English | 中文

Forever Saint Liang: Websearch MCP via Deepseek

An MCP server that provides web search capabilities using DeepSeek's Anthropic-compatible API.

Forever indebted to Saint Liang.

"Saint Liang" refers to Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek — named in honor of his work and DeepSeek's impact on the world.

Prerequisites

Installation

npm install -g forever-saint-liang-websearch

On first run, a user config file is automatically created. The location depends on your platform:

  • Linux / macOS: ~/.config/.websearch-via-deepseek/settings.json
  • Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.config\.websearch-via-deepseek\settings.json

Quick Start

There are two ways to set your API key. Choose one:

Option A: User config file (recommended)

Edit the user config file and fill in apiKey:

{
  "apiKey": "sk-your-api-key"
}

Then configure your MCP client — no environment variable needed:

OpenCode (opencode.json):

{
  "mcp": {
    "fsl-websearch": {
      "type": "local",
      "enabled": true,
      "command": ["npx", "forever-saint-liang-websearch"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (claude_desktop_config.json / .mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fsl-websearch": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["forever-saint-liang-websearch"]
    }
  }
}

Option B: Environment variable in MCP config

Set the API key directly in your MCP client configuration:

OpenCode (opencode.json):

{
  "mcp": {
    "fsl-websearch": {
      "type": "local",
      "enabled": true,
      "command": ["npx", "forever-saint-liang-websearch"],
      "environment": {
        "DEEPSEEK_API_KEY": "sk-your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (claude_desktop_config.json / .mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "fsl-websearch": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["forever-saint-liang-websearch"],
      "env": {
        "DEEPSEEK_API_KEY": "sk-your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Configuration is loaded with the following priority (highest first):

  1. CLI arguments — --api-key=sk-... --model=deepseek-v4-pro
  2. Environment variables — WEBSEARCH_MODEL, WEBSEARCH_ENDPOINT, etc.
  3. User config file — settings.json (see Installation for path per platform)
  4. Defaults — built into the server

Config file (settings.json)

{
  "apiKey": "",
  "endpoint": "https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic/v1/messages",
  "model": "deepseek-v4-flash",
  "maxTokens": 32768,
  "systemPrompt": "Use multiple keyword variations to conduct thorough research. Prioritize authoritative, verifiable sources. Provide comprehensive, well-cited answers.",
  "tool": {
    "name": "web_search",
    "type": "web_search_20260209",
    "max_uses": 20
  }
}
Key Default Description
apiKey (empty) DeepSeek API key
endpoint https://api.deepseek.com/anthropic/v1/messages API endpoint URL
model deepseek-v4-flash Model: deepseek-v4-flash or deepseek-v4-pro
maxTokens 32768
systemPrompt (see default) System prompt guiding search behavior
tool.name "web_search" Tool name registered in MCP
tool.type "web_search_20260209" DeepSeek tool type
tool.max_uses 20 Max search calls per request
searchStatsEnabled false Enable hourly search statistics (requires Node >= 22)

Environment variables

Variable Equivalent config key
DEEPSEEK_API_KEY apiKey
WEBSEARCH_API_KEY apiKey (alternative)
WEBSEARCH_ENDPOINT endpoint
WEBSEARCH_MODEL model
WEBSEARCH_MAX_TOKENS maxTokens
WEBSEARCH_SYSTEM_PROMPT systemPrompt
WEBSEARCH_TOOL_NAME tool.name
WEBSEARCH_TOOL_TYPE tool.type
WEBSEARCH_MAX_USES tool.max_uses
WEBSEARCH_LOG_ENABLED logEnabled
WEBSEARCH_LOG_DIR logDir
WEBSEARCH_SEARCH_STATS_ENABLED searchStatsEnabled

CLI arguments

forever-saint-liang-websearch --api-key=sk-... --model=deepseek-v4-pro
Argument Config key
--api-key apiKey
--endpoint endpoint
--model model
--max-tokens maxTokens
--system-prompt systemPrompt
--tool-name tool.name
--tool-type tool.type
--max-uses tool.max_uses
--log-enabled logEnabled
--log-dir logDir
--search-stats-enabled searchStatsEnabled

CLI Mode

The server also supports a standalone CLI mode. When a subcommand is provided, it runs as a CLI tool instead of an MCP server:

# Perform a web search
forever-saint-liang-websearch search "TypeScript latest version"

# Search with config options
forever-saint-liang-websearch search "hello world" --model=deepseek-v4-pro

# View search statistics
forever-saint-liang-websearch stats

# Stats with a date range
forever-saint-liang-websearch stats 2026-06-01 2026-06-24

# Show version and help
forever-saint-liang-websearch --version
forever-saint-liang-websearch --help

All configuration flags (--api-key, --model, --max-uses, etc.) work in CLI mode just like MCP mode. Output is in JSON format.

CLI Subcommands

Command Description
search <query> Perform a web search, output JSON
stats [from] [to] Show search statistics, output JSON
version Show version number
help Show help information

Tool: web_search

Search the web using DeepSeek's built-in web search.

Parameter Type Required Default Description
query string Yes — Search query (1-500 chars)
max_uses number No config.tool.max_uses ?? 20 Max search calls (capped by server config tool.max_uses)
allowed_domains string[] No — Only include results from these domains
blocked_domains string[] No — Exclude results from these domains
user_location object No — Localized results: { city?, region?, country?, timezone? }

Tool: web_search_stats

Query hourly search statistics from the local SQLite database. This tool is only available when searchStatsEnabled is true and Node.js >= 22.

Parameter Type Required Default Description
from string (ISO 8601) No Today 00:00 Start of time range
to string (ISO 8601) No Now End of time range

When the stats feature is unavailable, the tool returns a specific reason: configuration disabled, Node.js version too low, or database error. See searchStatsEnabled in the Configuration section.

Development

git clone https://github.com/chengx-coding/forever-saint-liang-websearch.git
cd forever-saint-liang-websearch
npm install
npm run dev

Acknowledgments

This project is inspired by websearch-deepseek by lyumeng. Both projects are licensed under MIT.

License

MIT