Tavily MCP Server for VS Code: Setup & Config

What you can do with Tavily in VS Code

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

• Find current web sources for an assistant response.
• Discover a website URL structure before collecting pages.

Before you start: Tavily in VS Code

• 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 VS Code configuration

1. Choose VS Code configuration scope

   For Tavily MCP Server, open Workspace: .vscode/mcp.json. Merge into servers; preserve existing inputs.

2. Add Tavily MCP Server to VS Code

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

3. Check Tavily MCP Server in VS Code

   Tavily MCP Server: Start in VS Code’s MCP controls; inspect output and trust prompts.

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

Tavily tools available to VS Code

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

tavily_search

Look for tavily_search among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Tavily through the MCP controls.

tavily_extract

Look for tavily_extract among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Tavily through the MCP controls.

Retrieve page content from URLs as Markdown or text.

tavily_crawl

Look for tavily_crawl among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Tavily through the MCP controls.

Explore site pages with adjustable crawl depth and breadth.

tavily_map

Look for tavily_map among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Tavily through the MCP controls.

Discover URLs and outline the structure of a website.

tavily_research

Look for tavily_research among VS Code's agent-mode tools after starting Tavily through the MCP controls.

Tavily: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting Tavily in VS Code

• Make npx tavily-mcp@latest (Node.js/npm) available in the workspace, container, or remote environment hosting Tavily MCP Server. Start through VS Code's MCP controls; inspect output and trust prompts.
• For Tavily MCP Server, keep TAVILY_API_KEY out of version control; VS Code documents input variables and secret handling.
• Tavily MCP Server uses stdio here: VS Code 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 VS Code troubleshooting lives in the /clients/vscode guide.

Frequently asked questions