# Web Research MCP � Search, Fetch & Synthesize (`idapixl/web-research-mcp`) Actor

MCP server for AI agents. Three tools: web\_search (DuckDuckGo + Brave), fetch\_page (clean markdown), research\_topic (multi-step synthesis with relevance scoring). Zero external AI deps. Pay-per-use.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/idapixl/web-research-mcp.md
- **Developed by:** [IDAPIXL](https://apify.com/idapixl) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, MCP servers, Agents
- **Stats:** 5 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $25.00 / 1,000 research topics

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Web Research MCP — Search, Fetch & Synthesize

An MCP server for AI agents that need to search the web, read pages, and synthesize research — all in a single tool call.

**Pay-per-use. No subscription. No idle charges.** Powered by Apify Standby.

---

### What it does

Three tools, designed to work together:

| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| `web_search` | Search the web. Returns titles, URLs, and snippets. Uses Brave Search API (if configured) or DuckDuckGo fallback. |
| `fetch_page` | Fetch any URL and return clean markdown. Strips ads, nav, and boilerplate. Supports article, full-body, or links-only extraction. |
| `research_topic` | Multi-step research in one call: search → fetch → score relevance → deduplicate → extract key facts → synthesize. |

---

### Quick connect

Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "web-research": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://idapixl--web-research-mcp.apify.actor/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}
````

Replace `YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN` with your token from [apify.com/account/integrations](https://apify.com/account/integrations).

**Claude Code:**

```bash
claude mcp add web-research https://idapixl--web-research-mcp.apify.actor/mcp --transport http
```

**Cursor / Windsurf** — add via Settings > MCP Servers > HTTP URL.

***

### Pricing

Pay only for what you use. Charged per tool call.

| Event | Price |
|---|---|
| `web_search` | $0.003 |
| `fetch_page` | $0.005 |
| `research_topic` | $0.025 (single charge, includes all sub-calls) |

***

### Brave Search API setup (optional but recommended)

By default the actor uses DuckDuckGo HTML scraping, which works without any key. For better results and freshness filtering:

1. Go to [brave.com/search/api](https://brave.com/search/api/) and sign up for the free tier (2,000 queries/month)
2. Copy your API key
3. In the actor input, set **Brave Search API Key** (stored as secret — never exposed in logs)

When the key is set, `web_search` and `research_topic` will use Brave Search automatically. DuckDuckGo is the fallback on error.

***

### Example tool calls

#### Search with freshness filter (Brave only)

```json
{
  "tool": "web_search",
  "arguments": {
    "query": "Claude 4 release announcement",
    "maxResults": 5,
    "freshness": "pw"
  }
}
```

#### Read a page — links extraction mode

```json
{
  "tool": "fetch_page",
  "arguments": {
    "url": "https://docs.anthropic.com/en/api/getting-started",
    "extractMode": "links"
  }
}
```

#### Deep research with focus

```json
{
  "tool": "research_topic",
  "arguments": {
    "topic": "Model Context Protocol",
    "maxSources": 3,
    "focus": "pricing and monetization"
  }
}
```

***

### Input configuration

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `braveApiKey` | string (secret) | — | Brave Search API key for higher-quality search |
| `maxSearchResults` | integer | 5 | Max results per `web_search` call (1–10) |
| `fetchTimeoutSecs` | integer | 30 | Page fetch timeout in seconds (5–120) |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | — | Apify Proxy config (residential recommended for best success rates) |

***

### Tool reference

#### `web_search`

- `query` (required) — search query, max 500 chars
- `maxResults` (optional) — 1–10, default 5
- `freshness` (optional) — `pd` past day, `pw` past week, `pm` past month, `py` past year (Brave only)

#### `fetch_page`

- `url` (required) — page URL
- `timeoutSecs` (optional) — 5–120, default 30
- `extractMode` (optional) — `article` main content (default), `full` entire body, `links` all links

#### `research_topic`

- `topic` (required) — research topic or question, max 500 chars
- `maxSources` (optional) — 1–5, default 3
- `focus` (optional) — sub-question to narrow the research (e.g. "performance benchmarks"), max 200 chars

***

### Notes

- Stateless: each MCP request gets an isolated server instance
- `research_topic` scores relevance, deduplicates near-duplicate sources (>70% sentence overlap filtered), and extracts key sentences containing your query terms
- Proxy: Apify Residential proxies improve success rates on pages that block datacenter IPs
- Charges fire before execution — if a page fails to load after charging, the tool returns an error

***

Built by [Idapixl](https://idapixl.com). TypeScript, MCP SDK 1.x, Apify SDK 3.x.

# Actor input Schema

## `braveApiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional Brave Search API key for higher-quality search results. Without this, falls back to DuckDuckGo HTML. Get a free key at https://brave.com/search/api/

## `maxSearchResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of search results returned by web\_search. Range: 1–10.

## `fetchTimeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

Timeout for fetching a single page in fetch\_page and research\_topic.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy configuration for outbound web requests. Recommended: use Apify Residential proxies for best results.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxSearchResults": 5,
  "fetchTimeoutSecs": 30,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("idapixl/web-research-mcp").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True } }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("idapixl/web-research-mcp").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call idapixl/web-research-mcp --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=idapixl/web-research-mcp",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Web Research MCP � Search, Fetch & Synthesize",
        "description": "MCP server for AI agents. Three tools: web_search (DuckDuckGo + Brave), fetch_page (clean markdown), research_topic (multi-step synthesis with relevance scoring). Zero external AI deps. Pay-per-use.",
        "version": "1.0",
        "x-build-id": "V0dirausEuNMZIILt"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/idapixl~web-research-mcp/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-idapixl-web-research-mcp",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/idapixl~web-research-mcp/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-idapixl-web-research-mcp",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/idapixl~web-research-mcp/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-idapixl-web-research-mcp",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "braveApiKey": {
                        "title": "Brave Search API Key",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional Brave Search API key for higher-quality search results. Without this, falls back to DuckDuckGo HTML. Get a free key at https://brave.com/search/api/"
                    },
                    "maxSearchResults": {
                        "title": "Max search results per query",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 10,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of search results returned by web_search. Range: 1–10.",
                        "default": 5
                    },
                    "fetchTimeoutSecs": {
                        "title": "Page fetch timeout (seconds)",
                        "minimum": 5,
                        "maximum": 120,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Timeout for fetching a single page in fetch_page and research_topic.",
                        "default": 30
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Apify Proxy configuration for outbound web requests. Recommended: use Apify Residential proxies for best results."
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```