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Shintaro Fukatsu
Shintaro Fukatsu

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Connect My Local Kiro to the World - Setting Up Tavily Remote MCP Server

#aws #kiro #mcp #tavily

Introduction

We have a new member of the family: Kiro! My daughter made Kiro for a summer homework project(Our Kiro is made with UV resin). My daughter gave it to me as a gift! So, I'm going to turn it into a keychain and take it with me to re:Invent 2025!

finished version Kiro

Now let's get to the main topic. While using Kiro, I recently wanted to check for update information. When I asked via chat, I realized that web search functionality wasn’t available (I'm not an AI engineer, so I'm catching up very slowly).

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Previously, I had the opportunity to use "Tavily" during a hands-on session hosted by Minorun. This time, I decided to set it up myself and document the process for future reference.

What is Tavily?

Tavily is an API service designed to allow AI agents and app developers to perform external information searches. Since queries can be made using natural language, it's a valuable tool for chatbots when processing prompts with external data. (This is how I understand it, at least.)
You can start using it for free.

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Setup

1. Sign Up on the Tavily Website

Visit the Tavily website and click the "Sign Up" button at the top right.
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I registered using my Google account.

After registration, you’ll see the screen where you can obtain the API key. Make a copy to local for late use.

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2. Configure MCP Server in Kiro

I performed the setup on an M4 Mac mini.

In the Kiro interface, click “Open MCP Config” under MCP SERVERS in the lower-left corner.
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Add the following content to the mcp.json file:
Set the API key obtained earlier after tavilyApiKey= and save.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily-remote-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/?tavilyApiKey=`Tavily API Key`"
      ],
      "env": {},
      "disabled": false,
      "autoApprove": [
        "tavily_search"
      ]
    }
  }
}
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Since I wanted Tavily available for all projects, I set it in User Config. If you only need it for specific projects, it’s better to configure it in Workspace Config.

If “tavily-remote-mcp” shows as Connected under MCP SERVERS in the lower-left corner, the setup was successful.

Connecting my Kiro to the World

Finally, it’s time to search. When I made a search request, the Documentation MCP Server was used instead. Communicate can be tricky sometimes...

This time, I tried phrasing it as "Web search".

And then, the results came up beautifully. This was the moment my Kiro connected to the world. Also, I learned that AWS signed a wind power contract in India, showcasing its investment in renewable energy.

Conclusion

This is a simple guide to setting up the Tavily Remote MCP Server. Most other MCP Servers can be set up similarly. If you’re unsure about the configuration details (what to write in the mcp.json), asking Kiro might be the quickest way.

Although I wrote this for my own reference, I hope it will help anyone else starting out.

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