Web search for Claude Code
Claude Code can reach the live web two ways here. The MCP server hands it five tools and needs one command. The agent skill goes further and teaches it when to search, when to read a page instead, and how deep to go.
What Claude Code can do with it
Current sources while it codes
It can check library documentation, GitHub, and release notes before writing against an API it has not seen, instead of relying on what it remembers.
Reading, not just searching
Given a URL it retrieves the readable text of that page. Given a search it can pull the top results back as full page content in the same call.
Citable results
Every result carries its source URL, so the answer it gives you can point at where the information came from.
Two ways to set it up
Pick one. The MCP server is the shorter path and needs nothing installed locally. The skill runs on the CLI and changes how well Claude Code searches, not just whether it can.
MCP server, one command β bash
Agent skill, runs on the s1 CLI β bash
Worth knowing
The MCP server also speaks OAuth 2.1. A client that discovers the authorization flow does not need an API key in the command at all.
Both routes bill the same way: 1 credit for a search, plus 1 for each page successfully retrieved.
The two are not exclusive. The MCP server supplies the tools and the skill supplies the judgment about using them, so installing both is reasonable.
What people do with it
Look up the current signature of a library function before calling it.
Read an RFC or a changelog that a teammate linked in the issue.
Research an approach across several sources, then summarize with citations.
FAQ
MCP server or agent skill, which should I install?
Start with the MCP server if you only want Claude Code to be able to search. Install the skill if you want it to search well: the skill decides when a URL should be read rather than searched, when to widen the result set, and when a word like "latest" should become a time filter.
Do I need an API key?
For the MCP route, not necessarily. Claude Code can go through the OAuth 2.1 flow the server advertises, in which case you approve access in the browser and no key is stored. The skill route uses the s1 CLI, which logs in with OAuth as well.
How much does it cost?
New accounts get 100 credits free with no card. A search or news request is 1 credit, and each page successfully retrieved adds 1 more.