Do I need a Programmable Search Engine to use this?

Yes — create one (free) at programmablesearchengine.google.com and point it at the web or specific sites. The service queries that engine, so its configuration defines exactly what the assistant can see.

Can searches be restricted to a single domain?

Two ways: configure the engine itself to only index chosen sites, or pass a site restriction on an individual search_custom call for one-off scoped queries.

Why use this instead of a general web-search tool?

Control and provenance. A Programmable Search Engine gives you an allowlisted, auditable search surface using Google’s index — useful when an agent should cite your documentation or vetted sources rather than the open web.

Google Custom Search MCP Server

Programmable Search Engine queries, scoped to the sites you choose.

$ uvx workspace-mcp --tools search runs only the Google Custom Search MCP tools — combine services as needed

Quick start Full API reference →

This is the smallest service in Workspace MCP, and that is the point: search_custom runs queries against a Programmable Search Engine you configure, with optional site restriction, and get_search_engine_info reports how that engine is set up.

Because the engine definition lives on Google’s side, you decide what the assistant can search — the whole web, your documentation domain, or a curated set of trusted sources — without changing anything in the server.

What you can ask

“Search our docs site for everything about OAuth setup”
“Find recent mentions of workspace-mcp outside our own domain”
“Which sites is the support search engine configured to cover?”

All 2 Google Custom Search MCP tools

Tiers control how many tools the server registers: start lean with --tool-tier core and step up to extended or complete when a workflow needs more. Parameters and examples for every tool are in the API reference.

search_custom Core Run custom search queries with optional site restrictions.

get_search_engine_info Complete Retrieve search engine configuration metadata.

OAuth scopes

The server requests only the scopes for the services you enable. In read-only mode it requests just the readonly variants and skips registering write tools entirely.

cse query Programmable Search Engines

Google Custom Search MCP questions

Do I need a Programmable Search Engine to use this?: Yes — create one (free) at programmablesearchengine.google.com and point it at the web or specific sites. The service queries that engine, so its configuration defines exactly what the assistant can see.
Can searches be restricted to a single domain?: Two ways: configure the engine itself to only index chosen sites, or pass a site restriction on an individual search_custom call for one-off scoped queries.
Why use this instead of a general web-search tool?: Control and provenance. A Programmable Search Engine gives you an allowlisted, auditable search surface using Google’s index — useful when an agent should cite your documentation or vetted sources rather than the open web.

Works alongside

All services: Gmail MCP·Google Drive MCP·Google Calendar MCP·Google Docs MCP·Google Sheets MCP·Google Slides MCP·Google Forms MCP·Google Tasks MCP·Google Contacts MCP·Google Chat MCP·Google Custom Search MCP·Google Apps Script MCP