About fastCRW
fastCRW is an open-source Rust crawler and search engine that turns URLs into markdown or structured JSON for AI agents. It can run as a small self-hostable binary or through a managed API.
Key features
- 01One engine for search, scrape, map, crawl and extract
- 02Small Rust binary for local, self-hosted runs
- 03Outputs markdown, HTML, links, screenshots or schema JSON
- 04Crawl and map follow robots.txt by default
- 05MCP server installs into detected AI coding tools
Use cases
- 01Scraping web pages into markdown for AI agents
- 02Running bounded site crawls to collect pages
- 03Extracting structured fields from one or many URLs
MCP support
fastCRW provides an MCP server that can be installed with npx crw-mcp into detected AI tools such as Claude Code and Cursor, exposing search and scraping to MCP clients.
Configuration
Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.
https://fastcrw.com/mcpclaude mcp add --transport http us-fastcrw https://fastcrw.com/mcp{"mcpServers":{"us-fastcrw":{"type":"http","url":"https://fastcrw.com/mcp"}}}Open in Cursor{"servers":{"us-fastcrw":{"type":"http","url":"https://fastcrw.com/mcp"}}}Open in VS Code{"mcpServers":{"us-fastcrw":{"type":"http","url":"https://fastcrw.com/mcp"}}}{"mcpServers":{"us-fastcrw":{"serverUrl":"https://fastcrw.com/mcp"}}}Run commands in a terminal; paste JSON into the client’s MCP config and restart. Servers that need sign-in will prompt on first connect.
Tools
Details
From the project README
fastCRW
Turn URLs into clean markdown or structured JSON with one engine for search, scrape, map, crawl, and extract.
Run it locally as a small Rust binary or use the managed API.
Get 1000 free credits → · Install · Docs
No credit card. Continue with GitHub.
One-command install
curl -fsSL https://fastcrw.com/install | sh
Runs local and free, no account needed. To use the Cloud, paste your key into the same command and it installs the binary, connects the key, and registers the MCP server with the AI coding tools you already have:
curl -fsSL https://fastcrw.com/install | CRW_API_KEY=crw_live_... sh
crw search "rust tutorials"
Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode and Windsurf are picked up
automatically when they are already set up; nothing else is touched, and your
key stays in ~/.config/crw/config.toml rather than being copied into each
tool. Add CRW_NO_AGENTS=1 to skip that step, or run crw setup on its own to
choose interactively.
1000 free credits, no credit card. Managed proxies, JS rendering and search, with nothing to run or keep up to date. Get my free key →
macOS and Linux, Intel and ARM. More install options →
What it does
| Operation | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Scrape | One URL to markdown, HTML, links, screenshots, or schema JSON |
| Crawl | Follow a bounded site crawl and collect its pages |
| Map | Discover URLs without scraping every page |
| Search | Search the web and optionally scrape selected results |
| Extract | Produce structured fields from one or many URLs |
Why fastCRW
On Firecrawl's own public 1,000-URL dataset, fastCRW recovered more truth than Crawl4AI and Firecrawl, matched the fastest median latency, and idled at ~14 MB RAM.
Methodology, full numbers, and how to reproduce it
On a different benchmark entirely, answer accuracy rather than scrape recall, fastCRW answers 90.0% of the 600 AA-Omniscience questions correctly. Every product listed on the Artificial Analysis Search Index sits below it.
The full 14-product comparison, the control run, and how to reproduce it
Choose how you use it
CLI
crw https://example.com # scrape, works right after install
crw search "rust async runtime" # search, after `crw setup`
Python SDK
Using Cloud? Get an API key, then export it once:
export CRW_API_KEY="crw_live_..."
pip install crw
from crw import CrwClient
client = CrwClient()
page = client.scrape("https://example.com", formats=["markdown"])
print(page["markdown"])
Node.js
npm install crw-sdk
import { CrwClient } from "crw-sdk";
const client = new CrwClient();
const page = await client.scrape("https://example.com", {
formats: ["markdown"],
});
console.log(page.markdown);
Local mode and more SDK examples → · REST API →
MCP for AI agents
npx -y crw-mcp@latest install
Installs the CRW skill and MCP server in your detected AI tools. crw setup can
also do this step, so either path is enough.
Manual setup →
Choose where it runs
| Managed API | Local / self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Zero infrastructure and managed scaling | Data control, private networks, or custom infrastructure |
| Start | Create an API key, then crw setup | Install and run crw <URL> |
| Operations | Managed proxies, billing, and hosted capabilities | You choose renderers, search, auth, proxies, and capacity |
Capabilities and response shapes can differ by deployment:
/v1/capabilities · response shapes
Learn more
Contributing
The workspace requires Rust 1.85 or newer:
git clone https://github.com/fastcrw/crw
cd crw
make check-fast
Contributors
crw is better because of these people. Thank you, all of you:
Engine and MCP server: AGPL-3.0. Python and TypeScript SDKs: MIT. Embedding license: [email protected].
Star History
Please respect website policies. Crawl and map follow robots.txt by default.
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.