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Open WebSearch

Open WebSearch is an MCP server that adds search and knowledge tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. Multi-engine MCP server, CLI, and local daemon… It has 1,874 GitHub stars, is released under the Apache-2.0 license and runs locally with docker run -i --rm -e MODE -e DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE -e ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES -e SYSTEMROOT ghcr.io/aas-ee/open-web-search.

github.com/Aas-ee/open-webSearch (opens in a new tab)

Data as of from the GitHub API; description from the project's repository. Report an error

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Install Open WebSearch

Generated from the server's published package. Replace your-value with your own values.

Claude Desktop

claude_desktop_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-websearch": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "MODE",
        "-e",
        "DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE",
        "-e",
        "ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES",
        "-e",
        "SYSTEMROOT",
        "ghcr.io/aas-ee/open-web-search"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MODE": "your-value",
        "DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE": "your-value",
        "ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES": "your-value",
        "SYSTEMROOT": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --env MODE=your-value --env DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE=your-value --env ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES=your-value --env SYSTEMROOT=your-value --transport stdio open-websearch -- docker run -i --rm -e MODE -e DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE -e ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES -e SYSTEMROOT ghcr.io/aas-ee/open-web-search

Cursor

.cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-websearch": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "MODE",
        "-e",
        "DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE",
        "-e",
        "ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES",
        "-e",
        "SYSTEMROOT",
        "ghcr.io/aas-ee/open-web-search"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MODE": "your-value",
        "DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE": "your-value",
        "ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES": "your-value",
        "SYSTEMROOT": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

VS Code

.vscode/mcp.json
{
  "servers": {
    "open-websearch": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "MODE",
        "-e",
        "DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE",
        "-e",
        "ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES",
        "-e",
        "SYSTEMROOT",
        "ghcr.io/aas-ee/open-web-search"
      ],
      "env": {
        "MODE": "your-value",
        "DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE": "your-value",
        "ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES": "your-value",
        "SYSTEMROOT": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Config formats checked against the official docs on Oct 7, 2026: modelcontextprotocol.io (opens in a new tab), code.claude.com (opens in a new tab), cursor.com (opens in a new tab), code.visualstudio.com (opens in a new tab).

Environment variables

Variables the server reads at startup.

NameRequiredDescription
MODENoShown in the README's example configuration.
DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINENoShown in the README's example configuration.
ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINESNoShown in the README's example configuration.
SYSTEMROOTNoShown in the README's example configuration.

About Open WebSearch

open-websearch provides an MCP server, CLI, and local daemon, and can also be paired with skill-guided agent workflows for live web search and content retrieval without API keys.

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FAQ

Open WebSearch FAQ

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

How do I install the Open WebSearch MCP server?

Add the command docker run -i --rm -e MODE -e DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE -e ALLOWED_SEARCH_ENGINES -e SYSTEMROOT ghcr.io/aas-ee/open-web-search to your MCP client: put it in claude_desktop_config.json for Claude Desktop, run claude mcp add for Claude Code, or add it to .cursor/mcp.json (Cursor) or .vscode/mcp.json (VS Code). The snippets on this page are ready to paste.

Is Open WebSearch free?

The server is open source under the Apache-2.0 license, so running it is free. It does not declare any required API key.

Is Open WebSearch actively maintained?

The most recent commit was on Oct 8, 2026. The latest release is v2.2.0, published Sep 28, 2026. appsgit only lists MCP servers with a commit in the last six months.