What is MCP, and why a remote MCP Server

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open protocol for connecting AI clients to external tools and data sources. The traditional approach runs the search server locally (a stdio MCP server) — you install dependencies, upgrade versions and manage processes yourself. A remote MCP Server moves all of that to our side; the client only needs a URL:

Zero install: no npm/pip packages, no reconfiguration when you switch machines.
Zero ops: the retrieval pipeline (multi-engine aggregation, extraction, LLM reranking, answers) is continuously improved on the server side.
Key-in-URL: SearchPipe embeds the API key in the MCP link (same style as Tavily), so clients without custom-header support work out of the box.
Multi-client: the same link works in Claude Code, Cursor, Cline and more.

Setup in four steps

Sign up and get an API key

Register a SearchPipe account and verify your email — a default API key is generated automatically. Find it under "API Keys" in the console (masked by default; click "Show" to reveal the plaintext, as often as you like). You can create additional keys anytime.

sp-YOUR_API_KEY

Build the MCP link

Append the key to /mcp/ to form the full URL — this is what the client asks for (note the trailing slash: without it some hosts drop the ?api_key= part):

https://searchpipe.tech/mcp/?api_key=sp-YOUR_API_KEY

Add it to your client

Follow the per-client examples below (Claude Code uses the CLI; Cursor / Cline / VS Code use a JSON config).

Have the agent verify a search

In a conversation, ask it to "use searchpipe_search to look up today's news" — results with links and snippets confirm the setup worked. The MCP handshake itself is not authenticated, so only a real search proves the key works.

Claude Code

One command (--transport http selects the remote HTTP transport):

claude mcp add --transport http searchpipe \
  "https://searchpipe.tech/mcp/?api_key=sp-YOUR_API_KEY"

# List configured servers
claude mcp list

Cursor / Cline / VS Code

Add an mcpServers entry to your client's MCP config (Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json; VS Code: .vscode/mcp.json or the user-level config):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searchpipe": {
      "url": "https://searchpipe.tech/mcp/?api_key=sp-YOUR_API_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Some clients require an explicit remote HTTP declaration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "searchpipe": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://searchpipe.tech/mcp/",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer sp-YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

If your client supports custom headers, prefer the Authorization: Bearer style — the key never appears in URLs or logs.

Available tools & parameters

The MCP server exposes the tools searchpipe_search, searchpipe_verify, and searchpipe_account_balance. searchpipe_search accepts the same parameters as the REST API's POST /search (stream is REST-only):

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`query` required	string	—	Search question or keywords
`max_results`	int	5	Maximum number of results (1–20); fewer may be returned when low-relevance results are filtered out
`search_depth`	string	basic	`basic` (1 credit) / `advanced` (2 credits) / `fast` (0.5 credits — skips all LLM steps, no answer)
`include_answer`	bool	false	Generate a cited answer (alias of `output_type="answer"`)
`include_raw_content`	bool	false	Return the full extracted page body
`include_domains` / `exclude_domains`	array	—	Restrict / exclude domains (`*.example.com` = subdomains only; `example.com/docs` = path prefix; exclude wins)
`time_range`	string	—	Recency window: `day` / `week` / `month` / `year`
`start_date` / `end_date`	string	—	ISO date bounds (YYYY-MM-DD)
`topic`	string	general	`general` / `news` (adds a dedicated news channel)
`country` / `language`	string	—	Region bias (ISO alpha-2) / market language (e.g. `en`, `zh-CN`)
`safe_search`	int	0	0 off / 1 moderate / 2 strict
`include_images`	bool	false	Also return an `images` array
`output_type` / `output_schema`	string / object	—	`search_results` (default) / `answer` / `structured` (grounded JSON per schema; requires `output_schema`)
`objective`	string	—	One-line agent intent; improves reranking only

For the field-level response shape, see API docs · Response shape.

The searchpipe_account_balance tool takes no parameters and returns the remaining credits (total, permanent, expiring, upcoming, next expiry). It is free to call — handy before long batch jobs, so you never hit 402 mid-run. The same data is available over REST as GET /v1/account/balance.

Common connection issues

Client reports 406 Not Acceptable

This is normal streamable-http validation: the request must accept both JSON and SSE. When testing with curl, add -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream"; a browser opening /mcp directly and getting 406 is also expected — not a service outage.

Direct requests to /mcp get a 307 redirect

The canonical endpoint is /mcp/ (trailing slash). Clients follow redirects automatically; with curl, add -L or request /mcp/ directly.

"Invalid or revoked key" errors

Check three things: the key starts with sp-; it hasn't been revoked in the console; and the trailing sp-… wasn't truncated when copying the link. If a key leaks, revoke and recreate it in the console immediately.

Searches occasionally slow

A cold query runs the full "multi-engine retrieval → extraction → LLM reranking" chain and typically takes a few seconds; identical query and parameters within the cache TTL (default 300s) return in milliseconds.

Agent setup guide: per-client config snippets for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode and Pi, plus custom MCP agents
API docs: REST parameters, examples and error codes
Pricing: credit system and plan rules
FAQ: billing, rate limits, key security and more
Smithery directory: install SearchPipe from the Smithery MCP registry

SearchPipe MCP Server