
• ✅ Well-documented API
• ✅ Works with any website

Cons

• ❌ Requires paid Google Cloud project for high volume
• ❌ 100 queries/day free tier limit
• ❌ Configuration requires two API credentials
• ❌ Results may include ads

Resources

• Google Custom Search API
• MCP Server Source