> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://you.com/docs/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://you.com/docs/_mcp/server.

# Windsurf

Give Windsurf's Cascade agent real-time web search, content extraction, and citation-backed research through the [You.com MCP Server](/docs/build-with-agents/mcp-server).

## Quick setup

## Open Windsurf MCP settings

In Windsurf, open **Settings → Cascade → Model Context Protocol Servers**, click **Add Server**, then paste:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "you-com": {
      "serverUrl": "https://api.you.com/mcp?profile=free"
    }
  }
}
```

**Windsurf gotcha:** Windsurf uses `serverUrl` (not `url`) for remote MCP servers. Copy-pasting the JSON template from the MCP Server overview page won't work without this rename.

This uses our free tier: 100 web searches per day, no signup.

## Reload Cascade

Click the refresh icon in the MCP panel, or restart Windsurf. The `you-com` server should appear with a green status indicator.

## Try it in Cascade

Open Cascade and prompt:

```text
Search for the latest Astro 5 release notes and summarize the new features.
```

Cascade will request permission to use `you-search` on first call.

## Higher rate limits + full toolset

For unlimited queries plus `you-contents` (page extraction) and `you-research` (citation-backed deep research):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "you-com": {
      "serverUrl": "https://api.you.com/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YDC-YOUR-API-KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Get a key at [you.com/platform](https://you.com/platform).

## Quick demo

```text
Research which JavaScript runtimes support native TypeScript execution in 2026, with citations.
```

```text
Extract https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/upgrade-to/v5/ and summarize the breaking changes section.
```

## Troubleshooting

* **Server shows red status** — check `serverUrl` (not `url`); Windsurf's config format diverges from Claude Desktop's here.
* **Tools never get called** — Cascade may be deferring to its built-in tools. In a prompt, explicitly ask: *"Use the you-com MCP server to search..."*
* **401 errors with API key** — verify the `Authorization` header is exactly `Bearer YDC-...` with one space; no extra quotes around the value in the JSON.
* **Server loads but tools missing** — restart Windsurf entirely; in-app refresh is unreliable for tool re-discovery.