Claude.

claude.ai, Desktop and mobile#

Add metasearch.sh once on the web or in Claude Desktop and it is there on your phone too. Custom connectors work on every Claude plan; the free plan allows one.

1. Open Customize, then Connectors, and choose Add, then Add custom connector.
2. Name it metasearch.sh and paste the URL https://metasearch.sh/mcp. Leave the advanced settings empty.
3. Choose Add, then Connect. A metasearch.sh page opens: sign in, pick the organisation that pays, and allow access.
4. In a chat, turn the connector on from the tools menu and ask something current, such as "What happened in battery research this week? Cite sources."

On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it for everyone: Organization settings, Connectors, Add, Custom, Web, with the same URL. Each member then connects it with their own metasearch.sh sign-in, so each member's searches are charged to the organisation they choose.

Claude Code#

$ claude mcp add --transport http metasearch https://metasearch.sh/mcp

Then run /mcp in a session, choose metasearch and sign in in the browser, or sign in from the shell:

$ claude mcp login metasearch

Add --scope user to use it in every project, or --scope project to share it through .mcp.json; each person who opens the project signs in for themselves. Check it with claude mcp list.

Headless runs (claude -p, CI) cannot open a browser. Use a key there:

$ claude mcp add --transport http metasearch https://metasearch.sh/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $METASEARCH_API_KEY"

The Claude plugin#

The plugin bundles the same server with a skill that tells Claude when a web search helps and which mode to ask for. In Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add paperfoot/search-cli
/plugin install metasearch@paperfoot

Claude Code asks you to sign in the first time a tool runs. The plugin's source is in paperfoot/search-cli, next to the search-cli plugin, which drives the command-line client instead.

The Messages API#

The API's MCP connector calls the server for you during a request. It takes a bearer token, so pass an API key:

curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "anthropic-beta: mcp-client-2026-09-15" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-opus-5-5",
    "max_tokens": 2048,
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What changed in the EU AI Act this month? Cite sources."}],
    "mcp_servers": [{
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://metasearch.sh/mcp",
      "name": "metasearch",
      "authorization_token": "'"$METASEARCH_API_KEY"'"
    }],
    "tools": [{"type": "mcp_toolset", "mcp_server_name": "metasearch"}]
  }'