You.com for AI agents
Add real-time web search, research, and content extraction to any agent. Hosted MCP server, free tier with no API key, plus first-party plugins for the Vercel AI SDK and LangChain.
// Add this to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.)
// Free tier — no API key, no signup.
{
"mcpServers": {
"you": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@youdotcom-oss/mcp"],
"env": { "YDC_PROFILE": "free" }
}
}
}
If your client supports remote MCP, point it at https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free directly — no local process needed.
Why You.com
- Real web index — backed by You.com's production search infrastructure, not a scraper.
- Free tier, no signup —
?profile=freeexposesyou-searchto any MCP client with zero auth. - Listed in the official MCP registry as
io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp. - Works with every major agent stack — Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Vercel AI SDK, LangChain.
- One hosted endpoint — all packages here are thin clients over
https://api.you.com/mcp.
Quick start
Every snippet below works against the free tier. To unlock you-research and you-contents, drop the YDC_PROFILE line and set YDC_API_KEY to a key from you.com/platform/api-keys. you-finance is opt-in — pass ?tools=you-finance on the URL or set YDC_ALLOWED_TOOLS=you-finance.
Claude Desktop
Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):
{
"mcpServers": {
"you": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@youdotcom-oss/mcp"],
"env": { "YDC_PROFILE": "free" }
}
}
}
Authenticated (all default tools):
{
"mcpServers": {
"you": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@youdotcom-oss/mcp"],
"env": { "YDC_API_KEY": "<your-key>" }
}
}
}
Claude Code
# Free tier
claude mcp add you -e YDC_PROFILE=free -- npx @youdotcom-oss/mcp
# Authenticated
claude mcp add you -e YDC_API_KEY=<your-key> -- npx @youdotcom-oss/mcp
Cursor
Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or .cursor/mcp.json in a project):
{
"mcpServers": {
"you": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@youdotcom-oss/mcp"],
"env": { "YDC_PROFILE": "free" }
}
}
}
Windsurf
Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"you": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@youdotcom-oss/mcp"],
"env": { "YDC_PROFILE": "free" }
}
}
}
VS Code
Add to your user or workspace mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"you": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@youdotcom-oss/mcp"],
"env": { "YDC_PROFILE": "free" }
}
}
}
Any MCP client (remote)
If your client speaks streamable HTTP, skip the local bridge:
https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free
Authenticated:
https://api.you.com/mcp
Authorization: Bearer <your-key>
Packages
| Package | What it does |
|---|---|
@youdotcom-oss/mcp | STDIO bridge to the hosted MCP server. Use this when your client needs a local command. |
@youdotcom-oss/ai-sdk-plugin | Vercel AI SDK tools backed by the hosted MCP server. |
@youdotcom-oss/langchain | LangChain.js tools backed by the hosted MCP server. |
@youdotcom-oss/cli | ydc CLI for listing tools, fetching schemas, and invoking remote tools from a shell. |
The free profile (?profile=free) exposes you-search only. The authenticated default exposes you-search, you-research, and you-contents. you-finance is available on request via ?tools=you-finance.
Use cases
Web search inside Claude
Once @youdotcom-oss/mcp is wired into Claude Desktop (see above), ask Claude:
Search the web for the latest releases of Bun and summarize the changes since 1.2.
Claude calls you-search directly. No code required.
Vercel AI SDK agent grounded in real-time web
import { createAnthropic } from '@ai-sdk/anthropic';
import { generateText, stepCountIs } from 'ai';
import { createYouClient } from '@youdotcom-oss/ai-sdk-plugin';
const client = await createYouClient({ apiKey: process.env.YDC_API_KEY });
const tools = await client.tools();
const result = await generateText({
model: createAnthropic()('claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929'),
tools,
stopWhen: stepCountIs(5),
prompt: 'What shipped in the latest Bun release?',
});
console.log(result.text);
await client.close();
LangChain agent with cited sources
import { createAgent, initChatModel } from 'langchain';
import { createYouClient } from '@youdotcom-oss/langchain';
const client = await createYouClient({ apiKey: process.env.YDC_API_KEY });
const tools = await client.getTools();
const agent = createAgent({
model: await initChatModel('claude-haiku-4-5'),
tools,
systemPrompt: 'You are a research assistant. Always cite your sources.',
});
const result = await agent.invoke({
messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Latest developments in quantum computing?' }],
});
console.log(result);
Links
- API keys: you.com/platform/api-keys
- Platform docs: documentation.you.com
- MCP registry listing:
io.github.youdotcom-oss/mcp - Issues: github.com/youdotcom-oss/dx-toolkit/issues
- Support: support@you.com
Contributing
This is a Bun workspace monorepo. Development setup, workspace commands, and code conventions live in AGENTS.md; contribution flow and PR conventions live in CONTRIBUTING.md. Issues and PRs welcome.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.