> For clean Markdown of any page, append `.md` to the page URL.
> Documentation index: https://you.com/docs/llms.txt (section indexes: append `/llms.txt` to any section URL).
> Search these docs: Docs MCP at https://you.com/docs/_mcp/server (`searchDocs`, no API key).
> Call live You.com APIs: Product MCP at https://api.you.com/mcp (keyless `?profile=free` exposes `you-search` and `you-discover`. Research and finance use `/mcp/research`, `/mcp/finance`, or `?tools=` on `/mcp`). To pick an API or integration path, call `you-discover` on that server instead of guessing.
> OpenAPI: https://you.com/docs/openapi.json—auth header `X-API-Key`, env `YDC_API_KEY`.

# Jan

[Jan](https://jan.ai/) is an open-source desktop AI app for Windows, macOS, and Linux that runs local models and cloud models side by side. There are two ways to add You.com, and they cover different ground:

* **Native web search provider**—pick You.com in Settings, and Jan's built-in `web_search` and `web_fetch` tools answer through You.com. Keyless search works out of the box, no account needed.
* **MCP server**—connect the You.com MCP server for the wider tool set: page contents, citation-backed research, and finance research.

> **Install our docs MCP server**
>
> This documentation ships with a Docs MCP Server that gives any MCP-enabled agent a `searchDocs` tool to search every page here and get back relevant passages with source URLs—no API key required. Point your client at `https://you.com/docs/_mcp/server`. See the [Docs MCP Server guide](/docs/build-with-agents/docs-mcp-server) for setup and examples.

## Enable the Web Search Provider

## Open the Web Search Settings

Install Jan, then open **Settings > Web Search**.

## Select You.com

Pick **You.com** in the Search Provider dropdown. Leave the API key field empty and search works immediately through You.com's free keyless endpoint, subject to a daily request cap.

## Add an API Key (Optional)

Paste a You.com API key from [you.com/platform](https://you.com/platform) to lift the daily cap. With a key, `web_fetch` also returns extracted markdown instead of raw HTML, which keeps model context clean on pages with heavy markup.

## Try It

Pick a tool-capable model—Jan loads `web_search` and `web_fetch` only when the selected model's capabilities include tools. Then:

```text
Search the web for the latest TypeScript release notes and summarize the breaking changes.
```

## Keyless and Keyed Behavior

The provider works with no API key and upgrades when you supply one.

|              | Keyless                                                      | With `YDC_API_KEY`                           |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------- |
| `web_search` | Free endpoint, daily request cap                             | Higher rate limits                           |
| `web_fetch`  | Direct GET of the page—bot-protected sites may return errors | Extracted markdown via the Contents API      |
| Account      | None required                                                | [you.com/platform](https://you.com/platform) |

## Connect the MCP Server

The web search provider handles search and fetch. For citation-backed research, finance research, and the docs search tool, add the You.com MCP server in **Settings > MCP Servers**. Jan launches the server as a local process over STDIO, so Node.js must be installed for `npx` to run.

## Add the Server

Click the **+** button in the MCP Servers panel and enter:

| Field                 | Value                   |
| --------------------- | ----------------------- |
| Server Name           | `you`                   |
| Command               | `npx`                   |
| Arguments             | `-y @youdotcom-oss/mcp` |
| Environment Variables | `YDC_API_KEY`           |

Set `YDC_API_KEY` to a key from [you.com/platform](https://you.com/platform). Leave `YDC_ALLOWED_TOOLS` unset to expose the default tool set, or set it to a comma-separated list such as `you-search,you-finance` to scope what the model sees.

## Approve the Tools

Jan gates every MCP tool behind a per-call approval prompt in the chat—approve the call when the prompt appears. Then ask:

```text
Research the trade-offs between vector databases and keyword search for a RAG pipeline. Cite sources.
```

The default tool set is `you-search`, `you-contents`, `you-balance`, and `you-discover`. The optional `you-research` and `you-finance` tools are excluded until you request them with `YDC_ALLOWED_TOOLS`. See the [MCP Server reference](/docs/build-with-agents/mcp-server) for the full tool surface.

## Troubleshooting

#### You.com is not in the provider picker

Update to the latest version of Jan. If you still don't see You.com in the picker, use the [MCP server path](#connect-the-mcp-server), which works on any Jan version with MCP support.

#### Keyless search stopped returning results

You hit the free-tier daily request cap. Add a You.com API key in Settings > Web Search to lift the cap.

#### web\_fetch fails on some sites

Keyless `web_fetch` does a direct GET of the page, and some sites block automated fetches. Add an API key to switch `web_fetch` to the Contents API, or fetch a different source.

#### MCP server won't connect

Confirm Node.js is installed and `npx` runs from your terminal, and check the Command and Arguments fields for typos. Restart Jan after fixing the entry.

#### 401 with an API key

Check the key for extra spaces or smart quotes in the Environment Variables field, and confirm the key is active at [you.com/platform](https://you.com/platform).

## Resources

#### [MCP Server Reference](/docs/build-with-agents/mcp-server)

Endpoints, authentication, and the full tool reference.

#### [Web Search for AI Agents](/docs/guides/search/web-search-api-for-ai-agents)

Framework-native search tools for agents, assistants, and RAG.