noapi-google-search-mcp 0.1.2

Google Search for Local LLMs — No API Key Required. MCP server using headless Chromium via Playwright.

noapi-google-search-mcp

Google Search for Local LLMs — No API Key Required

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that gives your local LLM real Google search and browsing abilities using headless Chromium via Playwright. No Google API key, no Custom Search Engine setup, no usage limits — just real Google results.

Works with LM Studio, Claude Desktop, and any MCP-compatible client.

Why This Instead of API-Based Alternatives?

	noapi-google-search-mcp	API-based MCP servers
API key required	No	Yes (Google CSE API)
Cost	Free	Paid after 100 queries/day
Setup time	pip install + go	Create Google Cloud project, enable API, get key, configure CSE
Results quality	Real Google results	Custom Search Engine (different ranking)
JavaScript pages	Renders them (Chromium)	Cannot render JS
Google News	Built-in	Usually not available
Google Scholar	Built-in	Not available
Google Images	Built-in	Separate API needed
Google Trends	Built-in	Separate API needed
Page fetching	Built-in visit_page tool	Usually separate

Tools

google_search — Web Search

Search Google and get structured results with titles, URLs, and snippets.

Parameters:

Parameter	Description	Example
query	Search query (required)	"best python frameworks 2025"
num_results	Number of results (1-10, default 5)	5
time_range	Filter by recency	"past_hour", "past_day", "past_week", "past_month", "past_year"
site	Limit to a domain	"reddit.com", "stackoverflow.com", "github.com", "arxiv.org", "news.ycombinator.com"
page	Results page (1-10, default 1)	2 for next page
language	Language code	"en", "de", "fr", "es", "ja", "zh"
region	Country/region code	"us", "gb", "de", "fr", "jp"

How your LLM uses it: The LLM automatically sees these parameters in the tool definition. When you ask "search Reddit for Python tips from the past week", it will call google_search(query="Python tips", site="reddit.com", time_range="past_week").

---

google_news — News Search

Search Google News for recent headlines with source and timestamp.

Parameters:

Parameter	Description	Example
query	News search query (required)	"AI regulation"
num_results	Number of results (1-10, default 5)	5

---

google_scholar — Academic Search

Search Google Scholar for papers, citations, and research.

Parameters:

Parameter	Description	Example
query	Academic search query (required)	"transformer attention mechanism"
num_results	Number of results (1-10, default 5)	5

Returns: title, URL, authors, citation count, and snippet for each paper.

---

google_images — Image Search

Search Google Images and get image URLs.

Parameters:

Parameter	Description	Example
query	Image search query (required)	"sunset over ocean"
num_results	Number of results (1-10, default 5)	5

---

google_trends — Trends Lookup

Check Google Trends for topic interest, related topics, and related queries.

Parameters:

Parameter	Description	Example
query	Topic to check trends for (required)	"artificial intelligence"

---

visit_page — Page Fetcher

Fetch any URL and extract readable text content. Use after search to read full articles.

Parameters:

Parameter	Description	Example
url	Full URL to fetch (required)	"https://example.com/article"

How Does the LLM Know About These Tools?

You don't need to teach the LLM anything. MCP automatically exposes all tool names, descriptions, and parameters to the model. When you ask a question like:

• "What are the latest AI news?" → LLM calls google_news
• "Find me papers on quantum computing" → LLM calls google_scholar
• "Search Reddit for home lab setups" → LLM calls google_search with site="reddit.com"
• "What's trending in tech?" → LLM calls google_trends
• "Show me images of the Northern Lights" → LLM calls google_images
• "Read this article for me: https://..." → LLM calls visit_page

The LLM picks the right tool and parameters automatically based on your request.

Installation

Quick Install (pipx — recommended)

pipx install noapi-google-search-mcp
playwright install chromium

This puts noapi-google-search-mcp on your PATH so you can use it directly.

Install in a Virtual Environment

If you don't have pipx, install in a dedicated venv:

python3 -m venv ~/.local/share/noapi-google-search-mcp
~/.local/share/noapi-google-search-mcp/bin/pip install noapi-google-search-mcp
~/.local/share/noapi-google-search-mcp/bin/playwright install chromium

Configuration

LM Studio

Add to ~/.lmstudio/mcp.json:

If installed with pipx (command is on PATH):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "noapi-google-search-mcp",
      "env": {
        "PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

If installed in a venv (use the full path):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "~/.local/share/noapi-google-search-mcp/bin/noapi-google-search-mcp",
      "env": {
        "PYTHONUNBUFFERED": "1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-search": {
      "command": "noapi-google-search-mcp"
    }
  }
}

If installed in a venv, use the full path to the binary instead.

As a CLI

noapi-google-search-mcp

Or:

python -m google_search_mcp

Development

git clone https://github.com/VincentKaufmann/google-search-mcp.git
cd google-search-mcp
pip install -e .
playwright install chromium

License

MIT