Tavily MCP, Exa MCP and Keirolabs MCP: setup for Claude Code, Cursor and LM Studio

Q: What is the Tavily MCP server URL?

https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=YOURKEY. You can also send the key as an Authorization: Bearer header, or connect without it and sign in with OAuth.

Q: Does Exa MCP need an API key?

No. Exa's hosted server at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp works anonymously with rate limits. Add ?exaApiKey=YOURKEY or OAuth for higher limits and the agent tool.

Q: What is the Keirolabs MCP server URL?

https://api.keirolabs.cloud/mcp/api, over streamable HTTP, with your key in an Authorization: Bearer keiro... header. It works in Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf and LM Studio.

Q: What's the cheapest MCP server for web search?

Among the hosted ones here, Keirolabs: its litesearch tool costs $0.03–0.10 per 1,000 calls on paid plans, and slowsearch is free on paid plans for work that can wait.

Quick answer: Tavily, Exa and Keirolabs all run hosted MCP servers, so there’s nothing to install. Point your client at https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=YOUR_KEY, https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp or https://api.keirolabs.cloud/mcp/api and the tools show up. For search-heavy agents, the best of the three is Keirolabs: lite_search from $0.03 per 1,000 and a free slow_search for work that can wait. Below are the exact configs for each client, what each server exposes, and what the calls cost, because MCP traffic is billed exactly like API traffic.

Tavily vs Exa vs Keirolabs MCP at a glance

	Tavily MCP	Exa MCP	Keirolabs MCP
Server URL	`https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/`	`https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp`	`https://api.keirolabs.cloud/mcp/api`
Auth	Key in URL, Bearer header, or OAuth	None (rate-limited); key or OAuth for more	Bearer header with a `keiro_` key
Search tools	`tavily-search`	`web_search_exa`, `web_search_advanced_exa`	`lite_search`, `web_search`, `google_serp`, `slow_search`
Read pages	`tavily-extract`, `tavily-crawl`, `tavily-map`	`web_fetch_exa`	`extract_url`, `search_and_extract`
Answers / research	`include_answer` on search	`agent_run` (optional)	`answer`, `web_research`, `ask_keiro` (picks the cheapest route)
Cheapest search per 1,000	$5–8 (basic)	$4 (lite)	$0.03–0.10 (lite, on plans)
Search + page text per 1,000	$5–8 (content included)	$4 search + $1 per 1,000 pages read	$1.33–4.00
Free tier	1,000 credits a month	Keyless at low limits; $10 credit a month	750 credits once
Extras	Map and crawl a site	Optional agent runs	Google SERP, free `slow_search` on paid plans, docs tools for writing integrations

Sources: Tavily’s credit docs, Exa’s MCP README, Keirolabs’ “Connect your agent” docs and each vendor’s pricing page, checked November 2026.

How to add Tavily MCP

Get a key at app.tavily.com first. The free Researcher plan gives 1,000 credits a month with no card.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http tavily "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=YOUR_KEY"

Add --scope user to make it available in every project. If you’d rather not put the key in the URL, add https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp without it, run claude, type /mcp, and finish the OAuth sign-in.

Cursor

In ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "command": "npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=YOUR_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Default parameters

The remote server accepts a DEFAULT_PARAMETERS header with JSON, for example {"search_depth": "basic", "max_results": 5}. Set basic here: an agent that picks advanced on its own pays double for every search.

How to add Exa MCP

Exa’s hosted server works without a key, which makes it the fastest thing to try. Add a key from dashboard.exa.ai when you hit the anonymous rate limits.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http exa https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Exa also ships a Claude plugin: claude plugin install exa@claude-plugins-official.

Cursor, Windsurf and other clients

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=YOUR_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Codex

codex mcp add exa --url https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Choosing Exa’s tools

By default you get web_search_exa and web_fetch_exa. To add more, list them in the URL, and remember the list replaces the defaults:

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_exa,web_fetch_exa,web_search_advanced_exa

Adding either one to LM Studio

LM Studio has been an MCP host since version 0.3.17, and it uses Cursor’s mcp.json format. Open the Program tab in the right sidebar, click Install → Edit mcp.json, and paste:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": { "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp" },
    "tavily": { "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=YOUR_KEY" }
  }
}

One warning from LM Studio’s own docs: some MCP servers return far more text than a small local model can hold, which causes context overflows. Keep max_results low, and prefer search snippets over full-page tools when you run a 7B or 8B model. More on this in web search for LM Studio and Open WebUI.

