Metadata-Version: 2.4
Name: noapi-google-search-mcp
Version: 0.1.3
Summary: Google Search for Local LLMs — No API Key Required. MCP server using headless Chromium via Playwright.
Project-URL: Homepage, https://github.com/VincentKaufmann/google-search-mcp
Project-URL: Repository, https://github.com/VincentKaufmann/google-search-mcp
Project-URL: Issues, https://github.com/VincentKaufmann/google-search-mcp/issues
Author-email: Vincent Kaufmann <vincent@kaufmann.dev>
License-Expression: MIT
License-File: LICENSE
Keywords: ai,chromium,google,llm,lm-studio,local-llm,mcp,no-api,playwright,search
Classifier: Development Status :: 4 - Beta
Classifier: Intended Audience :: Developers
Classifier: License :: OSI Approved :: MIT License
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13
Classifier: Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries
Requires-Python: >=3.10
Requires-Dist: mcp>=1.0.0
Requires-Dist: playwright>=1.40.0
Description-Content-Type: text/markdown

# 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"` |

---

### `google_suggest` — Search Suggestions

Get Google autocomplete suggestions for a query. Useful for brainstorming search terms and exploring what people commonly search for.

**Parameters:**
| Parameter | Description | Example |
|-----------|-------------|---------|
| `query` | Query to get suggestions for (required) | `"machine learning"` |

---

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

## Sample Prompts

Here are example prompts you can type into LM Studio or Claude Desktop, and which tool the LLM will use:

### Web Search
| What you type | Tool called | Parameters used |
|--------------|-------------|-----------------|
| *"Search for the best Python web frameworks"* | `google_search` | `query` |
| *"Find Reddit discussions about home lab setups"* | `google_search` | `query` + `site="reddit.com"` |
| *"Search Stack Overflow for async Python examples"* | `google_search` | `query` + `site="stackoverflow.com"` |
| *"What's new in AI this week?"* | `google_search` | `query` + `time_range="past_week"` |
| *"Search Hacker News for posts about Rust"* | `google_search` | `query` + `site="news.ycombinator.com"` |
| *"Find GitHub repos for MCP servers"* | `google_search` | `query` + `site="github.com"` |
| *"Get page 2 of results for machine learning tutorials"* | `google_search` | `query` + `page=2` |
| *"Search for restaurants in Tokyo in Japanese"* | `google_search` | `query` + `language="ja"` + `region="jp"` |
| *"Find German news about the EU from the past month"* | `google_search` | `query` + `language="de"` + `time_range="past_month"` |

### News
| What you type | Tool called |
|--------------|-------------|
| *"What are today's top headlines?"* | `google_news` |
| *"Any recent news about the stock market?"* | `google_news` |
| *"What happened in the Japan election?"* | `google_news` |

### Academic Research
| What you type | Tool called |
|--------------|-------------|
| *"Find papers on transformer attention mechanisms"* | `google_scholar` |
| *"Look up academic research about CRISPR"* | `google_scholar` |
| *"What does the research say about intermittent fasting?"* | `google_scholar` |

### Images
| What you type | Tool called |
|--------------|-------------|
| *"Show me images of the Northern Lights"* | `google_images` |
| *"Find diagrams of neural network architecture"* | `google_images` |

### Trends
| What you type | Tool called |
|--------------|-------------|
| *"What's trending in tech right now?"* | `google_trends` |
| *"Is Python more popular than JavaScript?"* | `google_trends` |

### Suggestions
| What you type | Tool called |
|--------------|-------------|
| *"What do people commonly search for about Python?"* | `google_suggest` |
| *"Help me brainstorm better search terms for climate data"* | `google_suggest` |

### Page Reading
| What you type | Tool called |
|--------------|-------------|
| *"Read this article for me: https://..."* | `visit_page` |
| *"What does this page say? https://..."* | `visit_page` |

## Installation

### Quick Install (pipx — recommended)

```bash
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:

```bash
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):

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

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

```json
{
  "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`):

```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

```bash
noapi-google-search-mcp
```

Or:

```bash
python -m google_search_mcp
```

## Development

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

## License

MIT
