Firecrawl MCP Server

Firecrawl web search

firecrawl_search

Read-only

Search web, news, or image sources and return ranked results with query-relevant highlights. Each web result is a title, URL, and description; use firecrawl_scrape on a result URL when the excerpt is not enough.

Authenticated search also returns matching Alexandria data providers in data.tools (companies, people, jobs, finance and filings, public records and government spending, real estate, places and restaurants, retail and prices, package registries and developer data, news, research, and more). Prefer a provider over scraping pages when the task needs the same fields across several entities, exact figures or timestamps, provenance, or many records; use web results when they already answer the question. Authenticated searches always add alexandria to the sources, so sources: ["web"] also returns providers; domainTools: false turns off website-matched tools only.

On an authenticated session, tool matches describe available capabilities; firecrawl_find_tools returns their contracts and firecrawl_scrape with an alexandria body executes a selected capability. Keyless sessions get no Alexandria matches in data.tools.

For a programming question, add categories: ["developer"]; its hits return in data.web with category: "developer". For a legal or regulatory question, categories: ["gov"] returns hits in data.web with category: "gov" and cannot be combined with other categories; authenticated sessions also have firecrawl_gov_search as the dedicated tool. Verify gov results' issuer, jurisdiction, status, and version before citing current law. categories: ["research"] restricts web results to research-affiliated websites; the firecrawl_research_* tools are a separate surface over paper abstracts and full text (PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv, arXiv). Query operators, domain filters, categories, toolDetail and scrapeOptions are described on their parameters. Returns source-type result groups and usage metadata. Authenticated responses can include an id for optional search feedback.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`tbs`	No
`limit`	No
`query`	Yes	Query for web and semantic tool discovery. Operators include quoted phrases, `-term`, `site:host`, `inurl:term`, `intitle:term`, and `related:host`; the set is non-exhaustive. Catalogue browsing is available through firecrawl_find_tools.
`filter`	No
`sources`	No	Search sources; authenticated sessions default to web + alexandria, keyless sessions to web only. Authenticated searches always add alexandria to the sources, so sources: ["web"] also returns providers; domainTools: false turns off website-matched tools only. enterprise zdr or anon searches do not add it. Use ["alexandria"] alone for provider discovery without web results.
`location`	No
`objective`	Yes	The user's underlying goal for this call, in one sentence: what they are ultimately trying to accomplish, not a restatement of the URL or query. Reuse it across related calls. Avoid sensitive information.
`categories`	No	Limit results to specific source types. `research` restricts ordinary web results to research-affiliated websites and returns page snippets, which is separate from the `firecrawl_research_*` tools that search paper abstracts and full text across biomedical (PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv) and arXiv literature; `pdf` searches PDF results; `developer` searches an index built for coding agents over public repositories, GitHub issues, merged pull requests, repository READMEs, and code documentation; `gov` searches the Government Index of US federal, state, and local legal and regulatory sources, the index behind firecrawl_gov_search, and cannot be combined with other categories; gov hits can include historical versions, bill text, agency guidance, and third-party reproductions, so verify the issuer, jurisdiction, enacted/effective status, and version before citing current governing law, clarify a missing jurisdiction or ambiguous as-of date, and use general search for non-US questions or missing coverage (no hits does not establish that no applicable law exists). `developer` and `gov` return hits in `data.web` with `category` set to their name; the other categories also filter `data.web`.
`enterprise`	No
`highlights`	No	Return query-relevant page excerpts for web and news results when available (default). Highlights appear in web `description` and news `snippet`; otherwise, original snippets are returned. Set to false to keep the original search snippets.
`toolDetail`	No	Compact by default. Compact returns only provider, capability and description; full includes contracts. Inspect selected compact tools with firecrawl_find_tools providers and capabilities.
`domainTools`	No	Include domain-matched tools for result URLs. Defaults to true when Alexandria is combined with web, news or images; semantic-only search leaves domain matching off.
`scrapeOptions`	No	Attach page content for web results in the same call. These fetches ignore maxAge, so use firecrawl_scrape when you need a live fetch. scrapeOptions fetches web pages, never Alexandria provider tools.
`excludeDomains`	No	Hostnames to leave out of results. Mutually exclusive with includeDomains.
`includeDomains`	No	Hostnames to restrict results to. Mutually exclusive with excludeDomains.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`id`	No	Search identifier, for optional `firecrawl_search_feedback`.
`data`	No	Ranked results grouped by source, such as `web`, `news`, `images`, and `alexandria`.
`error`	No	Error message or error object when the call did not succeed.
`tools`	No	Domain-matched Alexandria tools for the results.
`success`	No	Whether the API call succeeded.
`warning`	No	Non-fatal warning about the result.
`nextTool`	No	A follow-up tool call that continues this search.
`agent_hints`	No	Optional response guidance from the Firecrawl API.
`creditsUsed`	No	Credits this search consumed.
`feedbackTool`	No	Pointer to the feedback tool for this search.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed1 schema field changedOct 17, 2026

changedInput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "query"
-]New value: +[
+  "query",
+  "objective"
+]

Changed1 schema field changedOct 17, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / sources / description

Previous value: -"Search sources; authenticated sessions default to web + alexandria, keyless sessions to web only. A search with sources: [\"web\"] omits semantic provider discovery; domainTools: true can still return website-matched tools. Web-only results use domainTools: false. Use [\"alexandria\"] alone for provider discovery without web results."New value: +"Search sources; authenticated sessions default to web + alexandria, keyless sessions to web only. Authenticated searches always add alexandria to the sources, so sources: [\"web\"] also returns providers; domainTools: false turns off website-matched tools only. enterprise zdr or anon searches do not add it. Use [\"alexandria\"] alone for provider discovery without web results."

Changed1 schema field changedOct 14, 2026

changedInput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "query",
-  "objective"
-]New value: +[
+  "query"
+]

Changed2 schema fields changedOct 13, 2026

removedInput schema / properties / clientModel

Removed value: -{
-  "description": "Optional model identifier, if known.",
-  "maxLength": 128,
-  "minLength": 1,
-  "type": "string"
-}

removedOutput schema / description

Removed value: -"Ranked search results grouped by source."

Changed2 schema fields changedOct 12, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / objective / description

Previous value: -"Optional broader goal for this search, if known. Avoid sensitive information."New value: +"The user's underlying goal for this call, in one sentence: what they are ultimately trying to accomplish, not a restatement of the URL or query. Reuse it across related calls. Avoid sensitive information."

changedInput schema / required

Previous value: -[
-  "query"
-]New value: +[
+  "query",
+  "objective"
+]

Changed1 schema field changedOct 9, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / scrapeOptions / properties / formats / items / enum

Previous value: -[
-  "markdown",
-  "html",
-  "rawHtml",
-  "screenshot",
-  "links",
-  "summary",
-  "changeTracking",
-  "branding",
-  "json",
-  "query",
-  "audio"
-]New value: +[
+  "markdown",
+  "html",
+  "rawHtml",
+  "screenshot",
+  "links",
+  "images",
+  "summary",
+  "changeTracking",
+  "branding",
+  "json",
+  "query",
+  "audio"
+]

Changed1 schema field changedOct 8, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / categories / description

Previous value: -"Limit results to specific source types. `research` restricts ordinary web results to research-affiliated websites and returns page snippets, which is separate from the `firecrawl_research_*` tools that search paper abstracts and full text across biomedical (PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv) and arXiv literature; `pdf` searches PDF results; `developer` searches an index built for coding agents over public repositories, GitHub issues, merged pull requests, repository READMEs, and code documentation; `gov` searches the Government Index of US federal, state, and local legal and regulatory sources, the index behind firecrawl_gov_search, and cannot be combined with other categories. `developer` and `gov` return hits in `data.web` with `category` set to their name; the other categories also filter `data.web`."New value: +"Limit results to specific source types. `research` restricts ordinary web results to research-affiliated websites and returns page snippets, which is separate from the `firecrawl_research_*` tools that search paper abstracts and full text across biomedical (PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv) and arXiv literature; `pdf` searches PDF results; `developer` searches an index built for coding agents over public repositories, GitHub issues, merged pull requests, repository READMEs, and code documentation; `gov` searches the Government Index of US federal, state, and local legal and regulatory sources, the index behind firecrawl_gov_search, and cannot be combined with other categories; gov hits can include historical versions, bill text, agency guidance, and third-party reproductions, so verify the issuer, jurisdiction, enacted/effective status, and version before citing current governing law, clarify a missing jurisdiction or ambiguous as-of date, and use general search for non-US questions or missing coverage (no hits does not establish that no applicable law exists). `developer` and `gov` return hits in `data.web` with `category` set to their name; the other categories also filter `data.web`."

