Google Research MCP Server

Google-Research-MCP

A standalone Windows MCP server that gives Claude Google search and web research capabilities, powered by SerpAPI. It ships as a single self-contained .exe — no Node.js, no npm install, no external runtime.

Tools

Tool	Description
google_search	Search Google and get quality-scored results with authority ratings
extract_webpage_content	Extract clean readable content from any URL
extract_multiple_webpages	Extract up to 5 URLs concurrently
research_topic	Multi-source research that returns a structured synthesis prompt

The binary also bundles six research skills and one research agent that Claude can invoke automatically. These are installed into your ~/.claude directory by init (see Skills and agents).

Requirements

• A SerpAPI account and API key (free tier: 100 searches/month)
• Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
• No other runtime required

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Installation

Option A — Use the pre-built .exe

1. Download google-research-mcp.exe from the releases page, or take it from the binary-release/ folder in this repository.
2. Place it somewhere permanent, e.g. C:\Tools\google-research-mcp.exe.
3. Continue to Configuration below.

Option B — Build from source

You need the Rust toolchain installed.

git clone https://github.com/mixelpixx/Google-Research-MCP.git
cd Google-Research-MCP
cargo build --release
# Output: target\release\google-research-mcp.exe
#         target\release\google-research-mcp-tray.exe  (optional HTTP/autostart helper)

The exe is self-contained — copy it wherever you like. The tray binary is only needed if you use the background HTTP service (see HTTP mode).

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Getting a SerpAPI key

1. Go to serpapi.com and create a free account.
2. Copy your API key from the dashboard.
3. The free plan includes 100 searches/month.

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Configuration

The server reads its key from the SERPAPI_KEY environment variable. Pass it in the env block of your MCP client config — this keeps the key out of system-wide environment variables.

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

Located at %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-research": {
      "command": "C:\\Tools\\google-research-mcp.exe",
      "env": {
        "SERPAPI_KEY": "your_serpapi_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving. The tools should appear in the tools panel.

Claude Code

Add the same block to your project's .claude/settings.json, or to %APPDATA%\Claude\settings.json to make it available in every project.

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CLI subcommands

Run these from cmd or PowerShell:

Command	Description
(none)	Starts the MCP server when launched by a client; opens the GUI installer when double-clicked from Explorer; prints help when run in a terminal
init	Install the skills and agent into ~/.claude/skills and ~/.claude/agents
uninstall	Remove the installed skills and agent
status	Show install status
diagnose	Self-test: makes one live SerpAPI request and reports timing
service install	Save the key, register HTTP autostart, and start the background server
service uninstall	Remove the autostart registration
service status	Show config, autostart, and port state
service start	Spawn the background HTTP server now (no autostart)
skill <name>	Print a skill's markdown to stdout
--version	Show version
--help	Show usage

The server also re-installs the bundled skills on first launch as a safety net, so they stay current even if you forget to re-run init after updating the exe.

GUI installer

Double-clicking google-research-mcp.exe from File Explorer opens a native install dialog. Paste your SerpAPI key, optionally enable the background HTTP service, and click Install. This writes the skills and agent, saves your key to the config file, and (if enabled) registers the HTTP service to start on login. The background service runs as a separate windows-subsystem binary, google-research-mcp-tray.exe, which must sit next to the main exe.

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Environment variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
SERPAPI_KEY	Yes*	—	Your SerpAPI key
MCP_TRANSPORT	No	stdio	Transport mode: stdio or http
PORT	No	3030	HTTP server port (used only when MCP_TRANSPORT=http)

* If SERPAPI_KEY is not set, the server falls back to the key stored in the config file (see below). One of the two must be present.

Config file

When you install the HTTP service (via the GUI or service install), your key and port are saved to:

%USERPROFILE%\.google-research-mcp\config.toml

This file is used when the server is launched by Windows autostart, where no env block is available. The key is stored in plaintext, so if that is a concern, prefer passing the key through your client's env block and skip the HTTP service. uninstall does not delete this file — remove it manually if you want to wipe the saved key.

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HTTP mode

For HTTP-based MCP clients (for example LM Studio), run the server with the HTTP transport:

$env:SERPAPI_KEY = "your_key"
$env:MCP_TRANSPORT = "http"
$env:PORT = "3030"
.\google-research-mcp.exe

The endpoint is then available at http://localhost:3030/mcp:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-research": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3030/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For an always-on background service with autostart, use service install instead of running the exe manually. See binary-release/HTTP_SETUP.md for the full walkthrough.

