Welcome to the official Bright Data Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, enabling LLMs, agents and apps to access, discover and extract web data in real-time. This server allows MCP clients, such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf and others, to seamlessly search the web, navigate websites, take action and retrieve data - without getting blocked - perfect for scraping tasks.
- Real-time Web Access: Access up-to-date information directly from the web
- Bypass Geo-restrictions: Access content regardless of location constraints
- Web Unlocker: Navigate websites with bot detection protection
- Browser Control: Optional remote browser automation capabilities
- Seamless Integration: Works with all MCP-compatible AI assistants
-
Install
nodejs
to get thenpx
command (node.js module runner). Installation instructions can be found on the node.js website -
Go to Claude > Settings > Developer > Edit Config > claude_desktop_config.json to include the following:
{
"mcpServers": {
"Bright Data": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["@brightdata/mcp"],
"env": {
"API_TOKEN": "<insert-your-api-token-here>",
"WEB_UNLOCKER_ZONE": "<optional if you want to override the default mcp_unlocker zone name>",
"BROWSER_AUTH": "<optional if you want to enable remote browser control tools>"
}
}
}
}
-
Make sure you have an account on brightdata.com (new users get free credit for testing, and pay as you go options are available)
-
Get your API key from the user settings page
-
Create a Web Unlocker proxy zone called
mcp_unlocker
in your control panel- You can override this zone in your MCP server with the env variable
WEB_UNLOCKER_ZONE
- You can override this zone in your MCP server with the env variable
-
(Optional) To enable browser control tools:
- Visit your Bright Data control panel at brightdata.com/cp/zones
- Create a new 'Browser API' zone
- Once created, copy the authentication string from the Browser API overview tab
- The authentication string will be formatted like:
brd-customer-[your-customer-ID]-zone-[your-zone-ID]:[your-password]
To use this MCP server with other agent types, you should adapt the following to your specific software:
- The full command to run the MCP server is
npx @brightdata/mcp
- The environment variable
API_TOKEN=<your-token>
must exist when running the server
Want to try Bright Data MCP without setting up anything?
Check out this playground on Smithery:
This platform provide an easy way to explore the capabilities of Bright Data MCP without any local setup. Just sign in and start experimenting with web data collection!
Some example queries that this MCP server will be able to help with:
- "Google some movies that are releasing soon in [your area]"
- "What's Tesla's current market cap?"
- "What's the Wikipedia article of the day?"
- "What's the 7-day weather forecast in [your location]?"
- "Of the 3 highest paid tech CEOs, how long have their careers been?"
For YouTube tutorials and demos: Demo
The videos below demonstrate a minimal use case for Claude Desktop:
Some tools can involve reading web data, and the amount of time needed to load the page can vary by quite a lot in extreme circumstances.
To ensure that your agent will be able to consume the data, set a high enough timeout in your agent settings.
A value of 180s
should be enough for 99% of requests, but some sites load slower than others, so tune this to your needs.
This error occurs when your system cannot find the npx
command. To fix it:
macOS:
which node
Shows path like /usr/local/bin/node
Windows:
where node
Shows path like C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe
Replace the npx
command with the full path to Node, for example, on mac, it will look as follows:
"command": "/usr/local/bin/node"
We welcome contributions to help improve the Bright Data MCP! Here's how you can help:
- Report Issues: If you encounter any bugs or have feature requests, please open an issue on our GitHub repository.
- Submit Pull Requests: Feel free to fork the repository and submit pull requests with enhancements or bug fixes.
- Coding Style: All JavaScript code should follow Bright Data's JavaScript coding conventions. This ensures consistency across the codebase.
- Documentation: Improvements to documentation, including this README, are always appreciated.
- Examples: Share your use cases by contributing examples to help other users.
For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss your proposed changes. This ensures your time is well spent and aligned with project goals.
If you encounter any issues or have questions, please reach out to the Bright Data support team or open an issue in the repository.