brightdata-mcp

A powerful Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides an all-in-one solution for public web access.

Overview

The Bright Data MCP server gives AI agents real-time access to public web data. It exposes 69 tools covering:

Web search — Google, Bing, and Yandex results as structured data
Page scraping — any URL as Markdown or HTML, with bot detection, CAPTCHA solving, and proxy rotation handled automatically on every request
Structured data extraction — clean JSON from Amazon, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit, Facebook, Crunchbase, Zillow, and other major platforms, without parsing HTML
Browser automation — navigate, click, type, screenshot, and read pages in a remote browser session
LLM response collection — send prompts to ChatGPT, Grok, and Perplexity and get their answers back as structured data
Package registry data — npm and PyPI package versions, READMEs, dependencies, and metadata

Every request is routed through Bright Data's unblocking infrastructure, so pages that block ordinary HTTP clients (bot detection, CAPTCHAs, rate limits, geo-restrictions) return normally. No proxy setup, no headless browser maintenance, no retry logic to write.

Two deployment options: a hosted remote server (one URL, no installation) or a local instance via npx @brightdata/mcp.

Quick Start

Hosted server — no installation. Add this URL to your MCP client:

https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN_HERE

Get your API token from your Bright Data account settings. New accounts get 5,000 free requests per month.

Optional URL parameters:

Parameter	Description	Example
`groups=<ids>`	Enable specific tool groups	`...&groups=social,ecommerce`
`tools=<names>`	Enable specific tools only	`...&tools=search_engine,scrape_as_markdown`

Claude Desktop

Go to: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector
Name: Bright Data
URL: https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN
Click "Add"

Or run locally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Bright Data": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@brightdata/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "API_TOKEN": "<your-api-token-here>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http brightdata "https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brightdata": {
      "url": "https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "brightdata": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brightdata": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

Gemini CLI

Add to ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brightdata": {
      "httpUrl": "https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

Zed

Add to your Zed settings:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "brightdata": {
      "url": "https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"
    }
  }
}

Warp

Go to Settings > MCP Servers > Add MCP Server and add:

{
  "brightdata": {
    "url": "https://mcp.brightdata.com/mcp?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN"
  }
}

Other clients (local npx)

For any client that supports local MCP servers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Bright Data": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@brightdata/mcp"],
      "env": {
        "API_TOKEN": "<your-api-token-here>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Pricing and Free Tier

Every account includes a recurring monthly free tier. No credit card or commitment required to start.

5,000 free requests per month, renewing on the 1st of each month. Unused requests don't roll over. For team accounts, the free tier is shared across all users in the account.

What's included free:

Fetch any webpage and extract as Markdown
Access to 60+ pre-built scrapers for popular domains
Web search (Google, Bing, Yandex)
Web unlocking (bot detection bypass, CAPTCHA solving, proxy rotation)
Browser automation
Geo-targeting

Beyond the free tier — pay as you go, no commitment:

	Search, Scrape & Extract	Browser Navigation
Pay as you go	$1.50 / 1K results	$8 / GB

When free requests run out, requests stop. No surprise charges — unless you have deposited funds
Adding a credit card is a verification step only; you are not charged unless your free tier is exhausted and you have funds deposited
Set a spend cap in the control panel so pay-as-you-go usage never exceeds your budget

Full pricing, volume plans and enterprise →

Use Cases

Real-time research

Answer questions using live web data instead of training data. Search, then read the sources.

Task	Tools
Search the web for current information	`search_engine`, `search_engine_batch`
Read a specific page as clean Markdown	`scrape_as_markdown`, `scrape_batch`
Find the most relevant sources for a research question, ranked by AI relevance score	`discover`

Example prompts: "What's Tesla's current stock price?", "Get today's weather forecast for New York", "Find the most cited sources on EU AI regulation from the last 6 months".

E-commerce intelligence

Read product data as structured JSON: price, availability, rating, review count, seller, images.

Task	Tools
Amazon product details, reviews, search results	`web_data_amazon_product`, `web_data_amazon_product_reviews`, `web_data_amazon_product_search`
Walmart, eBay, Best Buy, Etsy, Home Depot, Zara products	`web_data_walmart_product`, `web_data_ebay_product`, `web_data_bestbuy_products`, `web_data_etsy_products`, `web_data_homedepot_products`, `web_data_zara_products`
Cross-retailer price view	`web_data_google_shopping`
Seller profiles	`web_data_walmart_seller`

Example prompts: "Compare this laptop's price on Amazon vs Walmart vs Best Buy", "Get the rating and review count for ASIN B0D2Q9397Y", "Is this product in stock?".

Market and competitor analysis

Build competitor profiles from live data: funding, headcount, hiring, customer reviews, pricing pages.

