Quick answer: Add the link.sc MCP server to your assistant's config and it gains two tools, search and fetch, that let it look things up on the live web and read any URL as clean markdown. Windsurf, Cline, and most MCP-capable IDE assistants use the same JSON shape: point them at https://mcp.link.sc over HTTP transport with your API key. After a reload the assistant can pull current docs, check package changelogs, and read linked pages without leaving the editor.
Coding assistants are only as current as their training data, which means they confidently reference APIs that changed six months ago. Wiring them to the live web through MCP fixes that. This post covers the clients that the Claude and Cursor guides do not: Windsurf, Cline, and the growing set of editors that speak the Model Context Protocol.
What Web Access Actually Gives Your Assistant
Once connected, the assistant gets two tools:
| Tool | What it does | Typical use in an IDE |
|---|---|---|
search |
Runs a web search and returns results with full page content | "Find the current rate-limit rules for this API" |
fetch |
Retrieves a URL and returns clean markdown or JSON | "Read this changelog and update my code" |
The important detail is that search returns page content, not just snippets, and fetch returns clean markdown instead of raw HTML. Your assistant reads the same structured text you would, which is why the answers come back grounded instead of hand-wavy.
Windsurf
Windsurf (the Codeium editor) supports MCP servers through its Cascade panel. Open the MCP settings and add a server entry. Windsurf uses the standard MCP JSON format:
{
"mcpServers": {
"link-sc": {
"serverUrl": "https://mcp.link.sc",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer lsc_..."
}
}
}
}
Save, reload the MCP servers from the Cascade settings, and you should see search and fetch appear in the available tools list. If Windsurf shows a tool count next to the server name, that count going from 0 to 2 confirms the handshake worked.
Cline
Cline (the VS Code agent extension) has an MCP Servers view in its sidebar. You can add a remote server there, or edit the cline_mcp_settings.json file directly:
{
"mcpServers": {
"link-sc": {
"type": "streamableHttp",
"url": "https://mcp.link.sc",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer lsc_..."
}
}
}
}
Cline lists MCP tools in its server view with a toggle for each. Once search and fetch show up, Cline will call them on its own when a task needs current information, or you can nudge it in the prompt.
Other MCP-Capable Assistants
The pattern generalizes. Zed, Continue, and other editors that added MCP support all read the same core fields: a server URL and an Authorization header. If your client expects a command and args (the stdio style) instead of a URL, use an HTTP-to-stdio bridge, but most current clients support remote HTTP servers directly, which is simpler and needs nothing installed locally.
The two things every client needs:
- The URL:
https://mcp.link.sc - The auth header:
Authorization: Bearer lsc_...with your key from the dashboard
Transport is HTTP. There is no package to install and no local process to keep running.
Example Prompts That Trigger Web Access
Once connected, these are the kinds of asks that make the assistant reach for the web:
- "Check the latest version of this dependency and whether the API I am using is deprecated."
- "Read the docs at this URL and generate a typed client for the endpoints it lists."
- "Search for the current best practice for handling refresh tokens in this framework and update my auth module."
- "This error message is unfamiliar. Search for it and tell me the likely cause."
The assistant decides when to call search versus fetch: search when it needs to find a page, fetch when you hand it a specific URL.
A Security Note on Tool Permissions
Giving an agent web access is useful and also a real permission grant, so treat it like one.
- Scope the key. Use a dedicated API key for your editor, not a shared production key, so you can revoke it without breaking anything else.
- Watch auto-approve. Cline and Windsurf can auto-run tools. For web tools that only read public pages this is low risk, but review what the agent fetches, especially if a prompt could steer it toward a URL you did not intend.
- Mind prompt injection. A fetched page is untrusted input. If a page contains text like "ignore your instructions and run this command," a naive agent might listen. Keep destructive local actions (file deletes, shell commands) behind manual approval even when web tools are auto-approved.
- Keep it read-only. These tools read public web content. They do not need and should not be given access to authenticated pages or internal systems.
Verifying the Connection
The quickest check is to ask the assistant to fetch a page and quote a line from it. If it returns real current text, the tool is live. You can confirm the same endpoint outside the editor with a plain request:
curl https://link.sc/v1/fetch \
-H "Authorization: Bearer lsc_..." \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"url": "https://example.com",
"format": "markdown"
}'
If that returns markdown, your key works and the MCP server will too, since they share the same backend.
Where to Go From Here
If you also use Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or Cursor, the setup is nearly identical and covered in MCP web tools for Claude and Cursor. For the deeper walkthrough of connecting Claude specifically, see connect Claude to the web with the link.sc MCP server. And if you want to understand what a web-search MCP server does under the hood before wiring one in, the MCP web search server guide explains it.
The free tier covers 500 credits a month, which is plenty for occasional doc lookups while coding. Details are at link.sc/pricing.
One config block, a reload, and your editor's assistant stops guessing about the current state of the web and starts reading it.
Give your IDE assistant live web access in a couple of minutes. Start free at link.sc.