ResearchMCP

A research tool that combines the Model Context Protocol (MCP) with Brave Search, Tavily Search,

etc. to achieve research capabilities equivalent to (or aiming to be equivalent to) ChatGPT's

DeepResearch.

Technology Stack

• Runtime: Deno
• Framework: Hono
• Error Handling: Neverthrow (Result pattern)
• Deployment: Docker container

Setup

Local Development

1. Install Deno

2. Clone the repository

3. Set environment variables

• BRAVE_API_KEY: Brave Search API key
• TAVILY_API_KEY: Tavily Search API key (optional)

4. Run the application:

make dev  # HTTP server
   make mcp  # MCP server for Claude Desktop

Container Environment

1. Install Docker and Docker Compose

2. Set environment variables in a .env file

3. Build and run the container:

make d-build
   make d-up

Development Commands

# Local development
make dev     # Start HTTP server with watch mode
make mcp     # Start MCP server for Claude Desktop
make test    # Run tests
make lint    # Run linter
make format  # Format code
make check   # Type check

# Docker development
make d-build  # Build the image
make d-dev    # Start container with live reload
make d-up     # Run in background
make d-logs   # View logs
make d-down   # Stop container

MCP Integration with Claude Desktop

1. Run the MCP server: make mcp

2. In Claude Desktop, add a new MCP server with the following configuration:

{
     "mcpServers": {
       "MCPSearch": {
         "description": "Web search powered by Brave, Tavily, etc.",
         "command": "/absolute/path/to/ResearchMCP/cli.ts",
         "args": [],
         "transport": "stdio",
         "env": {
           "BRAVE_API_KEY": "your_brave_api_key_here",
           "TAVILY_API_KEY": "your_tavily_api_key_here"
         }
       }
     }
   }

Replace /absolute/path/to/ResearchMCP/cli.ts with the actual path to the cli.ts file.

Known Limitations

• Language Support: Brave Search API has limited support for non-Latin characters. Searches in

Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and other non-Latin script languages may fail with encoding errors. For

best results, use English queries.

Features

• Web Search: Search the web using Brave Search API through Claude Desktop
• MCP Protocol: Full compliance with the Model Context Protocol
• Caching: Search results are cached to improve performance and reduce API calls