DuckDuckGo Search MCP Server (Maintained Fork)

This is a maintained fork of the original duckduckgo-mcp-server by Nick Clyde.

Why this fork? This version includes updated dependencies, enhanced features, active maintenance, and improved release automation while maintaining full compatibility with the original.

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides web search capabilities through DuckDuckGo, with additional features for content fetching and parsing.

What's New in This Fork

• 🔄 Active Maintenance: Regular updates and dependency management
• 🚀 Enhanced Release Process: Automated publishing to PyPI, Docker, and GitHub Releases
• 🛡️ Security Updates: Latest dependency versions with security patches
• 📦 Multi-Platform Support: Docker images for AMD64 and ARM64
• 🔧 Developer Experience: Improved tooling and documentation

Features

• Web Search: Search DuckDuckGo with advanced rate limiting and result formatting
• Content Fetching: Retrieve and parse webpage content with intelligent text extraction
• Rate Limiting: Built-in protection against rate limits for both search and content fetching
• Error Handling: Comprehensive error handling and logging
• LLM-Friendly Output: Results formatted specifically for large language model consumption

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install DuckDuckGo Search Server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @nickclyde/duckduckgo-mcp-server --client claude

Installing via uv

Install directly from PyPI using uv:

uv pip install duckduckgo-mcp-server-maintained

Installing via Docker

docker build . -t duckduckgo-mcp-server:latest

Usage

Running with Claude Desktop

1. Download Claude Desktop
2. Create or edit your Claude Desktop configuration:
   • On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the following configuration:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "ddg-search": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": ["duckduckgo-mcp-server-maintained"]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop

Development

For local development, you can use the MCP CLI:

# Run with the MCP Inspector
mcp dev server.py

# Install locally for testing with Claude Desktop
mcp install server.py

Available Tools

1. Search Tool

async def search(query: str, max_results: int = 10) -> str

Performs a web search on DuckDuckGo and returns formatted results.

Parameters:

• query: Search query string
• max_results: Maximum number of results to return (default: 10)

Returns: Formatted string containing search results with titles, URLs, and snippets.

2. Content Fetching Tool

async def fetch_content(url: str) -> str

Fetches and parses content from a webpage.

Parameters:

• url: The webpage URL to fetch content from

Returns: Cleaned and formatted text content from the webpage.

Features in Detail

Rate Limiting

• Search: Limited to 30 requests per minute
• Content Fetching: Limited to 20 requests per minute
• Automatic queue management and wait times

Result Processing

• Removes ads and irrelevant content
• Cleans up DuckDuckGo redirect URLs
• Formats results for optimal LLM consumption
• Truncates long content appropriately

Error Handling

• Comprehensive error catching and reporting
• Detailed logging through MCP context
• Graceful degradation on rate limits or timeouts

Publishing to GitHub Container Registry

To publish the Docker image to GitHub Container Registry, follow these steps:

1. Build the Docker image:

   docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 -t ghcr.io/scalabresegd/duckduckgo-mcp-server:latest .
   

   Replace YOUR_USERNAME with your GitHub username and YOUR_REPOSITORY with your GitHub repository name.

2. Log in to GitHub Container Registry:

   echo $CR_PAT | docker login ghcr.io -u scalabreseGD --password-stdin
   

   Replace CR_PAT with your Personal Access Token (PAT) that has write:packages scope. Replace USERNAME with your GitHub username.

3. Push the Docker image:

   docker push ghcr.io/scalabresegd/duckduckgo-mcp-server:latest
   

   Again, replace YOUR_USERNAME and YOUR_REPOSITORY accordingly.

Original Project

This fork is based on the excellent work by Nick Clyde. Please consider:

• ⭐ Star the original repo: nickclyde/duckduckgo-mcp-server
• 🙏 Give credit: When using this fork, please mention both projects
• 🤝 Contribute upstream: Consider contributing improvements to the original project when possible

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome! Some areas for potential improvement:

• Additional search parameters (region, language, etc.)
• Enhanced content parsing options
• Caching layer for frequently accessed content
• Additional rate limiting strategies

When contributing, please:

1. Test your changes thoroughly
2. Update documentation as needed
3. Consider if the improvement should also go to the original project

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License, same as the original project.