Argus Retrieval MCP Server

Retrieval platform for AI agents. Argus routes search across 14 providers, recovers dead URLs, captures important site content, builds local docs-plus-research packs, and persists everything with traceable local artifacts.

People connecting search tools to Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in Python.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-25 · ★ 3 · #11 OF 47 MAINTAINED SEARCH · VERIFIED 2026-08-25

MIT · Python servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Argus Retrieval

before you install - you'll need

Set ARGUS_MCP_STANDALONE, ARGUS_EGRESS_TYPE, ARGUS_SEARXNG_ENABLED, ARGUS_ROOT_PATH, ARGUS_DOMAIN, ARGUS_AUTHORITY_URL, ARGUS_AUTHORITY_TOKEN, ARGUS_API_KEY, ARGUS_MCP_ENV_FILE, ARGUS_REMOTE_URL before connecting.

Claude Code

claude mcp add khamel83-argus -- uvx argus-search

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "khamel83-argus": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "argus-search"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions

license MIT - declared in the repository

pypi package argus-search - check the name against the project README before installing (PyPI has no namespace ownership)

registry namespace io.github.Khamel83 is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Argus Retrieval can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

Latest releases

v1.6.2 · 2026-05-22

Added · examples/ directory with runnable Python SDK examples (basic_search.py, extract_and_recover.py, research_pack.py) and per-client MCP quickstart · docs/README.md index, docs/providers.md reference, and…

v1.6.1 · 2026-05-18

v1.6.1 · MCP compatibility and credit-safety release. · Highlights · Native local MCP setup for Claude Code, Codex CLI, and OpenCode via argus mcp init --global --client all. · Clean MCP stdio startup: Argus logs now…

v1.5.0 · 2026-04-28

What's New · Content completeness assessment - detects truncated articles with 5 signals · Retrieval workflows - recover-article, capture-site, build-research-pack · Corpus storage - runtime data in writable user data…

04 · Who maintains Argus Retrieval

Argus Retrieval is maintained by khamel83. It's the only MCP server we track from this author; the repo dates to Mar 2026.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/khamel83/argus
category: search - ranked #11 of 47 actively-maintained search servers as of 2026-08-25.
registry: io.github.Khamel83/argus (active, first published 2026-04-14 · 4 versions)
packages: pypi:argus-search

06 · Argus Retrieval FAQ

What is Argus Retrieval?

Is Argus Retrieval still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-08-25, its last commit was 2026-08-25. We re-verify nightly.

How do I install Argus Retrieval?

Run `uvx argus-search`. The README documents 10 environment variables (ARGUS_MCP_STANDALONE, ARGUS_EGRESS_TYPE, ARGUS_SEARXNG_ENABLED…) to set first. Set ARGUS_MCP_STANDALONE, ARGUS_EGRESS_TYPE, ARGUS_SEARXNG_ENABLED, ARGUS_ROOT_PATH, ARGUS_DOMAIN, ARGUS_AUTHORITY_URL, ARGUS_AUTHORITY_TOKEN, ARGUS_API_KEY, ARGUS_MCP_ENV_FILE, ARGUS_REMOTE_URL before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Argus Retrieval run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via uvx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Argus Retrieval

Alternatives to Argus Retrieval

Maintained search servers if Argus Retrieval isn't the fit.

Pairs well with

Servers that cover what Argus Retrieval doesn't - only shown when the pairing reason fits the companion.

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