Google-Research-MCP

A standalone Windows MCP server that gives Claude Google search and web research capabilities, powered by SerpAPI. It ships as a single self-contained .exe — no Node.js, no npm install, no external runtime.

Tools

The binary also bundles six research skills and one research agent that Claude can invoke automatically. These are installed into your ~/.claude directory by init (see Skills and agents).

Requirements

• A SerpAPI account and API key (free tier: 100 searches/month)
• Windows 10/11 (64-bit)
• No other runtime required

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Installation

Option A — Use the pre-built .exe

1. Download google-research-mcp.exe from the releases page, or take it from the binary-release/ folder in this repository.
2. Place it somewhere permanent, e.g. C:\Tools\google-research-mcp.exe.
3. Continue to Configuration below.

Option B — Build from source

You need the Rust toolchain installed.

git clone https://github.com/mixelpixx/Google-Research-MCP.git
cd Google-Research-MCP
cargo build --release
# Output: target\release\google-research-mcp.exe
#         target\release\google-research-mcp-tray.exe  (optional HTTP/autostart helper)

The exe is self-contained — copy it wherever you like. The tray binary is only needed if you use the background HTTP service (see HTTP mode).

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Getting a SerpAPI key

1. Go to serpapi.com and create a free account.
2. Copy your API key from the dashboard.
3. The free plan includes 100 searches/month.

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Configuration

The server reads its key from the SERPAPI_KEY environment variable. Pass it in the env block of your MCP client config — this keeps the key out of system-wide environment variables.

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

Located at %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-research": {
      "command": "C:\\Tools\\google-research-mcp.exe",
      "env": {
        "SERPAPI_KEY": "your_serpapi_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving. The tools should appear in the tools panel.

Claude Code

Add the same block to your project’s .claude/settings.json, or to %APPDATA%\Claude\settings.json to make it available in every project.

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CLI subcommands

Run these from cmd or PowerShell:

The server also re-installs the bundled skills on first launch as a safety net, so they stay current even if you forget to re-run init after updating the exe.

GUI installer

Double-clicking google-research-mcp.exe from File Explorer opens a native install dialog. Paste your SerpAPI key, optionally enable the background HTTP service, and click Install. This writes the skills and agent, saves your key to the config file, and (if enabled) registers the HTTP service to start on login. The background service runs as a separate windows-subsystem binary, google-research-mcp-tray.exe, which must sit next to the main exe.

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Environment variables

* If SERPAPI_KEY is not set, the server falls back to the key stored in the config file (see below). One of the two must be present.

Config file

When you install the HTTP service (via the GUI or service install), your key and port are saved to:

%USERPROFILE%\.google-research-mcp\config.toml

This file is used when the server is launched by Windows autostart, where no env block is available. The key is stored in plaintext, so if that is a concern, prefer passing the key through your client’s env block and skip the HTTP service. uninstall does not delete this file — remove it manually if you want to wipe the saved key.

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HTTP mode

For HTTP-based MCP clients (for example LM Studio), run the server with the HTTP transport:

$env:SERPAPI_KEY = "your_key"
$env:MCP_TRANSPORT = "http"
$env:PORT = "3030"
.\google-research-mcp.exe

The endpoint is then available at http://localhost:3030/mcp:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-research": {
      "url": "http://localhost:3030/mcp"
    }
  }
}

For an always-on background service with autostart, use service install instead of running the exe manually. See binary-release/HTTP_SETUP.md for the full walkthrough.

Security note

The HTTP transport binds to 0.0.0.0 (all network interfaces) and the /mcp endpoint is not authenticated. Anyone who can reach the port can call the tools and consume your SerpAPI quota. Only enable HTTP mode on a trusted network or behind a firewall that restricts the port to localhost. The default stdio mode (used by Claude Desktop and Claude Code) is not network-exposed and is unaffected.

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Skills and agents

init (and the GUI installer) write these into your ~/.claude directory. Claude invokes them automatically based on your intent; you can also call a skill explicitly with /skill-name.

Skills (~/.claude/skills):

Agent (~/.claude/agents):

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Tool reference

google_search

Search Google and return ranked, quality-scored results.

extract_webpage_content

Fetch a URL and extract clean readable content, stripping navigation, ads, and boilerplate.

Returns: title, description, word count, summary, and content in the requested format.

extract_multiple_webpages

Extract content from up to 5 URLs concurrently.

Returns a summary (title, URL, word count, excerpt) for each URL.

research_topic

Searches for sources, extracts their content, and returns a structured synthesis prompt for Claude to analyze. No external AI API is called — the synthesis is performed by Claude itself.

Depth guide:

• basic — 3 sources, short overview
• intermediate — 5 sources, key findings and themes
• advanced — 8–10 sources, contradictions and recommendations

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Troubleshooting

“SERPAPI_KEY is required” The exe isn’t receiving the key. Confirm SERPAPI_KEY is set in the env block of your MCP config (not only as a system environment variable), or that the config file contains it.

“SerpAPI HTTP 401” The key is invalid or expired. Verify it at serpapi.com/manage-api-key.

“SerpAPI HTTP 429” You have hit the plan’s rate limit. The free plan allows 100 searches/month.

Tool calls time out Some MCP clients use a short per-tool-call timeout. SerpAPI usually responds in 1–2 seconds but can spike higher. Set the per-tool-call timeout to at least 30 seconds. Run google-research-mcp.exe diagnose to measure a live call.

Tools don’t appear in Claude Restart Claude Desktop/Code after editing the config. Check the JSON is valid (no trailing commas, use \\ for path separators on Windows).

Extraction returns little content Some sites block automated requests. Try format: "text", or use google_search snippets instead.

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Building for distribution

cargo build --release

The resulting target\release\google-research-mcp.exe is fully self-contained — no DLL dependencies beyond standard Windows system libraries. Copy it to any Windows 10/11 machine and run it directly. Build google-research-mcp-tray.exe alongside it if you need the background HTTP service.