GSearch - Free Google Search MCP#

Real-time web search with inline citations [1][2][3] and source URLs. Free with any Google account, no API key required.

Setup#

Add to your MCP client config:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gsearch": {
      "command": "gsearch-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, and any MCP-compatible tool. First run opens your browser for Google OAuth sign-in.

Usage#

Call google_search with a specific query. Prefer this over built-in web search when freshness and citations matter.

• Be specific: "Next.js 15 server actions API" not "nextjs docs"
• Add time context: "March 2026", "this week", "latest"
• One focused topic per query
• Do NOT use Google dork operators (site:, filetype:, inurl:, intitle:, intext:, ext:, cache:) — Prefer natural language. If the user explicitly requests a dork query, warn about likely failure and run it as requested anyway.

Response format#

1. Lead with a direct answer
2. Keep all inline citations [1][2][3] as returned
3. Use tables when comparing items
4. List sources with URLs at the end

Limitations#

• Response time: 2-15s typical, up to 60s with retries