> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tavily.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Claude Code

> Connect Tavily to Claude Code for web search, extraction, crawling, and research through the official plugin, MCP server, or CLI and skills.

Give [Claude Code](https://code.claude.com) current web sources for coding, research, and documentation tasks. Install the **[Tavily plugin](#install-the-plugin-recommended) (recommended)**, or use a standalone [remote MCP server](#remote-mcp-server), [local MCP server](#local-mcp-server), or [CLI and Agent Skills](#cli-and-agent-skills).

The plugin packages Tavily's [CLI-backed skills](https://github.com/tavily-ai/skills) for search, extraction, crawling, mapping, and research. Standalone MCP adds Tavily tools directly; standalone skills guide Claude Code in using the Tavily CLI from its terminal.

## Install the plugin (recommended)

Start with Claude Code installed and a [Tavily account](https://app.tavily.com).

1. Install the [Tavily CLI](/documentation/tavily-cli.md) if it is not already available:

   ```bash theme={null}
   curl -fsSL https://cli.tavily.com/install.sh | bash
   ```

2. Authenticate with browser sign-in, or supply `TAVILY_API_KEY` in the environment where Claude Code runs:

   ```bash theme={null}
   tvly login
   ```

   Search and Extract can also run without sign-in within [keyless](/documentation/keyless.md) limits. Crawl, Map, and Research require authentication.

3. In Claude Code, add Tavily's marketplace and install the plugin:

   ```text theme={null}
   /plugin marketplace add tavily-ai/skills
   /plugin install tavily@tavily-plugins
   ```

4. Run `/reload-plugins` if prompted, or start a new Claude Code session. See [Anthropic's plugin installation guide](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/discover-plugins).

Ask naturally, or invoke a skill directly:

```text theme={null}
/tavily:tavily-search latest AI news
/tavily:tavily-research electric vehicle market
/tavily:tavily-crawl https://docs.tavily.com
/tavily:tavily-extract https://example.com/article
```

## Example usage

With your project open, try:

> Use Tavily to find the official documentation for a dependency used in this project. Check one API usage against the installed version, fix it if needed, and cite the source.

Or, for a migration:

> Use Tavily to find the latest migration guide for this project's framework and list the changes that affect this codebase.

Look for Tavily tool calls or skill invocations and source links in the response to confirm it used web results.

## Standalone setup

Choose one of these options if you only need individual components.

### Remote MCP server

Use Tavily's hosted server without installing the plugin or running a local server.

1. Add the server:

   ```bash theme={null}
   claude mcp add tavily --transport http https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/
   ```

   Add `--scope user` to make it available across all your projects, or `--scope project` to share it with your team through the project's `.mcp.json`.

2. In Claude Code, run `/mcp`, select **tavily**, and complete the sign-in flow in your browser.

3. Ask: "Use Tavily to find the latest documentation for this project's framework and cite the sources."

To use an API key instead of OAuth, pass it as a header:

```bash theme={null}
claude mcp add tavily --transport http https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/ \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY"
```

If you already connected Tavily on claude.ai, Claude Code can use that connector when you sign in with the same Claude account. Run `/mcp` to check. See the [Claude guide](/documentation/integrations/claude.md) for connector and organization-wide setup.

### Local MCP server

Run the [Tavily MCP package](https://github.com/tavily-ai/tavily-mcp) on your machine. It still calls Tavily's API.

1. Install [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/en/download) 20 or later and copy a [Tavily API key](https://app.tavily.com).

2. Add the server, replacing the placeholder with your key:

   ```bash theme={null}
   claude mcp add tavily-local -e TAVILY_API_KEY=YOUR_TAVILY_API_KEY -- npx -y tavily-mcp@latest
   ```

3. Run `/mcp` in Claude Code to confirm `tavily-local` is connected, then ask Claude Code to search with Tavily.

### CLI and Agent Skills

Use this option when Claude Code should run Tavily commands in its terminal without the plugin.

1. Install the [Tavily CLI](/documentation/tavily-cli.md) and run `tvly login`, as in [the plugin steps](#install-the-plugin-recommended).

2. From your project, install the [Tavily Agent Skills](/documentation/agent-skills.md):

   ```bash theme={null}
   npx skills add tavily-ai/skills --skill '*' --agent claude-code
   ```

3. Complete the install prompts, then start a new Claude Code session to load the skills. Add `--global` to the install command if you want the skills across projects. Try: "Use the Tavily CLI to search for this framework's latest migration guide and summarize the changes relevant to this project."

## Resources

* [Tavily plugin on Claude's marketplace](https://claude.com/marketplace/plugins/tavily)
* [Tavily skills and plugin repository](https://github.com/tavily-ai/skills)
* [Claude Code MCP documentation](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp)
* [Claude Code plugin documentation](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/discover-plugins)
* [Tavily MCP server](/documentation/mcp.md)
* [Tavily Agent Skills](/documentation/agent-skills.md) and [CLI](/documentation/tavily-cli.md)