Jina AI MCP server

The Jina AI MCP Server provides access to powerful web services through Claude, offering web page reading, web search, and fact checking capabilities. It serves as a bridge between Claude and Jina AI's comprehensive web services ecosystem.

Installation

Prerequisites

You'll need a Jina AI API key to use this server. Get one for free at https://jina.ai/

Installation Methods

Via Smithery (Easiest)

To install Jina AI for Claude Desktop automatically:

npx -y @smithery/cli install jina-ai-mcp-server --client claude

Via NPX (Recommended)

Add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jina-ai-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "jina-ai-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "JINA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Local Installation

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Build the server:

npm run build

4. Add this configuration to your Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jina-ai-mcp-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/jina-ai-mcp-server/dist/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "JINA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Config File Location

On MacOS:

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

On Windows:

%APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Usage

The Jina AI MCP Server provides three main tools that can be used with Claude:

Web Page Reading

The read_webpage tool extracts content from web pages and formats it for optimal use by Claude. Available options include:

• Formats: Default, Markdown, HTML, Text, Screenshot, Pageshot
• Inclusion options: Links, images, alt text generation
• Cache control

Example usage in Claude:

I'd like to read the content from https://example.com in markdown format with images included.

Web Search

The search_web tool allows Claude to search the web using Jina AI's search API:

• Configure number of results (default: 5)
• Control image retention and alt text generation
• Choose return formats (markdown, text, html)

Example usage in Claude:

Search the web for information about quantum computing advances in 2023.

Fact Checking

The fact_check tool grounds statements using Jina AI's verification engine:

• Provides factuality scores
• Delivers supporting evidence
• Optional deep-dive mode for thorough analysis
• Returns references with key quotes and supportive/contradictory classification

Example usage in Claude:

Can you fact check this statement: "The first human heart transplant was performed in 1967."

Debugging

Since MCP servers communicate over stdio, debugging can be challenging. You can use the MCP Inspector:

npm run inspector

This provides a URL to access debugging tools in your browser, helping you troubleshoot any issues with the server.

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 "jina-ai-mcp-server" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","jina-ai-mcp-server"],"env":{"JINA_API_KEY":"<YOUR_KEY>"}}'

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": {
        "jina-ai-mcp-server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "jina-ai-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "JINA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_KEY>"
            }
        }
    }
}

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": {
        "jina-ai-mcp-server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "jina-ai-mcp-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "JINA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_KEY>"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect