serp_get_usage_guide

Instructions

Provides detailed information on how to use the SERP search tools
effectively, including parameters, examples, and best practices.

Returns:
    Complete usage guide for SERP tools.

Implementation Reference

• tools/info_tools.py:126-220 (handler)

  The main tool handler for serp_get_usage_guide. Decorated with @mcp.tool(), this async function returns a comprehensive multi-line string guide covering all available SERP tools, parameters, usage examples, response contents, and best practices.

  @mcp.tool()
  async def serp_get_usage_guide() -> str:
      """Get a comprehensive guide for using the Google SERP tools.
  
      Provides detailed information on how to use the SERP search tools
      effectively, including parameters, examples, and best practices.
  
      Returns:
          Complete usage guide for SERP tools.
      """
      # Last updated: 2026-04-05
      return """# Google SERP Tools Usage Guide
  
  ## Available Tools
  
  ### Main Search Tool
  **serp_google_search** - Flexible search with all options
  - query: Search query (required)
  - search_type: search, images, news, maps, places, videos
  - country: Country code (us, uk, cn, etc.)
  - language: Language code (en, zh-cn, etc.)
  - time_range: Time filter (qdr:h, qdr:d, qdr:w, qdr:m)
  - number: Results per page (default: 10)
  - page: Page number (default: 1)
  
  ### Specialized Tools (Shortcuts)
  - **serp_google_images** - Image search
  - **serp_google_news** - News search
  - **serp_google_videos** - Video search
  - **serp_google_places** - Local places/businesses
  - **serp_google_maps** - Map locations
  
  ## Example Usage
  
  ### Basic Web Search
  ```
  serp_google_search(query="artificial intelligence")
  ```
  
  ### News Search with Time Filter
  ```
  serp_google_news(query="tech news", time_range="qdr:d")
  ```
  
  ### Localized Search
  ```
  serp_google_search(
      query="best restaurants",
      country="uk",
      language="en"
  )
  ```
  
  ### Image Search
  ```
  serp_google_images(query="sunset photography")
  ```
  
  ### Paginated Results
  ```
  serp_google_search(query="python tutorials", number=20, page=2)
  ```
  
  ## Response Contents
  
  ### Regular Search (type: search)
  - **knowledge_graph**: Entity information (company, person, etc.)
  - **answer_box**: Direct answers
  - **organic**: Regular search results
  - **people_also_ask**: Related questions
  - **related_searches**: Related queries
  
  ### Image Search (type: images)
  - **images**: Image results with URLs and thumbnails
  
  ### News Search (type: news)
  - **news**: News articles with source and date
  
  ### Video Search (type: videos)
  - **videos**: Video results with duration and source
  
  ### Places Search (type: places)
  - **places**: Local business/place information
  
  ## Best Practices
  
  1. **Be specific**: More specific queries yield better results
  2. **Use localization**: Set country/language for relevant results
  3. **Time filtering**: Use for news and current events
  4. **Pagination**: Use number/page for browsing many results
  5. **Choose right type**: Use specialized types for specific content
  
  ## Credits Note
  - Standard searches (10 results): 1 credit
  - Extended results (>10): May cost additional credits

• tools/info_tools.py:127-135 (schema)

  The function signature shows no parameters are required (no input schema) and it returns a plain string. The docstring describes the purpose: 'Get a comprehensive guide for using the Google SERP tools.'

  async def serp_get_usage_guide() -> str:
      """Get a comprehensive guide for using the Google SERP tools.
  
      Provides detailed information on how to use the SERP search tools
      effectively, including parameters, examples, and best practices.
  
      Returns:
          Complete usage guide for SERP tools.
      """

• tools/info_tools.py:1-4 (registration)

  The tool is registered via the @mcp.tool() decorator on line 126. The mcp instance is imported from core.server (line 3), which creates a FastMCP server instance (server.py).

  """Informational tools for SERP API."""
  
  from core.server import mcp

• main.py:191-192 (registration)

  Secondary registration: the tool name appears in a server card JSON response listing available tools for the HTTP transport mode.

      {"name": "serp_get_usage_guide", "description": "Get API usage guide"},
  ],

• main.py:128-128 (helper)

  The tool name is listed in the startup banner under 'Available tools' for informational display.

  safe_print("    - serp_get_usage_guide")