Google Search MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that performs comprehensive web searches using Google Custom Search JSON API with advanced content extraction using Mozilla's Readability algorithm.

Features

• Three Search Modes:
  • google_search - Fast snippet-only search for quick lookups
  • deep_search - Full content extraction with Readability algorithm
  • deep_search_news - News-optimized deep search
• Google Custom Search API - Uses official Google Custom Search JSON API
• Advanced Content Extraction - Uses Mozilla's Readability algorithm (same as Firefox Reader View) for clean article extraction
• Multiple Search Types - Web search, news search, and image search
• Domain Filtering - Include or exclude specific domains from results
• Retry Logic - Automatic retries with exponential backoff for reliability
• Controlled Concurrency - Fetches pages in batches to avoid overwhelming servers

Prerequisites

Get Google Custom Search API Credentials

1. Go to Google Cloud Console
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Enable the "Custom Search API"
4. Go to "Credentials" and create an API key
5. Go to Programmable Search Engine
6. Create a new search engine and get your Search Engine ID (CX)

You'll need:

• GOOGLE_API_KEY - Your Google Cloud API key
• GOOGLE_CX - Your Programmable Search Engine ID

Installation

Using npx (Recommended)

No installation needed - just configure your MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@thejusdutt/google-search-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "your-google-api-key",
        "GOOGLE_CX": "your-search-engine-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Global Installation

npm install -g @thejusdutt/google-search-mcp

Then configure:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "google-search-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "your-google-api-key",
        "GOOGLE_CX": "your-search-engine-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

google_search

Simple Google search for quick lookups. Returns snippets only without fetching full page content.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
query	string	required	The search query
num_results	number	10	Number of results (1-10)

Example:

// Quick search with snippets only
google_search({ query: "React hooks tutorial" })

deep_search

Comprehensive web search with full content extraction.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
query	string	required	The search query
num_results	number	10	Number of results (1-10)
max_content_per_page	number	50000	Max characters per page (5000-100000)
search_type	string	"web"	Search type: "web", "news", or "images"
include_domains	string	-	Comma-separated domains to include
exclude_domains	string	-	Comma-separated domains to exclude

Examples:

// Basic web search
deep_search({ query: "React best practices 2025" })

// News search
deep_search({ query: "AI announcements", search_type: "news" })

// Search specific sites only
deep_search({ 
  query: "TypeScript tips",
  include_domains: "github.com,dev.to"
})

// Exclude certain sites
deep_search({
  query: "web development trends",
  exclude_domains: "pinterest.com,facebook.com"
})

deep_search_news

Convenience wrapper for news search. Equivalent to calling deep_search with search_type: "news" and optimized content limits.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
query	string	required	The news topic to search
num_results	number	10	Number of articles (1-10)
max_content_per_page	number	30000	Max characters per article

Example:

deep_search_news({ query: "OpenAI latest updates" })

Configuration

Kiro

Add to ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@thejusdutt/google-search-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "your-google-api-key",
        "GOOGLE_CX": "your-search-engine-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@thejusdutt/google-search-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "your-google-api-key",
        "GOOGLE_CX": "your-search-engine-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

How It Works

1. Search - Queries Google Custom Search API to get top results
2. Fetch - Downloads each result page with retry logic
3. Extract - Uses Mozilla Readability to extract clean article content
4. Format - Returns consolidated markdown with full content from each page

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Google Cloud API key with Custom Search API enabled
• Programmable Search Engine ID (CX)

License

MIT

Author

thejusdutt

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome at GitHub