DuckDuckGo Search MCP server

The DuckDuckGo Search MCP is a privacy-friendly server implementation of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) that enables web search and URL content extraction. It provides AI assistants with the ability to search the web and extract content from websites without requiring API keys.

Quick Start

You can instantly run the MCP server using npx without installation:

npx -y @oevortex/ddg_search

This downloads and runs the server directly - perfect for quick use with AI assistants.

Installation Options

Global Installation

npm install -g @oevortex/ddg_search

After installing globally, you can run it using:

ddg-search-mcp

Local Installation

git clone https://github.com/OEvortex/ddg_search.git
cd ddg_search
npm install
npm start

Command Line Options

You can view available command-line options by running:

npx -y @oevortex/ddg_search --help

To check which version you're running:

npx -y @oevortex/ddg_search --version

Using with MCP Clients

The most common way to use this tool is by integrating it with MCP-compatible AI assistants.

Add the server to your MCP client configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ddg-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@oevortex/ddg_search"]
    }
  }
}

Or if installed globally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ddg-search": {
      "command": "ddg-search-mcp"
    }
  }
}

After configuring, restart your MCP client to apply the changes.

Available Tools

Web Search Tool

This tool allows you to search the web using DuckDuckGo.

• Tool name: web-search
• Parameters:
  • query (string, required): The search query
  • page (integer, optional, default: 1): Page number
  • numResults (integer, optional, default: 10): Number of results (1-20)

Example use case: Search the web for "climate change solutions"

Fetch URL Tool

This tool extracts content from a specified URL.

• Tool name: fetch-url
• Parameters:
  • url (string, required): The URL to fetch
  • maxLength (integer, optional, default: 10000): Max content length
  • extractMainContent (boolean, optional, default: true): Extract main content
  • includeLinks (boolean, optional, default: true): Include link text
  • includeImages (boolean, optional, default: true): Include image alt text
  • excludeTags (array, optional): Tags to exclude

Example use case: Fetch the content from "https://example.com"

URL Metadata Tool

This tool extracts metadata from a specified URL.

• Tool name: url-metadata
• Parameters:
  • url (string, required): The URL to extract metadata from

Example use case: Get metadata for "https://example.com"

Features

• Web search using DuckDuckGo HTML
• URL content extraction with smart filtering
• URL metadata extraction (title, description, images)
• Performance optimized with caching
• Security features including rate limiting and rotating user agents
• MCP-compliant server implementation
• No API keys required - works out of the box

Unlike many search tools, this package performs actual web scraping rather than using limited APIs, giving you more comprehensive results.

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.