Task	Tools
Company funding, investors, size	`web_data_crunchbase_company`, `web_data_zoominfo_company_profile`
Company pages, employees, job postings	`web_data_linkedin_company_profile`, `web_data_linkedin_job_listings`
Customer sentiment	`web_data_google_maps_reviews`, `web_data_facebook_company_reviews`, app store review tools
Competitor pricing pages	`scrape_as_markdown`, `scrape_batch`
Market discovery	`search_engine_batch`, `discover`

Example prompt: "Analyze Notion as a competitor: pricing, funding, hiring focus, and what customers complain about".

AI agents with reliable web access

Replace built-in fetch/search tools that get blocked on protected sites. Every request goes through unblocking infrastructure, so agents don't fail on bot detection, CAPTCHAs, or geo-restrictions.

Task	Tools
Drop-in replacement for built-in web search	`search_engine`
Drop-in replacement for built-in URL fetch	`scrape_as_markdown`
Parallel data collection (10 at a time)	`search_engine_batch`, `scrape_batch`
Interactive sites (login walls, infinite scroll, dynamic content)	`scraping_browser_*` (13 tools)
Structured JSON from any page, no schema needed	`extract`

Coding agents

Package registry data on demand — no scraping, no stale caches.

Task	Tools
npm package version, README, dependencies, metadata	`web_data_npm_package`
PyPI package version, README, dependencies, metadata	`web_data_pypi_package`
Read files from GitHub repositories	`web_data_github_repository_file`

Example prompts: "What's the latest version of express on npm?", "Get the README for the langchain-brightdata PyPI package".

GEO and brand visibility

Send prompts to major LLMs and get their answers back as structured data. Measure how AI assistants describe your brand, which sources they cite, and what they recommend — the feedback loop for Generative Engine Optimization.

Task	Tools
ChatGPT answers with citations and recommendations	`web_data_chatgpt_ai_insights`
Grok answers	`web_data_grok_ai_insights`
Perplexity answers with sources	`web_data_perplexity_ai_insights`

Example prompt: "Ask ChatGPT, Grok, and Perplexity 'what is the best proxy provider' and compare how each one ranks us".

Social media monitoring

Structured data from seven platforms: profiles, posts, comments, engagement metrics.

Platform	Tools
LinkedIn	person profiles, company profiles, job listings, posts, people search (5 tools)
Instagram	profiles, posts, reels, comments (4 tools)
TikTok	profiles, posts, shop, comments (4 tools)
Facebook	posts, marketplace listings, company reviews, events (4 tools)
YouTube	videos, channel profiles, comments (3 tools)
X (Twitter)	posts, profile posts (2 tools)
Reddit	posts (1 tool)

Example prompt: "Get the last 10 posts from this TikTok profile and summarize the engagement".

Content creation and academic research

Gather source material from many pages at once, filtered by recency and relevance.

Task	Tools
Collect multiple sources in one call	`scrape_batch` (up to 10 URLs)
Find sources by topic with date filtering	`discover` with `start_date` / `end_date`
News and finance data	`web_data_yahoo_finance_business`, `search_engine` with news queries

How It Compares

Capability	Bright Data MCP	Typical web MCP servers
Total tools	69	2–10
Platform-specific structured JSON extractors	45 tools across e-commerce, social, business, finance, travel, app stores	Rare; generic scraping only
Unblocking (bot detection bypass, CAPTCHA solving, proxy rotation)	Built into every request	Usually none; blocked on protected sites
Search engines	Google, Bing, Yandex	Usually one
AI-relevance-ranked search with intent	Yes (`discover`)	Not offered
Browser automation	13 tools, remote browser, no local setup	Limited or none
LLM response collection (ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity)	Yes	Not offered
Package registry data (npm, PyPI)	Yes	Not offered
Batch operations	10 searches or 10 scrapes per call	Usually single-request only
Geo-targeting	Yes	Limited or none
Free tier	5,000 requests/month, browser automation included, no credit card	Varies; often rate-limited keyless access

Tool Selection: Groups

Tools are organized into groups so you only load what you need. Fewer tools means less context for your agent to process.

GROUPS enables tool bundles. Comma-separated: GROUPS="ecommerce,browser" (local) or &groups=ecommerce,browser (hosted URL)
TOOLS adds individual tools on top: TOOLS="extract,scrape_as_html"
Base tools are always enabled: search_engine, search_engine_batch, scrape_as_markdown, scrape_batch, discover
Group ID custom is reserved; use TOOLS for individual picks

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brightdata-mcp

About

Overview

Quick Start

Pricing and Free Tier

Use Cases

Real-time research

E-commerce intelligence

Market and competitor analysis

AI agents with reliable web access

Coding agents

GEO and brand visibility

Social media monitoring

Content creation and academic research

How It Compares

Tool Selection: Groups

Issues· 0 open

> Tags

> Details

> Related tools

brightdata-mcp

About

Overview

Quick Start

Pricing and Free Tier

Use Cases

Real-time research

E-commerce intelligence

Market and competitor analysis

AI agents with reliable web access

Coding agents

GEO and brand visibility

Social media monitoring

Content creation and academic research

How It Compares

Tool Selection: Groups

Issues· 0 open

> Tags

> Discussion

> Details

> Related tools