Tavily MCP Server for Cursor: Setup & Config

What you can do with Tavily in Cursor

Use it for search plus page collection, with either local execution or authenticated hosted access.

• Discover a website URL structure before collecting pages.
• Crawl websites or assemble research from multiple sources.

Before you start: Tavily in Cursor

• Node.js 20 or newer for local execution
• A Tavily API key for the local server
• An MCP-compatible client

The command launches the local server. The hosted endpoint is an alternative with API-key or OAuth authentication. DEFAULT_PARAMETERS can set local search defaults.

Tavily Cursor configuration

1. Choose Cursor configuration scope

   For Tavily MCP Server, open Project: .cursor/mcp.json User: ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Merge into mcpServers at project or user scope.

2. Add Tavily MCP Server to Cursor

   Use the tavily-mcp entry below in mcpServers. Keep Tavily MCP Server's documented stdio connection fields and your other Cursor entries.

3. Check Tavily MCP Server in Cursor

   Tavily MCP Server: Enable in Cursor’s MCP settings; inspect tools.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "tavily-mcp@latest"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TAVILY_API_KEY": "<Tavily API key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tavily tools available to Cursor

Tavily's stored tool list documents 5 tools; compare it with Cursor's connected tool list, because the stored list is not a live check.

tavily_search

Find tavily_search under Tavily in Cursor's MCP settings; inspect its arguments when the agent requests a call.

Find current web information and return source links with excerpts.

tavily_extract

Find tavily_extract under Tavily in Cursor's MCP settings; inspect its arguments when the agent requests a call.

tavily_crawl

Find tavily_crawl under Tavily in Cursor's MCP settings; inspect its arguments when the agent requests a call.

tavily_map

Find tavily_map under Tavily in Cursor's MCP settings; inspect its arguments when the agent requests a call.

Discover URLs and outline the structure of a website.

tavily_research

Find tavily_research under Tavily in Cursor's MCP settings; inspect its arguments when the agent requests a call.

Combine multiple sources into a detailed research response; limited to 20 requests per minute.

Tavily: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting Tavily in Cursor

• Cursor must find npx tavily-mcp@latest (Node.js/npm) for Tavily MCP Server. Enable the project/user entry in MCP settings and inspect its tools.
• Review TAVILY_API_KEY for Tavily MCP Server before sharing project .cursor/mcp.json; project scope travels with the repository.
• Tavily MCP Server uses stdio here: Cursor must keep the configured process running; protocol output belongs on stdout and diagnostics on stderr.
• Known limitation: Local execution requires Node.js 20 or newer and a Tavily API key.
• Known limitation: The research tool is limited to 20 requests per minute in the supplied data.
• General Cursor troubleshooting lives in the /clients/cursor guide.

Frequently asked questions