Firecrawl MCP Server for Windsurf: Setup & Config

What you can do with Firecrawl in Windsurf

Combine web discovery, structured extraction, live interaction, and recurring monitoring for agents.

• Extract selected fields from a known web page into JSON.
• Discover site URLs before choosing pages to scrape.
• Find relevant scientific papers and developer discussions.

Before you start: Firecrawl in Windsurf

• An MCP-compatible client
• npx for the local package
• Firecrawl credentials for full cloud API access

The command describes local stdio operation. The remote URL offers a limited keyless tier. Set FIRECRAWL_API_URL for a self-hosted backend, where authentication may be optional.

Firecrawl Windsurf configuration

1. Choose Windsurf configuration scope

   For Firecrawl MCP Server, open macOS/Linux: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json. Merge into mcpServers; remote endpoints use serverUrl.

2. Add Firecrawl MCP Server to Windsurf

   Use the firecrawl-mcp-server entry below in mcpServers. Keep Firecrawl MCP Server's documented stdio connection fields and your other Windsurf entries.

3. Check Firecrawl MCP Server in Windsurf

   Firecrawl MCP Server: Refresh MCP in Windsurf settings and inspect Cascade’s tools.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "firecrawl-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "firecrawl-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY": "<your Firecrawl API key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Firecrawl tools available to Windsurf

Firecrawl's stored tool list documents 27 tools; compare it with Windsurf's connected tool list, because the stored list is not a live check.

firecrawl_scrape

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_scrape.

Extract one page into chosen formats, including schema-shaped JSON.

firecrawl_map

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_map.

Discover indexed URLs belonging to a website.

firecrawl_search

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_search.

firecrawl_search_feedback

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_search_feedback.

firecrawl_feedback

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_feedback.

firecrawl_crawl

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_crawl.

firecrawl_check_crawl_status

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_check_crawl_status.

firecrawl_extract

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_extract.

firecrawl_agent

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_agent.

Launch asynchronous multi-source research from a prompt and optional schema.

firecrawl_agent_status

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_agent_status.

Check whether an agent research task is still running or has final results.

firecrawl_interact

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_interact.

Use a live browser session for navigation, actions, or executable browser work.

firecrawl_interact_stop

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_interact_stop.

Release resources by closing an interaction session.

firecrawl_parse

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_parse.

Convert supported documents to readable content or schema-shaped output.

firecrawl_monitor_create

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_monitor_create.

Schedule recurring collection checks with change comparison.

firecrawl_monitor_list

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_monitor_list.

firecrawl_monitor_get

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_monitor_get.

firecrawl_monitor_update

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_monitor_update.

firecrawl_monitor_delete

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_monitor_delete.

firecrawl_monitor_run

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_monitor_run.

firecrawl_monitor_checks

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_monitor_checks.

firecrawl_monitor_check

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_monitor_check.

firecrawl_research_search_papers

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_research_search_papers.

Find indexed scientific paper metadata and abstracts using a natural-language query.

firecrawl_research_inspect_paper

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_research_inspect_paper.

Retrieve canonical metadata for an identified scientific paper.

firecrawl_research_related_papers

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_research_related_papers.

Discover related papers through citation relationships around seed papers.

firecrawl_research_read_paper

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_research_read_paper.

Read indexed paper passages relevant to a specific question.

firecrawl_research_search_github

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_research_search_github.

Search indexed public repository issues, pull requests, and README content.

firecrawl_developer_search

After refreshing Firecrawl in Windsurf settings, check Cascade's tool list for firecrawl_developer_search.

Find coding answers across curated documentation and GitHub discussions.

Firecrawl: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting Firecrawl in Windsurf

• Check npx firecrawl-mcp (Node.js/npm) on the machine running Windsurf's MCP integration for Firecrawl MCP Server; refresh MCP and inspect Cascade's tools.
• Check FIRECRAWL_API_KEY for Firecrawl MCP Server; do not bypass a Windsurf permission error with a broad administrator token.
• Firecrawl MCP Server uses stdio here: Windsurf must keep the configured process running; protocol output belongs on stdout and diagnostics on stderr.
• Known limitation: The keyless tier is rate-limited and excludes several tools.
• Known limitation: Large crawls and full-page markdown can consume substantial model context.
• Known limitation: The extract compatibility tool is deprecated in favor of schema-based scraping.
• General Windsurf troubleshooting lives in the /clients/windsurf guide.

Frequently asked questions