Google Custom Search MCP server

This MCP Google Custom Search Server provides web search capabilities for Language Learning Models (LLMs) through Google's Custom Search API. It implements the Model Context Protocol standard, allowing compatible LLM clients to perform web searches via a consistent interface.

Prerequisites

Before setting up the server, you need:

1. A Google Cloud Project with Custom Search API enabled

   • Visit Google Cloud Console
   • Enable the Custom Search API
   • Create API credentials

2. A Custom Search Engine ID

   • Visit Programmable Search Engine
   • Create a new search engine
   • Get your Search Engine ID

3. Local development requirements:

   • Node.js (v18 or higher)
   • npm (comes with Node.js)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/limklister/mcp-google-custom-search-server.git
   cd mcp-google-custom-search-server
   

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Create a .env file:

   GOOGLE_API_KEY=your-api-key
   GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID=your-search-engine-id
   

4. Build the server:

   npm run build
   

5. Start the server:

   npm start
   

Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Required
GOOGLE_API_KEY	Your Google Custom Search API key	Yes
GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID	Your Custom Search Engine ID	Yes

Claude Desktop Integration

Add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config file (typically located at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/to/mcp-google-custom-search-server/build/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
        "GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID": "your-search-engine-id"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using the Server

Available Tools

search

Performs a web search using Google Custom Search API.

Parameters:

• query (string, required): The search query to execute
• numResults (number, optional): Number of results to return
  • Default: 5
  • Maximum: 10

Example Response:

Result 1:
Title: Example Search Result
URL: https://example.com
Description: This is an example search result description
---

Result 2:
...

Testing the Server

1. Using MCP Inspector:

   npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node build/index.js
   

2. Manual testing with example queries:

   # After starting the server
   {"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"callTool","params":{"name":"search","arguments":{"query":"example search"}}}
   

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "google-search" '{"command":"node","args":["/absolute/path/to/mcp-google-custom-search-server/build/index.js"],"env":{"GOOGLE_API_KEY":"your-api-key","GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID":"your-search-engine-id"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "google-search": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/absolute/path/to/mcp-google-custom-search-server/build/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
                "GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID": "your-search-engine-id"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "google-search": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/absolute/path/to/mcp-google-custom-search-server/build/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "GOOGLE_API_KEY": "your-api-key",
                "GOOGLE_SEARCH_ENGINE_ID": "your-search-engine-id"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect