Best web search & scraping MCP server for ChatGPT (Codex), tested

Dated results

• Open-WebSearch passed in ChatGPT (Codex) on 2026-10-21 (Codex CLI 0.162.0-alpha.17.2, open-websearch 2.2.0, connect time not recorded). Full result
• DuckDuckGo search passed in ChatGPT (Codex) on 2026-10-14 (Codex CLI 0.162.0-alpha.17.2, package version not recorded, connect time not recorded). Full result
• Reddit MCP Buddy passed in ChatGPT (Codex) on 2026-10-20 (Codex CLI 0.162.0-alpha.17.2, reddit-mcp-buddy 1.1.14, connect time not recorded). Full result
• Fetch (reference) failed in ChatGPT (Codex) on 2026-10-20 (Codex CLI 0.162.0-alpha.17.2, mcp-server-fetch 2026.10.19, connect time not recorded). Full result
• MarkItDown MCP (Microsoft) failed in ChatGPT (Codex) on 2026-10-21 (Codex CLI 0.162.0-alpha.17.2, markitdown-mcp 0.0.1a8, connect time not recorded). Full result

Why Open-WebSearch is the candidate

Open-WebSearch passed every step in ChatGPT (Codex). It is the group’s site-wide candidate (judged 2026-10-21): The only server that passed both standard tasks (a live web search and reading a page) in both Claude Code and Cursor, with no API key. Runner-up Fetch passed page reading in both but has no search. DuckDuckGo passed in Cursor but in Claude Code its page reader dropped the page heading; MarkItDown dropped it in both clients. Keyed servers (Brave, Exa, Firecrawl) aren't tested. On Oct 14 Open-WebSearch also passed both tasks in Claude Desktop and in ChatGPT (Codex) (Codex needed a 60 s server start timeout on a cold npx start). MarkItDown failed again in both. Confirmed Oct 21, 2026: a second run passed both tasks again in all 4 clients (open-websearch 2.2.0).

Provisional: based on one dated run per app (no repeat runs yet), so treat it as a candidate, not a final pick. How we test.

What failed or is partial in ChatGPT (Codex)

• Fetch (reference): failed on 2026-10-20. Recorded reason: answer missing ['Example Domain']; no tool result containing ['Example Domain']
• MarkItDown MCP (Microsoft): failed on 2026-10-21. Recorded reason: answer missing ['Example Domain']; no tool result containing ['Example Domain']

Install in ChatGPT (Codex)

The exact snippet we tested is on the Open-WebSearch page (pick the ChatGPT (Codex) tab). Not connecting? ChatGPT (Codex) MCP troubleshooting.

Not tested in ChatGPT (Codex) yet

Apify MCP, Bright Data MCP, Pomerado, SerpApi MCP, Firecrawl MCP, Exa MCP, Tavily MCP, Brave Search MCP, Jina AI MCP, Kagi Search MCP, Xquik, Scrapling, Jevcrawl, Crawl4AI, Xiaohongshu (RedNote) MCP, wigolo, Google Search Console MCP, Open SEO MCP + Skills, designlang (design-extract), FlexQueries, AgentWeb, Irmu — Web Data MCP, Qovia, Awwwards MCP. Listed from their source; no result in ChatGPT (Codex) yet.

Questions

What is the best web search & scraping MCP server for ChatGPT (Codex)?

In ToolPassed's hands-on tests in ChatGPT (Codex), Open-WebSearch is our provisional candidate for web search & scraping: it passed install, connect, tools and an agent task on 2026-10-21. We ran 5 web search & scraping MCP servers in ChatGPT (Codex); 3 passed every step; not a pass: Fetch (reference) (failed), MarkItDown MCP (Microsoft) (failed).

Does Open-WebSearch work with ChatGPT (Codex)?

Open-WebSearch passed in ChatGPT (Codex) on 2026-10-21 (Codex CLI 0.162.0-alpha.17.2, open-websearch 2.2.0, connect time not recorded).

Does Fetch (reference) work with ChatGPT (Codex)?

No, not in our test: Fetch (reference) failed in ChatGPT (Codex) on 2026-10-20 (Codex CLI 0.162.0-alpha.17.2, mcp-server-fetch 2026.10.19, connect time not recorded). Recorded reason: answer missing ['Example Domain']; no tool result containing ['Example Domain']

Does MarkItDown MCP (Microsoft) work with ChatGPT (Codex)?

No, not in our test: MarkItDown MCP (Microsoft) failed in ChatGPT (Codex) on 2026-10-21 (Codex CLI 0.162.0-alpha.17.2, markitdown-mcp 0.0.1a8, connect time not recorded). Recorded reason: answer missing ['Example Domain']; no tool result containing ['Example Domain']