Tavily MCP

When to choose Tavily MCP

Connect to Tavily MCP

Choose a connection profile below and replace credential placeholders in your own MCP client. The transport describes the MCP connection.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "X-Tavily-Access-Mode": "keyless"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Choose an account scope, then search and read

A suggested sequence using the documented tools. Check the connected server's tool schema before making a call.

1. Save one access profile

   Add the chosen profile to Cursor and reconnect. For keyless access, confirm the X-Tavily-Access-Mode header is present. For account use, confirm the key or complete OAuth.

   Tools: tavily_search

   Sources: Tavily keyless access, Tavily remote MCP and OAuth key selection, Cursor MCP configuration and headers

2. Choose search depth deliberately

   Begin with a focused query. Check search_depth in the discovered schema; basic costs 1 account credit and advanced 2. Select URLs that actually address the task.

   Tools: tavily_search

   Sources: Tavily API credit units, Tavily hosted endpoint: tool discovery

3. Extract only the selected pages

   Pass the chosen URLs to Extract and inspect successful and failed results. Basic extraction is charged per five successful URLs; advanced extraction doubles that credit rate.

   Tools: tavily_extract

   Sources: Tavily API credit units, Tavily hosted endpoint: tool discovery

4. Verify account attribution before expanding

   In OAuth mode, inspect mcp_auth_default: personal wins when both personal and team keys use that name. If neither exists, Tavily falls back to the personal default key, then the first available key.

   Sources: Tavily remote MCP and OAuth key selection

Selected tools & example tasks

• tavily_search

  Find web results for a query. Basic and advanced search use different credit amounts on account plans.

  Example task: Find documentation pages for a specific API feature and inspect the returned source URLs.

  Sources: Tavily keyless access, Tavily API credit units, Tavily hosted endpoint: tool discovery
• tavily_extract

  Retrieve content from provided URLs. Extraction depth affects account credit usage; successful URLs are the billing unit.

  Example task: Read the two source URLs selected from search and check which extractions succeeded.

  Sources: Tavily keyless access, Tavily API credit units, Tavily hosted endpoint: tool discovery

Troubleshoot the connection

Limits & undocumented behavior

• Keyless access supports Search and Extract. Map, Crawl and Research require an account API key, including the key selected through OAuth. A discovered tool name does not establish anonymous permission to run it.
• Anonymous access is free and rate-limited; the reviewed keyless guide gives no numeric allowance. Authenticated account credits and limits are separate.
• The tool names on this page were read from anonymous hosted tools/list on 2026-09-28. Initialization and discovery succeeded; no search, extraction or other tool was executed.
• Hosted and local package versions can differ. These profiles cover the hosted service; inspect your connected client’s tool schema before supplying arguments.

Sources & review history

This listing is documentation-confirmed. We reviewed the primary sources below; this does not establish successful tool execution.

Record updated 2026-09-28. Review due 2026-10-28.

1. Tavily remote MCP and OAuth key selectionChecked 2026-09-28 · Hosted endpoint; OAuth and API-key access; Personal and team key precedence
2. Tavily keyless accessChecked 2026-09-28 · Required keyless header; Search and Extract scope; API-key precedence
3. Official Tavily MCP repositoryChecked 2026-09-28 · Native bearer header; Server software and MIT license
4. Tavily API credit unitsChecked 2026-09-28 · Search depth; Successful extraction billing; Free account credits
5. Tavily account rate limitsChecked 2026-09-28 · Account request limits; 429 and Retry-After
6. Tavily hosted endpoint: tool discoveryChecked 2026-09-28 · WPS observed anonymous initialize and tools/list on 2026-09-28; Tool names only; no tool execution
7. Cursor MCP configuration and headersChecked 2026-09-28 · Remote MCP configuration; Project and global configuration locations

Spotted a change? Share the source and the affected setup step in Site Feedback.

Alternatives to Tavily MCP

These integrations share documented capabilities with Tavily MCP. Compare their setup and product requirements for your task.