Changed2 schema fields changedOct 6, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / categories / description

Previous value: -"Limit results to specific source types. `research` restricts ordinary web results to research-affiliated websites and returns page snippets, which is separate from the `firecrawl_research_*` tools that search paper abstracts and full text across biomedical (PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv) and arXiv literature; `pdf` searches PDF results; `developer` searches an index built for coding agents over public repositories, GitHub issues, merged pull requests, repository READMEs, and code documentation. `developer` returns hits in `data.web` with `category: \"developer\"`; the other categories also filter `data.web`."New value: +"Limit results to specific source types. `research` restricts ordinary web results to research-affiliated websites and returns page snippets, which is separate from the `firecrawl_research_*` tools that search paper abstracts and full text across biomedical (PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv) and arXiv literature; `pdf` searches PDF results; `developer` searches an index built for coding agents over public repositories, GitHub issues, merged pull requests, repository READMEs, and code documentation; `gov` searches the Government Index of US federal, state, and local legal and regulatory sources, the index behind firecrawl_gov_search, and cannot be combined with other categories. `developer` and `gov` return hits in `data.web` with `category` set to their name; the other categories also filter `data.web`."

changedInput schema / properties / categories / items / enum

Previous value: -[
-  "research",
-  "pdf",
-  "developer"
-]New value: +[
+  "research",
+  "pdf",
+  "developer",
+  "gov"
+]

Changed2 schema fields changedOct 6, 2026
- addedInput schema / properties / scrapeOptions / properties / profile / description
```
Added value: +"Loads a saved browser profile without saving changes to it."
```
- removedInput schema / properties / scrapeOptions / properties / profile / properties / saveChanges
```
Removed value: -{
-  "type": "boolean"
-}
```

Changed2 schema fields changedOct 1, 2026

addedInput schema / properties / clientModel

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Optional model identifier, if known.",
+  "maxLength": 128,
+  "minLength": 1,
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedInput schema / properties / objective

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Optional broader goal for this search, if known. Avoid sensitive information.",
+  "maxLength": 5000,
+  "minLength": 1,
+  "type": "string"
+}

First observedSep 29, 2026

TDQS

A4.6/5.0

Behavior4/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations already declare readOnlyHint=true, destructiveHint=false and openWorld=true, so safety is covered. The description then adds genuinely non-obvious behavior: how keyless vs authenticated sessions differ in sources, that authenticated searches always inject alexandria, that scrapeOptions fetches ignore maxAge, and that responses may carry a feedback id. Docked one because it never states rate limits or the concrete shape of data.tools beyond a prose list.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness4/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

Front-loads purpose, then routing, then per-category rules in a logical order; almost every sentence carries actionable information. It loses a point for redundancy with the schema – the alexandria/domainTools and gov-verification caveats are restated nearly verbatim from the sources and categories parameter descriptions.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

For a 15-parameter tool with nested objects and an output schema, this covers the decision surface: what sources exist, session-dependent defaults, provider vs web tradeoffs, category-specific caveats, and the fact that usage metadata and source-type groups are returned. Nothing an agent needs in order to call it correctly is missing.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is a moderate 67%, and the description compensates well for the undocumented or thinly documented ones: categories semantics (gov cannot be combined, verify issuer/jurisdiction/status), sources defaulting and the alexandria injection rule, toolDetail levels, domainTools default behavior, and query operator syntax. It leaves tbs, filter, limit, location and enterprise entirely unexplained, so it is not complete.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

Opens with a specific verb and resource ('Search web, news, or image sources') plus the return shape (ranked results with highlights). It explicitly distinguishes itself from firecrawl_scrape by pointing at it for full-page content, so an agent can tell it apart from its siblings without opening a schema.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines5/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

Gives explicit routing rules across several axes: prefer a provider over scraping when the task needs consistent fields across entities or exact figures; use web results when they already answer the question; add categories:['developer'] or ['gov'] for those domains; and use firecrawl_gov_search / firecrawl_research_* for their dedicated surfaces. Names alternatives and the conditions that select them.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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Firecrawl web search

Input Schema

Output Schema

Schema Changelog

TDQS

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