Bright Data MCP server

Bright Data MCP allows AI agents to access and extract real-time web data without getting blocked. It integrates with MCP-compatible AI assistants to enable web searching, website navigation, and data retrieval for various scraping tasks.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (to use the npx command)

Setting Up with Claude Desktop

1. Install Node.js from the official website if you don't already have it

2. Configure Claude by navigating to Settings > Developer > Edit Config > claude_desktop_config.json and add the following:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Bright Data": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@brightdata/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "API_TOKEN": "<insert-your-api-token-here>",
        "WEB_UNLOCKER_ZONE": "<optional if you want to override the default mcp_unlocker zone name>",
        "BROWSER_AUTH": "<optional if you want to enable remote browser control tools>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Account Setup

1. Create an account on brightdata.com (new users receive free testing credit)

2. Get your API key from the user settings page

3. (Optional) For more control, create a custom Web Unlocker zone in your control panel and specify it with the WEB_UNLOCKER_ZONE environment variable

4. (Optional) To enable browser control tools:

   • Create a new 'Browser API' zone in your Bright Data control panel
   • Copy the authentication string from the Browser API overview tab (format: brd-customer-[your-customer-ID]-zone-[your-zone-ID]:[your-password])
   • Add this string as the BROWSER_AUTH environment variable

Usage

Using with Other MCP Clients

For non-Claude MCP clients, adapt the following to your specific software:

• Run the MCP server with: npx @brightdata/mcp
• Ensure the environment variable API_TOKEN=<your-token> is set when running the server

Example Queries

Bright Data MCP can help with queries like:

• "Google some movies that are releasing soon in [your area]"
• "What's Tesla's current market cap?"
• "What's the Wikipedia article of the day?"
• "What's the 7-day weather forecast in [your location]?"
• "Of the 3 highest paid tech CEOs, how long have their careers been?"

Security Best Practices

Always treat scraped web content as untrusted data:

• Never use raw scraped content directly in LLM prompts to avoid prompt injection risks
• Filter and validate all web data before processing
• Use structured data extraction rather than raw text

Troubleshooting

Timeouts when using certain tools

Some web data tools may require longer loading times. Set a high enough timeout in your agent settings (180 seconds is recommended for most requests).

"spawn npx ENOENT" Error

If your system cannot find the npx command:

1. Find your Node.js path:

   • macOS: Use which node (shows path like /usr/local/bin/node)
   • Windows: Use where node (shows path like C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe)

2. Update your MCP configuration by replacing the npx command with the full path to Node:

"command": "/usr/local/bin/node"

Online Playground

To try Bright Data MCP without local setup, visit the playground on Smithery.

How to add this MCP server to 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 > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

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

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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 explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.