Pearch MCP Server

Best people search engine that reduces the time spent on talent discovery.

Remote serverstreamable-httpPython

What is the Pearch MCP server?

Best people search engine that reduces the time spent on talent discovery. Exposed over MCP by the pearch mcp server, that capability becomes something an assistant can invoke while it works, not something you go and do afterwards.

What it actually does

MCP server for Pearch.AI: natural-language search over people and companies/leads (B2B). Use it from Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, or any MCP-compatible client.

  • search_people — — natural-language search for people (e.g. “software engineers in California with 5+ years Python”); returns candidates with optional insights and profile scoring
  • search_company_leads — — find companies and leads/contacts within them (B2B); e.g. “AI startups in SF, 50–200 employees” + “CTOs and engineering managers”
  • Test key by default — — works out of the box with test_mcp_key (masked/sample results); set your own key for full results

Its toolset

Everything the assistant can do here goes through one of these:

  • search_people — Natural-language search for people or follow-up on a thread. Example: "software engineers in California with 5+ years Python", *"senior ML
  • search_company_leads — Find companies and leads/contacts (B2B). Example: company "AI startups in SF, 50–200 employees" + leads "CTOs and engineering managers"
  • Cursor — Replace test_mcp_key with your dashboard key for full results

Adding it to your client

Being a remote server, there is no local install. You register the endpoint with your client, authorise it once, and the tools appear.

Configuration

You will need 2 environment variables: PEARCH_API_KEY, PEARCH_API_URL. The server will not start without them, which is usually why the tools fail to appear on a first run. Keep credentials in your client's env block or a secrets manager rather than in a file you might commit.

  • Python 3.10+ - uv (recommended; Linux/macOS: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh) or pip - FastMCP — install with pip install fastmcp or uv add fastmcp

When to reach for it

Plenty of search and retrieval servers cover similar ground. The differences that matter in practice are scope of access and how much setup stands between you and a working tool call. Pearch's toolset — search_people, search_company_leads, Cursor — is a fair guide to whether it matches your workflow.

SyncDev reviews every entry in this directory against the project's own documentation before publishing, and revisits them as servers change.

Caveats

  • Your data travels to the provider's service, so the usual questions apply about what you send and what they retain.
  • Missing credentials fail quietly in some clients — if no tools show up, check the environment block first.
  • MCP clients confirm each tool call by default. Leave that on until you have watched what the pearch mcp server does with a few real requests.

Available tools

ToolWhat it does
search_peopleNatural-language search for people or follow-up on a thread. Example: *"software engineers in California with 5+ years Python"*, *"senior ML researchers in Berlin"*.
search_company_leadsFind companies and leads/contacts (B2B). Example: company *"AI startups in SF, 50–200 employees"* + leads *"CTOs and engineering managers"*.
CursorReplace test_mcp_key with your dashboard key for full results.

How to install the Pearch MCP server

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pearch": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["fastmcp"],
      "env": {
        "PEARCH_API_KEY": "your-value",
        "PEARCH_API_URL": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json, then restart Claude Desktop.

Configuration

  • Python 3.10+ - uv (recommended; Linux/macOS: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh) or pip - FastMCP — install with pip install fastmcp or uv add fastmcp
VariableDescriptionRequired
PEARCH_API_KEYCredential the server authenticates with.Yes
PEARCH_API_URLEndpoint or connection string the server talks to.Yes

Example prompts to try

  • Use Pearch to search people.
  • Use Pearch to search company leads.
  • Use Pearch to Cursor.

Frequently asked questions

It connects Pearch to MCP-compatible AI assistants such as Claude and Cursor, exposing 3 tools (search_people, search_company_leads, Cursor) that the assistant can call on your behalf. Instead of copying data back and forth by hand, the assistant works with Pearch directly.