# DuckDuckGo Search MCP Server

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A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides web search capabilities through DuckDuckGo, with additional features for content fetching and parsing.

## Quick Start

```bash
uvx duckduckgo-mcp-server
```

## Features

- **Web Search**: Search DuckDuckGo with advanced rate limiting and result formatting
- **Content Fetching**: Retrieve and parse webpage content with intelligent text extraction
- **Rate Limiting**: Built-in protection against rate limits for both search and content fetching
- **Error Handling**: Comprehensive error handling and logging
- **LLM-Friendly Output**: Results formatted specifically for large language model consumption

## Installation

Install from PyPI using `uv`:

```bash
uv pip install duckduckgo-mcp-server
```

## Usage

### Running with Claude Desktop

1. Download [Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download)
2. Create or edit your Claude Desktop configuration:
   - On macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
   - On Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`

Add the following configuration:

**Basic Configuration (No SafeSearch, No Default Region):**
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "ddg-search": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": ["duckduckgo-mcp-server"]
        }
    }
}
```

**With SafeSearch and Region Configuration:**
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "ddg-search": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": ["duckduckgo-mcp-server"],
            "env": {
                "DDG_SAFE_SEARCH": "STRICT",
                "DDG_REGION": "cn-zh"
            }
        }
    }
}
```

**Configuration Options:**
- `DDG_SAFE_SEARCH`: SafeSearch filtering level (optional)
  - `STRICT`: Maximum content filtering (kp=1)
  - `MODERATE`: Balanced filtering (kp=-1, default if not specified)
  - `OFF`: No content filtering (kp=-2)
- `DDG_REGION`: Default region/language code (optional, examples below)
  - `us-en`: United States (English)
  - `cn-zh`: China (Chinese)
  - `jp-ja`: Japan (Japanese)
  - `wt-wt`: No specific region
  - Leave empty for DuckDuckGo's default behavior

3. Restart Claude Desktop

### Running with Claude Code

1. Download [Claude Code](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code)
2. Ensure [`uvenv`](https://github.com/robinvandernoord/uvenv) is installed and the `uvx` command is available
3. Add the MCP server: `claude mcp add ddg-search uvx duckduckgo-mcp-server`

### Running with SSE or Streamable HTTP

The server supports alternative transports for use with other MCP clients:

```bash
# SSE transport
uvx duckduckgo-mcp-server --transport sse

# Streamable HTTP transport
uvx duckduckgo-mcp-server --transport streamable-http
```

The default transport is `stdio`, which is used by Claude Desktop and Claude Code.

### Development

For local development:

```bash
# Install dependencies
uv sync

# Run with the MCP Inspector
mcp dev src/duckduckgo_mcp_server/server.py

# Install locally for testing with Claude Desktop
mcp install src/duckduckgo_mcp_server/server.py

# Run all tests
uv run python -m pytest src/duckduckgo_mcp_server/ -v

# Run only unit tests
uv run python -m pytest src/duckduckgo_mcp_server/test_server.py -v

# Run only e2e tests
uv run python -m pytest src/duckduckgo_mcp_server/test_e2e.py -v
```

## Available Tools

### 1. Search Tool

```python
async def search(query: str, max_results: int = 10, region: str = "") -> str
```

Performs a web search on DuckDuckGo and returns formatted results.

**Parameters:**
- `query`: Search query string
- `max_results`: Maximum number of results to return (default: 10)
- `region`: (Optional) Region/language code to override the default. Leave empty to use the configured default region.

**Region Code Examples:**
- `us-en`: United States (English)
- `cn-zh`: China (Chinese)
- `jp-ja`: Japan (Japanese)
- `de-de`: Germany (German)
- `fr-fr`: France (French)
- `wt-wt`: No specific region

**Returns:**
Formatted string containing search results with titles, URLs, and snippets.

**Example Usage:**
- Search with default settings: `search("python tutorial")`
- Search with specific region: `search("latest news", region="jp-ja")` for Japanese news

### 2. Content Fetching Tool

```python
async def fetch_content(url: str) -> str
```

Fetches and parses content from a webpage.

**Parameters:**
- `url`: The webpage URL to fetch content from

**Returns:**
Cleaned and formatted text content from the webpage.

## Features in Detail

### Rate Limiting

- Search: Limited to 30 requests per minute
- Content Fetching: Limited to 20 requests per minute
- Automatic queue management and wait times

### Result Processing

- Removes ads and irrelevant content
- Cleans up DuckDuckGo redirect URLs
- Formats results for optimal LLM consumption
- Truncates long content appropriately

### Content Safety

- **SafeSearch Filtering**: Configured at server startup via `DDG_SAFE_SEARCH` environment variable
  - Controlled by administrators, not modifiable by AI assistants
  - Filters inappropriate content based on the selected level
  - Uses DuckDuckGo's official `kp` parameter

- **Region Localization**:
  - Default region set via `DDG_REGION` environment variable
  - Can be overridden per search request by AI assistants
  - Improves result relevance for specific geographic regions

### Error Handling

- Comprehensive error catching and reporting
- Detailed logging through MCP context
- Graceful degradation on rate limits or timeouts

## Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome! Some areas for potential improvement:

- Enhanced content parsing options
- Caching layer for frequently accessed content
- Additional rate limiting strategies

## License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.