1. Home
  2. Bright Data Web MCP
  3. Bright Data Web MCP for VS Code: Setup & Config

Data as of

Bright Data Web MCP for VS Code: Setup & Config

Give VS Code live web search, page extraction, and optional browser automation through Bright Data.

What you can do with Bright Data Web in VS Code

Choose configurable live-web access spanning search, extraction, datasets, and package intelligence.

  • Research current web information and extract readable page content.
  • Look up npm or PyPI versions, metadata, and READMEs.

Before you start: Bright Data Web in VS Code

  • Node.js with npx for local execution
  • A Bright Data account and API token
  • An MCP-compatible client

This configuration uses the local process. A hosted endpoint is also documented. Rapid mode is the default; optional groups and Pro tools can change usage costs.

Bright Data Web VS Code configuration

  1. Choose VS Code configuration scope

    For Bright Data Web MCP, open Workspace: .vscode/mcp.json. Merge into servers; preserve existing inputs.

  2. Add Bright Data Web MCP to VS Code

    Use the brightdata-mcp entry below in servers. Keep Bright Data Web MCP's documented stdio connection fields and your other VS Code entries.

  3. Check Bright Data Web MCP in VS Code

    Bright Data Web MCP: Start in VS Code’s MCP controls; inspect output and trust prompts.

Config file · Workspace: .vscode/mcp.json

JSON
{
  "servers": {
    "brightdata-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "@brightdata/mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "API_TOKEN": "<your Bright Data API token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Bright Data Web tools available to VS Code

Bright Data Web's stored tool list documents 30 tools; compare it with VS Code's connected tool list, because the stored list is not a live check.

search_engine

Look for search_engine among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Search the live web for results suitable for an assistant's research workflow.

search_engine_batch

Look for search_engine_batch among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Run multiple web searches as a batch.

scrape_as_markdown

Look for scrape_as_markdown among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Extract a web page into Markdown content.

scrape_batch

Look for scrape_batch among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Retrieve content from multiple pages in one batch workflow.

discover

Look for discover among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Find web results ranked against the intent of a research query.

scrape_as_html

Look for scrape_as_html among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Retrieve HTML through an explicitly selected scraping tool.

extract

Look for extract among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Use the advanced scraping group for AI-assisted extraction.

scraping_browser_snapshot

Look for scraping_browser_snapshot among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Inspect the state of a remotely controlled browser.

scraping_browser_click_ref

Look for scraping_browser_click_ref among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

scraping_browser_screenshot

Look for scraping_browser_screenshot among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_amazon_product

Look for web_data_amazon_product among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_walmart_product

Look for web_data_walmart_product among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_google_shopping

Look for web_data_google_shopping among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_linkedin_posts

Look for web_data_linkedin_posts among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_tiktok_posts

Look for web_data_tiktok_posts among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_youtube_videos

Look for web_data_youtube_videos among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Retrieve structured YouTube video information.

web_data_yahoo_finance_business

Look for web_data_yahoo_finance_business among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Access company information from Yahoo Finance.

web_data_crunchbase_company

Look for web_data_crunchbase_company among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Retrieve Crunchbase company data.

web_data_zoominfo_company_profile

Look for web_data_zoominfo_company_profile among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Access structured ZoomInfo company profiles.

web_data_zillow_properties_listing

Look for web_data_zillow_properties_listing among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Retrieve Zillow property listing data.

web_data_github_repository_file

Look for web_data_github_repository_file among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Retrieve repository file data from GitHub.

web_data_reuter_news

Look for web_data_reuter_news among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Access the documented Reuters news dataset tool.

web_data_google_play_store

Look for web_data_google_play_store among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_apple_app_store

Look for web_data_apple_app_store among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_booking_hotel_listings

Look for web_data_booking_hotel_listings among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_chatgpt_ai_insights

Look for web_data_chatgpt_ai_insights among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_grok_ai_insights

Look for web_data_grok_ai_insights among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_perplexity_ai_insights

Look for web_data_perplexity_ai_insights among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_npm_package

Look for web_data_npm_package among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

web_data_pypi_package

Look for web_data_pypi_package among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Bright Data Web through the MCP controls.

Bright Data Web: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting Bright Data Web in VS Code

  • Make npx @brightdata/mcp (Node.js/npm) available in the workspace, container, or remote environment hosting Bright Data Web MCP. Start through VS Code's MCP controls; inspect output and trust prompts.
  • For Bright Data Web MCP, keep API_TOKEN out of version control; VS Code documents input variables and secret handling.
  • Bright Data Web MCP uses stdio here: VS Code must keep the configured process running; protocol output belongs on stdout and diagnostics on stderr.
  • Known limitation: Requires a Bright Data API token.
  • Known limitation: Browser automation and Pro capabilities incur usage charges.
  • Known limitation: Requests stop after the free credit pool is exhausted unless funds are available.
  • General VS Code troubleshooting lives in the /clients/vscode guide.

Bright Data Web MCP — details. VS Code guide

Frequently asked questions

For Bright Data Web MCP, edit workspace .vscode/mcp.json. VS Code requires servers rather than mcpServers; preserve the displayed type on each entry.

VS Code's brightdata-mcp example uses stdio.

Bright Data Web MCP's VS Code configuration invokes npx @brightdata/mcp (Node.js/npm).

VS Code's Bright Data Web MCP example references API_TOKEN. Check these names if startup or authentication fails; the example alone does not distinguish required from optional values.

Bright Data Web MCP's stored list contains 30 tools, including search_engine, search_engine_batch, scrape_as_markdown. Compare those names with VS Code's connected tool list; the stored list is not a live check.

The README describes 5,000 credits per month without a credit card. Unused credits do not carry over.

Yes. Bright Data documents a hosted MCP endpoint authenticated using your API token.