One MCP server for web search and page extraction across multiple providers.
Built by Robin Bially · Part of LocalFoundry.
Rotate across available quotas, automatically fail over when a provider is unavailable, and return consistent results to your AI assistant. A local dashboard lets you manage API keys, reorder engines, check quotas, and inspect request history.
Actual dashboard UI, shown in English with illustrative demo data.
brew install localfoundry/tap/search-rotation
search-rotation --http --openHomebrew installs the required Node.js runtime. For MCP over stdio, configure your
client to run search-rotation with no arguments. See the
LocalFoundry tap for upgrades and details.
Requires Node.js 20.3+ and Git. Install directly from GitHub — no npm account needed.
npx -y --allow-git=all github:localfoundry/search-rotation#v0.4.5To preview the dashboard:
npx -y --allow-git=all github:localfoundry/search-rotation#v0.4.5 --http --openAdd your provider keys in the dashboard, then connect your assistant using the MCP client setup guide for Codex, Claude, Cursor, or OpenCode.
- Search and fetch: independent rotation for web search and Markdown page extraction.
- Automatic failover: quota-aware ordering, rate-limit cooldowns, and request timeouts.
- Local dashboard: API keys, drag-and-drop engine order, quota status, and request history.
- Local or remote: MCP over stdio or authenticated Streamable HTTP.
Providers: Tavily · Firecrawl · Parallel · Exa · Google PSE · Jina Reader · DuckDuckGo HTML. Keyless access and quota accounting vary by provider.
web_search · fetch_url · engine_status · open_dashboard
The dashboard's MCP Tools tab explains each tool, its parameters, and copyable example calls.
Actual dashboard UI, shown in English.
web_search accepts the following arguments:
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
query |
Required search text. |
numResults |
Optional result count, 1–20; otherwise the dashboard setting applies. |
engine |
Preferred provider, subject to time-filter support and availability; failover stays enabled. |
timeRange |
day, week, month, or year: UTC date window starting 1, 7, 30, or 365 days ago, through today. |
startDate |
Optional lower date bound in YYYY-MM-DD format. |
endDate |
Optional upper date bound in YYYY-MM-DD format. |
Use either timeRange or explicit dates. One-sided bounds and equal start/end dates are allowed; invalid calendar dates, reversed bounds, and mixing relative and explicit filters are rejected before any provider request.
{"name":"web_search","arguments":{"query":"AI inference research","timeRange":"week","numResults":5}}{"name":"web_search","arguments":{"query":"AI inference research","startDate":"2026-08-01","endDate":"2026-08-31"}}Relative windows are resolved once per request into UTC dates, including across failover. These are date filters, not exact rolling 24-hour windows; month and year mean 30 and 365 days, not calendar arithmetic. Exa receives the start of the first UTC day and the end of the last UTC day.
| Provider / access | Relative window | Two date bounds | One date bound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tavily, with or without key | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Firecrawl, with or without key | Yes | Yes | Skipped |
| Exa, direct API with key | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Exa, hosted MCP without key | Skipped | Skipped | Skipped |
| Parallel, either access mode | Skipped | Skipped | Skipped |
| Google PSE / DuckDuckGo HTML | Skipped | Skipped | Skipped |
This table describes implemented support in search-rotation, not every upstream feature. Tavily receives start_date / end_date, Firecrawl receives a custom tbs range, and Exa receives startPublishedDate / endPublishedDate. Firecrawl is conservatively excluded for one-sided dates; the other skipped paths have no implemented date mapping.
The router excludes incompatible providers before quota checks and rotation, including when an incompatible engine is preferred. Each eligible provider pool has its own rotation cursor, so mixing filtered and unfiltered searches does not starve providers. Existing quota priorities, cooldowns, strict-free rules, and failover apply within that pool. If no compatible provider is available, the search fails explicitly; it never retries without the filter. Searches without time arguments retain access to all otherwise eligible providers.
Results show a publication date when supplied by the adapter, and request history includes the requested period. Provider date metadata can be estimated or missing: Tavily filters publication or update dates, Exa filters estimated publication dates, and Firecrawl uses its search index's date interpretation. Exact boundary inclusion follows the provider; this is not an independent verification of each page's publication date. See the Tavily, Firecrawl, and Exa references.
After updating, reconnect your MCP client to load the new tool schema.
Client setup · Operations & configuration (DE) · Releases · CI · MIT license