Search1API MCP Server

Official

Web search, news, crawling, sitemaps, and trends in one MCP server.

How to install ↓ Compare GitHub source repository ↗

Category: Dev Tools #26 of 438
Stars: ★ 173 Very popular
Transport: stdio (local process) · Streamable HTTP
Runtime: Node.js 20+ · Hosted (no local runtime)
Credentials: API key / credential required
License: MIT
Last commit: 1 day ago
Tools: 5

67FMRS · C

Search1API MCP server is officially maintained, feature-rich with search, news, crawl, sitemap, and trending tools. It offers both remote and local modes with flexible authentication, but users should be mindful of API key security and associated costs.

Strongest · Maintenance 16/20 Weakest · Reliability 10/20

Reliability

10/20

Security and permissions

12/20

Maintenance

16/20

Documentation

15/20

Setup experience

14/20

Why each score

Reliability 10/20: Static review: README declares support for stdio and HTTP transport, with a clear list of tools and parameters. However, there is no verifiable execution evidence (such as CI workflows or test files) in the repository, so we cannot confirm that the server correctly completes the initialization and tool-list handshake. Scoring is based on consistency between code and docs, but lack of tests and CI limits the score to 12; actual score is 10.
Security and permissions 12/20: Credentials are handled via SEARCH1API_KEY environment variable or OAuth, but the README suggests using a URL query parameter as a legacy method, which could expose credentials (though warned). The server has MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS and MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS for controlling network access, but least privilege is not explicit. No malicious behavior or severe risks found, but credential handling has risks, hence 12.
Maintenance 16/20: Repository has MIT license, clear version history, and frequent releases and updates. No evidence of commit frequency or issue response, but version history and license indicate sustained maintenance. Score 16.
Documentation 15/20: README provides detailed installation, authentication, tool parameters, and examples, but lacks troubleshooting and cost information. Docs are consistent with repository declarations, but no rate limits or error handling are mentioned. Score 15.
Setup experience 14/20: Both remote and local installation methods are provided, with configuration examples for mainstream clients (Claude Desktop, VS Code, etc.). Local mode requires Node.js and API key, steps are clear. But platform compatibility details are missing, and remote mode may rely on OAuth flow. Score 14.

Static review · not runListed 2026-08-07

Read the FMRS scoring method →

Fit and risk

What it can accessUses the network

Best for

Developers who need reliable, high-quality search capabilities
AI applications requiring multiple search functions with easy integration
Remote MCP scenarios where OAuth simplifies authentication

Not for

Users who need fully offline or external-API-free operation
Scenarios where searching private data or keeping data local is required
High-volume crawling due to extra credit costs per crawl

Required permissions

Requires Search1API API key (local) or OAuth authorization (remote)
Remote mode trusts mcp.search1api.com and localhost by default; self-hosted deployments can configure MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS and MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS
Search and crawl actions may consume API credits

Risks and side effects

API key leakage: passing key via URL query parameter can expose it in logs; prefer OAuth or Authorization header
Network dependency: remote mode requires access to mcp.search1api.com
Data privacy: search queries and crawled content are sent to third-party API
Rate limits and costs: high-frequency requests may incur charges or be throttled

Setup

Before you start

Runtime：Node.js 20+ · Hosted (no local runtime)

SEARCH1API_KEY requiredsecret Search1API API key, required for local stdio mode; get it from dashboard.search1api.com.

Other optional settings (2)

MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS optional Comma-separated hostnames allowed to reach a self-hosted HTTP deployment; mcp.search1api.com and localhost are allowed by default.

MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS optional Comma-separated trusted browser Origin hostnames for self-hosted HTTP deployments; only needed for browser-based clients.

Remote mode: configure your MCP client with URL https://mcp.search1api.com/mcp and use OAuth or Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>. Local mode: run npx -y search1api-mcp with SEARCH1API_KEY environment variable. See README for client-specific configs.

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "search1api": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "search1api-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SEARCH1API_KEY": "YOUR_SEARCH1API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Shown for Claude Desktop. Other clients may use a different file or key (VS Code uses "servers") — the configurator below converts it.

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "search1api": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "search1api-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SEARCH1API_KEY": "YOUR_SEARCH1API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Goes in your project's .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code uses a "servers" key).

Terminal

claude mcp add search1api -e SEARCH1API_KEY=YOUR_SEARCH1API_KEY -- npx -y search1api-mcp

Run it in a terminal; replace any <…> placeholders with your own values first.

Generate and validate client config

Check that it works

After connecting, the client's tool list should show search, news, crawl, sitemap, and trending; calling search with a simple query confirms the connection works.

Troubleshooting

Verify SEARCH1API_KEY is set and valid. Check network connectivity. For self-hosted HTTP, ensure MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS includes the required hosts, and browser clients need MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS configured. Inspect MCP client logs for detailed errors.

Things to try

Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant things like:

Search the web for the latest AI agent news in 2025 and give me 10 results
Find trending repositories on GitHub right now
Crawl the full content of https://github.com/superagents-lab/search1api-mcp
Get the sitemap of https://www.search1api.com

Tools 5

search read-only

Perform web searches using Search1API, with customizable search engines, result count, crawling top results, site filters, and time range.

news read-only

Search for news articles from multiple sources, with options for result count, crawling, site filters, and time range.

crawl read-only

Extract content from a given URL.

sitemap read-only

Get all related links from a URL (sitemap discovery).

Use cases

AI assistants needing up-to-date web search results

Fetching latest news updates

Deep crawling web pages for full content

Quickly discovering website structure or related links

Tracking trending topics

Supported clients

Claude Desktop

Claude.ai

Cursor

VS Code

Claude Code

Windsurf

Listed from the project's documentation, not tested by this site.

Overview

The official MCP server for Search1API, providing web search, news search, page crawling, sitemap discovery, and trending topics. Supports remote MCP via Streamable HTTP with OAuth 2.1 or API key authentication, and local stdio mode requiring a SEARCH1API_KEY.

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Source revision 9c159f7acad1 Data synced 2026-10-11 Read the FMRS scoring method