Setting Up Your First MCP: Web Fetch

The easiest MCP to set up is also one of the most useful no API key, no account, free, works immediately

Web fetch lets Claude visit any URL and read the full content of that page. This lesson walks you through setting it up in the Claude Code Desktop App.

What Web Fetch Unlocks

Once installed you can prompt Claude to visit URLs directly:

• Go to https://example.com/pricing and read the full page.
• Summarise what they offer and what it costs.

Research these three competitors. Visit each website and compare:

• Their main offer
• Their pricing
• What they claim makes them different

Sites: [URL 1], [URL 2], [URL 3]

Go to https://docs.anthropic.com and find the documentation

for MCP server configuration. Summarise the key steps.

Instead of you going to the site, copying the text, and pasting it into Claude, Claude goes there itself.

Step 1: Open MCP Settings in the Desktop App

Open the Claude Code Desktop App. Click the gear icon for Settings or open the app menu. Find Developer or MCP Servers in the settings sidebar. Click Add MCP Server or Configure MCP.

Step 2: Add the Fetch MCP Configuration

In the MCP server configuration add this:

{
"mcpServers": {
"fetch": {

"command": "npx",

"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-fetch"]

}
}
}

If the Desktop App has a text field for JSON configuration paste this directly.

If it asks you to fill in fields separately, use these values. Name: fetch. Command: npx. Arguments: -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-fetch.

Click Save or Apply.

Step 3: Verify It Works

Restart Claude Code. Then test with this prompt:

• Use the fetch tool to visit https://example.com and tell me what the page says.
• Claude should return a summary of the page content. If it does your fetch MCP is working.

If You Hit a Problem

The most common issue is Claude Code saying it does not have a fetch tool or cannot access URLs.

Try this:

• I just configured the fetch MCP in my settings. Can you see a fetch tool available to you?
• If not, what tools do you have access to?
• Claude will tell you exactly what it can and cannot access and can often guide you through fixing the configuration.
• If the tool is not showing up, the most common fix is restarting the Claude Code Desktop App after saving the MCP configuration.

The Brave Search MCP (Optional — Needs a Free API Key)

If you want Claude to run actual search queries and not just visit known URLs, the Brave Search MCP is the next step.

Go to brave.com/search/api and create a free account. Copy your API key from the dashboard where the free tier gives you 2,000 searches per month. In your MCP settings add:

"brave-search": {

"command": "npx",

"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"],

"env": {

"BRAVE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"

}
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your actual key.

Once installed Claude can search the web like this:

• Search the web for: "best practices for AI landing page copy 2026"
• Summarise the top findings and give me 5 actionable takeaways.

What You Have Now

With the fetch MCP installed Claude can visit any public URL you give it, read documentation, pricing pages, competitor sites, and news on your behalf, and you stop copy-pasting web content into Claude because Claude gets it itself.

This changes how you research. Instead of doing research and then asking Claude to help, you ask Claude to do the research.

Your Action Right Now

Install the fetch MCP using the steps above. Test it with this prompt:

Use fetch to visit https://anthropic.com and tell me:

1. What is Claude Code?
2. What plans are available for Claude?
3. What is the current most capable model they offer?

If Claude answers with real information from the page the MCP is working.