Tavily Cursor MCP Server

A custom Tavily MCP server with underscore-named tools for Cursor compatibility.

Why This Exists

The official Tavily MCP server uses hyphenated tool names (tavily-search, tavily-extract) which Cursor's CallMcpTool interface doesn't properly recognize. This custom server uses underscore naming (tavily_search, tavily_extract) to work seamlessly with Cursor.

Features

• ✅ tavily_search - Web search with Tavily API
• ✅ tavily_extract - Extract clean content from URLs
• ✅ tavily_search_qna - Direct question answering
• ✅ tavily_search_context - Generate context for RAG applications

Installation

Option 1: Local Installation (Recommended)

1. Clone or download this directory to your local machine

2. Install dependencies:

   cd tavily-cursor-mcp
   npm install
   

3. Make the script executable (Mac/Linux):

   chmod +x index.js
   

4. Add to your Cursor mcp.json:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "tavily_cursor": {
         "command": "node",
         "args": ["/absolute/path/to/tavily-cursor-mcp/index.js"],
         "env": {
           "TAVILY_API_KEY": "your-tavily-api-key-here"
         }
       }
     }
   }
   

   Important: Replace /absolute/path/to/tavily-cursor-mcp/ with the actual full path to this directory.

Option 2: NPM Global Installation

1. Install globally:

   cd tavily-cursor-mcp
   npm install -g .
   

2. Add to your Cursor mcp.json:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "tavily_cursor": {
         "command": "tavily-cursor-mcp",
         "env": {
           "TAVILY_API_KEY": "your-tavily-api-key-here"
         }
       }
     }
   }
   

Configuration

Cursor MCP Configuration Location

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\mcp.json
• Mac: ~/.cursor/mcp.json or workspace .cursor/mcp.json
• Linux: ~/.cursor/mcp.json or workspace .cursor/mcp.json

Get Your Tavily API Key

1. Go to https://tavily.com
2. Sign up or log in
3. Get your API key from the dashboard
4. Replace your-tavily-api-key-here in the config with your actual key

Usage in Cursor

After installation and configuration, restart Cursor completely. Then use in Agent mode:

Use tavily_search to find the latest AI developments

Use tavily_extract to get the content from https://example.com

Use tavily_search_qna to answer: What is the capital of France?

Available Tools

tavily_search

Search the web using Tavily API.

Parameters:

• query (required): Search query
• search_depth: "basic" or "advanced" (default: "basic")
• topic: "general" or "news" (default: "general")
• days: Number of days back for news search (default: 3)
• max_results: Max results to return (default: 5, max: 20)
• include_images: Include images (default: false)
• include_answer: Include AI-generated answer (default: false)
• include_raw_content: Include raw HTML (default: false)

tavily_extract

Extract clean content from URLs.

Parameters:

• urls (required): Array of URLs to extract from

tavily_search_qna

Get direct answers to questions.

Parameters:

• query (required): The question to answer
• search_depth: "basic" or "advanced" (default: "basic")

tavily_search_context

Generate context for RAG applications.

Parameters:

• query (required): Search query
• search_depth: "basic" or "advanced" (default: "basic")
• max_results: Max results (default: 5)

Troubleshooting

Tools not showing up in Cursor

1. Make sure you've completely quit and restarted Cursor (not just closed the window)
2. Verify the path in mcp.json is correct and absolute
3. Check that Node.js is installed: node --version (should be >= 18.0.0)
4. Verify your Tavily API key is correct

"TAVILY_API_KEY environment variable is required" error

Make sure your API key is set in the env section of your mcp.json configuration.

Tools discovered but not usable

This was the original problem! This server fixes it by using underscores instead of hyphens in tool names.

Testing

You can test the server directly:

TAVILY_API_KEY=your-key-here node index.js

Then use the MCP Inspector or send MCP protocol messages via stdin.

License

MIT