
Nov 1, 2026
November 5, 2026

**Highlights of Parallel MCP 2.0:**
Web search is one of the most important tools an agent has. Yet most built-in search and search MCPs offer the same two tools they did two years ago: **web search** and **web fetch.** But today's agents can do far more, so why limit them to just two tools?
**Parallel MCP** (2.0) is a single MCP server that gives every agent a rich set of web research tools: fast web search[search](/products/search), page content extraction[extraction](/products/extract), grounded decisions[decisions](/blog/decisions-api), and deep research[research](/products/task). More tools like Monitors[Monitors](/products/monitor) and Data Connectors[Data Connectors](/data-connectors) are coming soon. It's the most configurable web search MCP available.
Parallel MCP is free by default, with no keys or sign-up required. Sign in when you need more tools, higher usage limits, or controls like search modes and domain exclusion.
Parallel MCP 2.0 gives models a wider range of tools to choose from, and gives developers and admins full control when they want to go beyond our defaults: which tools the model sees, which search mode it uses, which domains are excluded across an organization, and more.
| Tool | Tool ID | What your agent can do with it | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search | web_search | Find current web results, ranked and compressed for LLMs. Fast mode is the default. | Free, no account |
| Extract | web_fetch | Read the full content of any page, cleaned up and ready for the model's context. | Free, no account |
| Decisions | web_decisions | Ask a question about the live web and get a cited answer: a yes/no probability, a choice from a list, or a score against a rubric. | Free, no account |
| Research | web_research | Run multi-step research and get a cited report. | Sign in (billed usage) |
Developers increasingly build products on top of MCP: agent harnesses, coding tools, and assistants that extend their capabilities through MCP. But different applications have different needs. Most MCP servers leave the developer two options: accept the defaults, or abandon MCP in favor of an API. Parallel MCP 2.0 lets developers keep the MCP and set the defaults themselves. Through request headers, a developer can choose which tools the model can access and set details like search mode and page freshness. Every user of the product then gets the exact capabilities the developer intended. Developer controls are available for signed-in users.
Enterprises now run agents across many teams and harnesses, and rely on gateways such as LiteLLM[LiteLLM](https://www.litellm.ai/) or Kong[Kong](https://konghq.com/products/kong-gateway) to enforce policy and attribute spend. Parallel MCP lets IT teams decide which capabilities are available to their users. Companies can restrict or grant access to specific tools, exclude domains across the organization, and enforce specific tool behavior. Parallel MCP enforces each policy on the server, so an agent can't override a policy or raise its own budget.
Parallel MCP works with any MCP-compatible client, including Claude Code[Claude Code](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp), Codex[Codex](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/extend/mcp?surface=app), Cursor[Cursor](https://cursor.com/docs/mcp), VS Code[VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/agent-customization/mcp-servers), and more.
Parallel is also available through official plugins and integrations for ChatGPT[ChatGPT](https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_69fb9378663481919a68e8a2109644e5), Claude[Claude](https://claude.com/marketplace/plugins/parallel), Cursor[Cursor](https://cursor.com/marketplace/parallel), and Grok Bot[Grok Bot](https://x.ai/bot/plugin/698). See the full list of integrations[full list of integrations](/integrations).
**New, or haven't tried our MCP in a while?** Add https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp[https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp](https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp) to your MCP client and ask your agent to look something up.
**Using the original Search MCP?** Replace your existing URL with https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp[https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp](https://mcp.parallel.ai/mcp).
The original server will continue to work but will no longer receive new updates. No official sunset date is planned for the legacy Parallel Search MCP.