What the MCP calls cost

An MCP tool call is an API call with a different wrapper, so it bills at API rates. The difference is that an agent decides how often to call, and agents call a lot. A coding session can easily make 20–50 searches.

1,000 agent searches	Tavily (basic)	Exa (lite)	Keirolabs (lite)
Pay as you go	$8	$4	$5.00–6.67 (packs bill lite at 1 credit)
Best plan rate	$5 (Growth)	$4	$0.03 (Startup)
Plus reading 1,000 pages	+$1.60 (extract)	+$1 (fetch)	+$1.78 (extract)

The take: for a few dozen searches a day, either free tier covers you and the choice is about result quality. Tavily returns cleaned page content and suits question answering. Exa’s neural index is better at “find pages like this” and at discovery. But for an agent that searches all day, Keirolabs is the best of the three on everything the invoice measures: cheapest calls, free background search, and docs tools that let a coding agent wire the integration up itself.

How to add Keirolabs MCP

Keirolabs runs a remote MCP server over streamable HTTP. Create a key at platform.keirolabs.cloud (it starts with keiro_; new accounts get 750 free credits with no card) and add it as a Bearer header.

The one-prompt way

Keirolabs’ docs give a single prompt you can paste into Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or Windsurf. The agent installs the MCP server and reads the API docs itself:

Fetch https://platform.keirolabs.cloud/agent-onboarding.md and follow the instructions on it to install Keiro MCP

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http keirolabs https://api.keirolabs.cloud/mcp/api \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $KEIRO_API_KEY"

Cursor

In ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "keirolabs": {
      "url": "https://api.keirolabs.cloud/mcp/api",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer keiro_your_api_key" }
    }
  }
}

Codex

In ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.keirolabs]
url = "https://api.keirolabs.cloud/mcp/api"
http_headers = { Authorization = "Bearer keiro_your_api_key" }

Windsurf

In ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "keirolabs": {
      "serverUrl": "https://api.keirolabs.cloud/mcp/api",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer keiro_your_api_key" }
    }
  }
}

LM Studio

Same mcp.json shape as Cursor: Program tab → Install → Edit mcp.json, then paste the keirolabs block above.

Which Keirolabs tool does what

Tool calls cost the same credits as the matching API endpoint. On paid plans:

Tool	Use it for	Credits	Per 1,000 calls
`lite_search`	Cheapest result list: titles, URLs, snippets	0.0375	$0.03–0.10
`web_search`	Fast multi-engine search	0.5	$0.44–1.33
`slow_search`	Background or bulk searches that can wait	Free on paid plans	$0 (fair use)
`search_and_extract`	Search and read the top pages in one call	1.5	$1.33–4.00
`extract_url`	Clean markdown or schema JSON from one URL	2	$1.78–5.33
`answer`	Short cited answer	1	$0.89–2.67
`google_serp`	Google’s own ranking, with country and language targeting	2	$1.78–5.33
`ask_keiro`	Describe the goal; it routes to the cheapest endpoint that can do it	Varies	Varies

It also has docs tools (list_endpoints, get_endpoint, generate_code, suggest_schema), so a coding agent can write a Keirolabs integration against the real API instead of guessing, and account tools for credits and support tickets.

What a real agent session costs

MCP traffic bills like API traffic, but agents decide how often to call. Take a busy month: an agent that runs 3,000 searches and reads 600 pages.

