Tavily MCP server

Run in your project. --scope local keeps the servers private to you in this project; use user for every project.

claude mcp add --scope local --transport http tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${TAVILY_API_KEY}"

• Set TAVILY_API_KEY first, e.g. export TAVILY_API_KEY=… in your shell. The command saves the value, not the variable.

Project root. Commit it to share the servers with your team; each person sets the variables in their own shell.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${TAVILY_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Settings → Developer → Edit Config). Restart Claude after saving.

{
  "mcpServers": {}
}

• tavily is a remote server: add it as a custom connector (Customize → Connectors → + Add → Add custom connector; on Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it under Organization settings → Connectors), with the URL https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/.
• tavily: put the key in the connector’s Request headers, never in the URL.

In your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json for every project.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:TAVILY_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

In your workspace. VS Code asks for each secret the first time a server starts and stores it securely.

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "tavily-api-key",
      "description": "TAVILY_API_KEY",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "tavily": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:tavily-api-key}"
      }
    }
  }
}

macOS/Linux: ~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\devin\mcp_config.json. Read by the default Devin Local agent and by the legacy Cascade agent.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${env:TAVILY_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

• Devin’s docs confirm ${env:…} references for the legacy Cascade agent; for the default Devin Local agent they only document them in OAuth settings. If a server can’t authenticate, check Devin’s MCP docs.