Yes, Google Surf is free to use.

How do I install Google Surf?

Google Surf is a local plugin. Install it using npm package: google-surf-mcp and add the generated configuration snippet to your AI app's MCP config file. Then restart your AI app.

What credentials does Google Surf need?

Google Surf requires the following credentials or environment variables: CHROME_PATH, SURF_PROFILE_ROOT, SURF_LOCALE, SURF_TZ. You can find setup instructions on the server detail page.

What AI apps work with Google Surf?

Google Surf uses the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and works with any MCP-compatible AI app, including Claude, ChatGPT / Codex, Gemini, Copilot, Cursor, and more.

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Google Surf MCP Server

by HarimxChoi

Developer ToolsModerate5.2MCP RegistryLocal

Free

Server data from the Official MCP Registry

Google search via Playwright with a warm Chrome profile. No API key, no proxies.

About

Google search via Playwright with a warm Chrome profile. No API key, no proxies.

Security Report

5.2

Moderate5.2Moderate Risk

This MCP server implements Google search via Playwright with appropriate security controls for its use case. Authentication is not applicable (no API keys required). Code quality is solid with proper error handling, input validation, and permissions appropriately scoped to browser automation. Minor concerns around error message exposure and lack of logging do not significantly impact the security posture. Supply chain analysis found 2 known vulnerabilities in dependencies (0 critical, 2 high severity). Package verification found 1 issue.

7 files analyzed · 7 issues found

Security scores are indicators to help you make informed decisions, not guarantees. Always review permissions before connecting any MCP server.

Permissions Required

This plugin requests these system permissions. Most are normal for its category.

File System Read

Reads files on your machine. Normal for tools that analyze or process local data.

File System Write

Writes or modifies files on your machine. Check that this is expected for the tool.

process_spawn

Check that this permission is expected for this type of plugin.

env_vars

Check that this permission is expected for this type of plugin.

system_info

Check that this permission is expected for this type of plugin.

What You'll Need

Set these up before or after installing:

Absolute path to the Chrome binary. Auto-detected on Windows/macOS/Linux when omitted.Optional

Environment variable: CHROME_PATH

Directory for the warm Chrome profile. Defaults to ~/.google-surf-mcp.Optional

Environment variable: SURF_PROFILE_ROOT

Browser locale, e.g. en-US.Optional

Environment variable: SURF_LOCALE

IANA timezone, e.g. America/New_York. Defaults to system timezone.Optional

Environment variable: SURF_TZ

How to Install

Add this to your MCP configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io-github-harimxchoi-google-surf-mcp": {
      "env": {
        "SURF_TZ": "your-surf-tz-here",
        "CHROME_PATH": "your-chrome-path-here",
        "SURF_LOCALE": "your-surf-locale-here",
        "SURF_PROFILE_ROOT": "your-surf-profile-root-here"
      },
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "google-surf-mcp"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

Documentation

View on GitHub

From the project's GitHub README.

google-surf-mcp

MCP server for Google search. No API key. Playwright with a warm Chrome profile.

Why

Free Google search MCPs out there mostly don't work in 2026 — Google blocks them in seconds. After ~30 failed attempts I found two things matter:

Remove --enable-automation from Chrome's launch args. Playwright sets it by default. Stealth plugins don't touch it. Google checks it first.
Use a warm persistent profile. Cold profiles get CAPTCHA'd. A profile that ran one real search in visible mode never gets blocked again in headless.

With those two: ~2s per query, parallel works, no keys, no proxies.

Numbers

	result
sequential, warm	~2s/query
parallel x4	~9s wall
parallel x10	~16s wall
cold profile	CAPTCHA every time
`--enable-automation` left on	CAPTCHA every time

Install

Requires Node 18+ and Google Chrome (or Chromium) on the system.

npx google-surf-mcp --help   # nothing yet, just to pull the package
npx google-surf-mcp           # actual MCP — register in client config

Or local clone:

git clone https://github.com/HarimxChoi/google-surf-mcp
cd google-surf-mcp
npm install
npm run bootstrap

bootstrap opens a Chrome window. Run one Google search in it. Close. Profile is now warm.

Override paths if needed:

CHROME_PATH=/path/to/chrome SURF_TZ=America/New_York npm run bootstrap

Claude Code config

~/.claude.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-surf": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "google-surf-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or with a local clone:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "google-surf": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/abs/path/to/google-surf-mcp/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Tools

search(query, limit?) — single query, ~2s
search_parallel(queries[], limit?) — pool of 4, max 8 queries per call

Env vars

var	default	notes
`CHROME_PATH`	auto-detected	absolute path to Chrome binary
`SURF_PROFILE_ROOT`	`~/.google-surf-mcp`	where the warm profile lives
`SURF_LOCALE`	`en-US`	browser locale
`SURF_TZ`	system tz	e.g. `America/New_York`

Troubleshooting

CAPTCHA error → re-run npm run bootstrap
"Chrome not found" → install Chrome or set CHROME_PATH
Stale selectors → Google rotates classes; PRs welcome

License

MIT

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Google Surf MCP Server

About

Security Report

Findings (7)Action required

Permissions Required

What You'll Need

How to Install

Documentation

google-surf-mcp

Why

Numbers

Install

Claude Code config

Tools

Env vars

Troubleshooting

License

Reviews

No reviews yet

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