widescreen-research

widescreen-research

3.2

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Widescreen Research is a comprehensive Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed to enhance research capabilities with real-time web search, academic paper access, and company intelligence.

Widescreen Research - Comprehensive Research MCP Server

A powerful Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides comprehensive research capabilities powered by Exa AI. Designed for researchers, analysts, and AI assistants who need access to real-time web search, academic papers, company intelligence, and specialized research tools.

🚀 Features

  • Real-time Web Search: Powered by Exa AI's advanced search capabilities with content extraction
  • Academic Research: Search and access academic papers and research content
  • Company Intelligence: Comprehensive company research and competitor analysis
  • Multi-platform Search: LinkedIn, Wikipedia, GitHub, and general web search
  • Content Extraction: Direct URL crawling and content analysis
  • Cloud-Ready: Optimized for Google Cloud Run deployment with auto-scaling
  • MCP Protocol: Full Model Context Protocol compliance for seamless AI integration

🛠️ Research Capabilities

Core Research Tools

  • web_search: Real-time web search with intelligent content extraction
  • research_papers: Academic paper and research content discovery
  • company_research: Comprehensive company information gathering
  • crawl_url: Extract and analyze content from specific URLs
  • find_competitors: Identify and analyze business competitors
  • linkedin_search: Professional network and company research
  • wikipedia_search: Authoritative encyclopedia content
  • github_search: Open source project and developer research

Research Specializations

┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Academic      │    │   Business      │    │   Technical     │
│   Research      │    │   Intelligence  │    │   Research      │
├─────────────────┤    ├─────────────────┤    ├─────────────────┤
│ • Papers        │    │ • Companies     │    │ • GitHub        │
│ • Citations     │    │ • Competitors   │    │ • Documentation │
│ • Authors       │    │ • Market Data   │    │ • Code Examples │
│ • Institutions  │    │ • LinkedIn      │    │ • Tech Trends   │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

📋 Prerequisites

  • Node.js 16 or later
  • Exa AI API key (Get one here)
  • Google Cloud Platform account (for deployment)

🔧 Installation & Setup

Local Development

  1. Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/your-org/widescreen-research.git
cd widescreen-research
  1. Install dependencies:
npm install
  1. Set up environment variables:
export EXA_API_KEY="your-exa-api-key"
export DRONE_TYPE="research"
  1. Run the server:
npm start

Cloud Deployment

Deploy to Google Cloud Run for production use:

# Build and deploy
export GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT="your-project-id"
export DRONE_TYPE="research"

npm run build-image
npm run deploy

🎯 Usage

MCP Client Integration

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "widescreen-research": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/widescreen-research/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your-exa-api-key",
        "DRONE_TYPE": "research"
      }
    }
  }
}
Direct MCP Usage
# Test with MCP Inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node index.js

Research Examples

Academic Research
// Search for AI safety papers
{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "research_papers",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "AI safety alignment research",
      "numResults": 10,
      "maxCharacters": 5000
    }
  }
}
Company Intelligence
// Research a company and its competitors
{
  "method": "tools/call", 
  "params": {
    "name": "company_research",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "OpenAI company information funding",
      "numResults": 5
    }
  }
}
Technical Research
// Find GitHub repositories
{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "github_search", 
    "arguments": {
      "query": "machine learning frameworks",
      "numResults": 8
    }
  }
}

🧪 Testing

Health Check

curl http://localhost:8080/health

Research Status

curl http://localhost:8080/

Tool Testing

# Test web search
echo '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/call", "params": {"name": "web_search", "arguments": {"query": "latest AI research", "numResults": 3}}}' | node index.js

# Test company research  
echo '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 2, "method": "tools/call", "params": {"name": "company_research", "arguments": {"query": "Tesla", "numResults": 5}}}' | node index.js

🏗️ Architecture

Research Server Components

├── index.js                 # Main server entry point
├── app.js                   # Express app with health endpoints
├── mcp-server.js            # MCP protocol implementation
├── drones/
│   ├── research.js          # Research tools (Exa AI integration)
│   ├── scraper.js           # Web scraping capabilities
│   ├── processor.js         # Data processing tools
│   └── generic.js           # Basic utilities
└── utils/
    ├── logging.js           # Structured logging
    └── metadata.js          # GCP metadata utilities

Exa AI Integration

The server integrates directly with Exa AI's powerful search API:

  • Real-time Search: Live web crawling and content extraction
  • Semantic Understanding: AI-powered result ranking and relevance
  • Content Processing: Automatic summarization and key information extraction
  • Multi-modal Results: Text, links, and metadata in structured format

🌟 Key Features

✅ Exa AI Powered: Advanced search capabilities with real-time web crawling
✅ MCP Compliant: Full Model Context Protocol support for AI integration
✅ Cloud Optimized: Designed for Google Cloud Run with auto-scaling
✅ Research Focused: 8 specialized research tools for different use cases
✅ Production Ready: Comprehensive logging, health checks, and error handling
✅ Lightweight: ~2MB container images with fast cold starts

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables

  • EXA_API_KEY: Your Exa AI API key (required)
  • DRONE_TYPE: Server type, set to "research" for full capabilities
  • PORT: Server port (default: 8080)
  • NODE_ENV: Environment (development/production)
  • LOG_LEVEL: Logging level (info/debug/error)

Research Tool Configuration

Each research tool can be configured with parameters:

  • numResults: Number of search results (1-50)
  • maxCharacters: Content extraction limit (500-10000)
  • excludeDomain: Domains to exclude from results
  • category: Content category filtering

🚧 Roadmap

  • Enhanced Analytics: Research trend analysis and insights
  • Citation Management: Academic citation formatting and tracking
  • Multi-language Support: Research in multiple languages
  • Custom Filters: Advanced search filtering and categorization
  • Research Workflows: Automated research pipelines
  • Data Export: Research results in various formats (PDF, CSV, JSON)

📚 API Reference

Research Tools

web_search(query, numResults?)

Real-time web search with content extraction.

research_papers(query, maxCharacters?, numResults?)

Search academic papers and research content.

company_research(query, numResults?)

Comprehensive company information gathering.

crawl_url(url)

Extract content from specific URLs.

find_competitors(query, excludeDomain?, numResults?)

Identify business competitors.

linkedin_search(query, numResults?)

Search LinkedIn for professional content.

wikipedia_search(query, numResults?)

Search Wikipedia articles.

github_search(query, numResults?)

Search GitHub repositories and code.

🤝 Contributing

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a feature branch
  3. Add research capabilities or improvements
  4. Test with various research scenarios
  5. Submit a pull request

📄 License

Apache 2.0 License - see LICENSE file for details.

Powered by Exa AI • Built for Comprehensive Research • MCP Protocol Compliant