Security note

The HTTP transport binds to 0.0.0.0 (all network interfaces) and the /mcp endpoint is not authenticated. Anyone who can reach the port can call the tools and consume your SerpAPI quota. Only enable HTTP mode on a trusted network or behind a firewall that restricts the port to localhost. The default stdio mode (used by Claude Desktop and Claude Code) is not network-exposed and is unaffected.

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Skills and agents

init (and the GUI installer) write these into your ~/.claude directory. Claude invokes them automatically based on your intent; you can also call a skill explicitly with /skill-name.

Skills (~/.claude/skills):

Skill	Purpose
deep-research	Multi-source research with structured synthesis
fact-check	Verify a claim against multiple authoritative sources
find-docs	Locate official documentation and API references
news-monitor	Track recent news and developments on a topic
competitive-analysis	Research competitors and market landscape
cite-sources	Format citations and references

Agent (~/.claude/agents):

Agent	Purpose
deep-research-agent	Runs a heavy research task in an isolated context and returns only a summary, keeping the main conversation clean

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Tool reference

google_search

Search Google and return ranked, quality-scored results.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
query	string	Yes	The search query
num_results	number	No	Number of results (default 5, max 10)
site	string	No	Restrict to a domain, e.g. wikipedia.org
language	string	No	ISO 639-1 code, e.g. en, fr, de
date_restrict	string	No	d7 (7 days), w2 (2 weeks), m6 (6 months), y1 (1 year)
exact_terms	string	No	Phrase that must appear in results
result_type	string	No	news, image, or video (default: web)
page	number	No	Page number, 1-based (default 1)
results_per_page	number	No	Results per page (default 5, max 10)
sort	string	No	relevance (default) or date

extract_webpage_content

Fetch a URL and extract clean readable content, stripping navigation, ads, and boilerplate.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
url	string	Yes	Full URL (must start with http:// or https://)
format	string	No	markdown (default), html, or text
full_content	boolean	No	Return full content (true) or a 500-character preview (false, default)
max_length	number	No	Maximum character length to return

Returns: title, description, word count, summary, and content in the requested format.

extract_multiple_webpages

Extract content from up to 5 URLs concurrently.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
urls	string[]	Yes	Array of URLs (max 5)
format	string	No	markdown (default), html, or text

Returns a summary (title, URL, word count, excerpt) for each URL.

research_topic

Searches for sources, extracts their content, and returns a structured synthesis prompt for Claude to analyze. No external AI API is called — the synthesis is performed by Claude itself.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
topic	string	Yes	The topic to research
depth	string	No	basic, intermediate (default), or advanced
num_sources	number	No	Number of sources to consult (1–10, default 5)
focus_areas	string[]	No	Specific subtopics, e.g. ["performance", "security"]

Depth guide:

• basic — 3 sources, short overview
• intermediate — 5 sources, key findings and themes
• advanced — 8–10 sources, contradictions and recommendations

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Troubleshooting

"SERPAPI_KEY is required" The exe isn't receiving the key. Confirm SERPAPI_KEY is set in the env block of your MCP config (not only as a system environment variable), or that the config file contains it.

"SerpAPI HTTP 401" The key is invalid or expired. Verify it at serpapi.com/manage-api-key.

"SerpAPI HTTP 429" You have hit the plan's rate limit. The free plan allows 100 searches/month.

Tool calls time out Some MCP clients use a short per-tool-call timeout. SerpAPI usually responds in 1–2 seconds but can spike higher. Set the per-tool-call timeout to at least 30 seconds. Run google-research-mcp.exe diagnose to measure a live call.

Tools don't appear in Claude Restart Claude Desktop/Code after editing the config. Check the JSON is valid (no trailing commas, use \\ for path separators on Windows).

Extraction returns little content Some sites block automated requests. Try format: "text", or use google_search snippets instead.

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Building for distribution

cargo build --release

The resulting target\release\google-research-mcp.exe is fully self-contained — no DLL dependencies beyond standard Windows system libraries. Copy it to any Windows 10/11 machine and run it directly. Build google-research-mcp-tray.exe alongside it if you need the background HTTP service.