Websearch
Learn how to add web search and page fetch capabilities to your DeepFellow toolboxes using MCP servers installed on DeepFellow Infra.
The Websearch tool type gives a model access to the web. It composes two independently configured MCP operations:
- search – queries a web search engine and returns a list of results.
- fetch – retrieves the full content of a webpage by URL.
Each operation is configured separately, so you can mix providers (for example, use duckduckgo for search and scrapling for fetch). You can also configure only one of the two operations if your use case requires only search or only fetch.
MCP Service in Infra
The mcp service in DeepFellow Infra manages MCP servers. Each MCP server runs as a Docker container and is exposed at /mcp/{prefix}/mcp (Streamable HTTP transport).
To use any websearch MCP:
- Install the
mcpservice on your Infra instance (if not already installed). - Install the individual MCP server you want from the
mcpservice's MCP server list. Once installed, the server starts automatically. - Note the prefix assigned during installation. You will need it when configuring the Websearch tool.
Available Websearch MCPs
The table below lists all websearch-related MCP servers built into the mcp service.
DuckDuckGo · DuckDuckGo web search
Default prefix: duckduckgo | Source: github.com/nickclyde/duckduckgo-mcp-server
Installation: No environment variables required. Install directly from the mcp service model list.
Open Websearch · Multi-engine customizable web search
Default prefix: open-websearch | Source: github.com/aas-ee/open-websearch
Bundles both search and fetch capabilities in a single container.
Installation: No environment variables required.
Web Search · Concurrent multi-engine web search with full-page content extraction
Default prefix: web-search | Source: github.com/mrkrsl/web-search-mcp
Runs entirely on your infrastructure. No API key required.
Installation: No environment variables required.
Scrapling · Fast, anti-bot-bypass web scraping and content extraction
Default prefix: scrapling | Source: github.com/D4Vinci/Scrapling
Use it as the fetch operation in a Websearch tool, paired with any search-capable MCP for the search operation. No API key required.
Installation: No environment variables required.
Brave Search · Web search powered by the Brave Search API
Default prefix: brave-search | Source: github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server
Obtain an API key from brave.com/search/api.
Required environment variable:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
BRAVE_API_KEY | Your Brave Search API key. |
Ollama Websearch · Easy-to-use web search solution backed by Ollama
Default prefix: ollama-websearch | Source: docs.ollama.com/capabilities/web-search
The OLLAMA_API_KEY is your DeepFellow Infra API key (dfinfra_...), which authorizes the container to call Infra's Ollama service.
Required environment variable:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
OLLAMA_API_KEY | Your DeepFellow Infra API key (DF_INFRA_API_KEY). Run deepfellow infra info to find it. |
SerpAPI · Google search results via the SerpAPI service
Default prefix: serpapi | Source: github.com/serpapi/serpapi-mcp
Unlike the other servers on this list, SerpAPI authenticates via a request header instead of an environment variable. Obtain a SerpAPI key from serpapi.com.
Required header:
| Header | Value |
|---|---|
Authorization | Bearer <var>SERPAPI_KEY</var> |
Set this header in the Headers field during model installation.
Firecrawl · Web crawling and Markdown extraction via the Firecrawl API
Default prefix: firecrawl | Source: github.com/firecrawl/firecrawl-mcp-server
Useful as the fetch operation when you need structured content rather than raw HTML. Obtain an API key from firecrawl.dev.
Required environment variable:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
FIRECRAWL_API_KEY | Your Firecrawl API key. |
Using a Custom MCP Server
You are not limited to the built-in MCP servers listed above. Any MCP server installed on your DeepFellow Infra instance (including custom or self-hosted ones) can back the search or fetch operation, as long as it exposes a compatible tool.
To use a custom MCP server:
- Install and configure your MCP server on DeepFellow Infra so it is accessible at
/mcp/{prefix}/mcp. - Assign its prefix to your project's MCP Prefixes field. See Organizations and Projects.
- When configuring the Websearch tool, select that prefix in the Search or Fetch dropdown and choose the appropriate tool name.
Adding a Websearch Tool to a Toolbox
This section describes how to add a Websearch tool using the DeepFellow Server dashboard. For the API (curl) approach, see Using Tools – Websearch.
Before you begin, make sure:
- The
mcpservice is installed on DeepFellow Infra. - At least one websearch MCP server is installed and running.
- The MCP prefix is listed in your project's MCP Prefixes field (or the field is set to "all"). See Organizations and Projects for how to update this.
Open your project in the DeepFellow Server dashboard and click Toolboxes in the sidebar.
Open an existing toolbox or create a new one by clicking New Toolbox.
Inside the toolbox, click Add Tool.
In the Add Tool dialog, select Web Search as the tool type.
Configure the Fetch operation. Select the prefix of the MCP server that provides a fetch tool (for example, open-websearch or scrapling), then select the tool name from the dropdown.
Configure the Search operation. Select the prefix of the MCP server that provides a search tool (for example, duckduckgo or brave-search), then select the tool name.
Click Save. The new Websearch tool appears in the toolbox tool list.
Note If the prefix dropdown shows no options, the MCP prefix is not assigned to this project. Update the project's MCP Prefixes field in Organizations and Projects, then return to this step.
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