How to add web search to Claude Code with an MCP server

MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is a standard way for an agent to call tools that live on a server. Claude Code connects to the server, reads the list of tools it offers, and decides when to call them while it works on your request.

The server at https://lovelyrouter.com/mcp speaks Streamable HTTP and authenticates with Authorization: Bearer lr-..., the same key as the REST API. Each call is billed from your prepaid balance like the same call over REST:

There's no subscription, and the server works whichever model endpoint Claude Code itself uses.

1. Create a key with a spend limit

   Create a key in API keys, give it a spend limit, and export it in your shell as LOVELY_API_KEY.

2. Add the server

   Shell

   claude mcp add --transport http lovely-tools https://lovelyrouter.com/mcp \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer $LOVELY_API_KEY"

   This adds it to the current project only. Add --scope user to use it in every project.

3. Check that it connects

   Run claude mcp list. Inside a session, /mcp shows the server's status and its tools.

To share the server with your team, commit a .mcp.json at the project root instead. Claude Code expands ${LOVELY_API_KEY} from each person's environment, so the key stays out of the file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lovely-tools": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://lovelyrouter.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${LOVELY_API_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}

You can also test the server without Claude Code. This lists its tools:

curl https://lovelyrouter.com/mcp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LOVELY_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'

The server tells Claude Code to use web_search and web_fetch for anything it only needs to read, and to keep the browser agent for pages it has to interact with. web_search accepts operators in the query: site:, -site:, "exact phrase", -word, lang:, after: and before:. web_fetch returns long pages in parts of about 12,000 characters, and reading on is free. Every argument and return format is in the MCP server docs.

• "Find the release notes for the latest FastAPI version, read them, and list the changes that affect our routes." Claude Code searches with web_search, then reads the notes with web_fetch.
• "Search site:github.com for open issues about this error message, after:2026-06-01, and tell me if there's a known fix." Operators narrow the search to recent issues.
• "Read https://docs.example.com/api/authentication and write a client for it in src/client.py." web_fetch turns the page into Markdown Claude Code can work from.
• "Get the transcript of this YouTube talk and add a summary with timestamps to NOTES.md." Claude Code plans with suggest_tools and runs the YouTube transcript tool with run_tool.
• "Sign up on our public staging site with a test address and tell me what the confirmation page says." browser_run does it in a cloud browser.

Today's prices for the tools Claude Code calls most:

Every run and its charge is listed under Tools in your dashboard. See pricing for the rest.