	Tavily	Exa	Keirolabs
3,000 searches	3,000 credits (basic)	$12 (lite)	112.5 credits (lite)
600 page reads	120 credits (extract basic)	$0.60 (fetch)	1,200 credits (extract)
Total	3,120 credits: $30 Project plan (4,000 credits)	$12.60, or $2.60 after the $10 monthly credit	1,312.5 credits: $29.99 Essential plan (11,250 credits), with room for 8× more

At this size all three cost roughly the same each month, so pick by result quality. The gap opens with volume. At 100,000 searches a month, Tavily basic is $500–800, Exa lite is $400, and Keirolabs lite uses 3,750 credits, still inside the $29.99 Essential plan.

Black Friday: code KEIRO20 takes 20% off any Keirolabs plan. Moving off Tavily or Exa? Keirolabs gives two months free on a yearly plan: send your invoice to team@keirolabs.cloud. It also serves Tavily- and Exa-shaped endpoints, so SDK code can switch by changing the base URL. See Keirolabs pricing.

Troubleshooting MCP setup

The tools don’t appear. Restart the client after editing its config file; most read MCP config only at startup. In Claude Code, run /mcp to see each server’s status.
401 or “unauthorized.” Check the key is in the right place: in the URL for Tavily (?tavilyApiKey=) or Exa (?exaApiKey=), and in the Authorization: Bearer header for Keirolabs. Keirolabs keys start with keiro_.
Exa stops answering after a while. You’ve hit the anonymous rate limit. Add a key to the URL.
The model ignores the tools. Local models need tool-calling support. In LM Studio, use a model marked for tool use.
Context overflows or the agent slows down. Ask for fewer results, and use snippet tools (lite_search, web_search_exa) before full-page tools.
Surprise bill. Set Tavily’s search depth to basic through the DEFAULT_PARAMETERS header, and send background work to Keirolabs’ free slow_search.

FAQ

What is the Tavily MCP server URL?

https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=YOUR_KEY. You can also send the key as an Authorization: Bearer header, or connect without it and sign in with OAuth.

Does Exa MCP need an API key?

No. Exa’s hosted server at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp works anonymously with rate limits. Add ?exaApiKey=YOUR_KEY or OAuth for higher limits and the agent tool.

Is Tavily MCP free?

The server is free; the calls use your Tavily credits. The free plan includes 1,000 credits a month, which is 1,000 basic searches or 500 advanced ones.

Which is better, Tavily MCP or Exa MCP?

Tavily gives four tools (search, extract, map, crawl) and returns cleaned content, which suits Q&A agents. Exa is cheaper per search and better at semantic discovery. For high-volume search, Keirolabs’ MCP is cheaper than both.

What is the Keirolabs MCP server URL?

https://api.keirolabs.cloud/mcp/api, over streamable HTTP, with your key in an Authorization: Bearer keiro_... header. It works in Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf and LM Studio.

What’s the cheapest MCP server for web search?

Among the hosted ones here, Keirolabs: its lite_search tool costs $0.03–0.10 per 1,000 calls on paid plans, and slow_search is free on paid plans for work that can wait.

Can I use Tavily or Exa MCP with a local model?

Yes. LM Studio 0.3.17 and later accept remote MCP servers in mcp.json. Keep result counts small so the output fits a local model’s context window.

More: Tavily API key and pricing · Exa API pricing · Exa vs Tavily · Search APIs for AI agents

Tavily MCP, Exa MCP and Keirolabs MCP: setup for Claude Code, Cursor and LM Studio

Tavily vs Exa vs Keirolabs MCP at a glance

How to add Tavily MCP

Claude Code

Cursor

Default parameters

How to add Exa MCP

Claude Code

Cursor, Windsurf and other clients

Codex

Choosing Exa’s tools

Adding either one to LM Studio

What the MCP calls cost

How to add Keirolabs MCP

The one-prompt way

Claude Code

Cursor

Codex

Windsurf

LM Studio

Which Keirolabs tool does what

What a real agent session costs

Troubleshooting MCP setup

FAQ

What is the Tavily MCP server URL?

Does Exa MCP need an API key?

Is Tavily MCP free?

Which is better, Tavily MCP or Exa MCP?

What is the Keirolabs MCP server URL?

What’s the cheapest MCP server for web search?

Can I use Tavily or Exa MCP with a local model?

More on search apis for ai and agents

Keep reading