OptiLLM

Add SpecStream to OptiLLM's MCP plugin with one entry in mcp_config.json, and any model behind the proxy can search the live web and read pages, with no Chrome on the server.

SpecStream for OptiLLMAgent frameworks & builders

What you need

OptiLLM 0.4 or newer (pip install optillm), started with the key of the model provider it proxies, and a model that supports tool calls.
A SpecStream API key. New accounts start with $10 of credit, no card. Create an account.

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1. Create a SpecStream API key
OptiLLM's MCP plugin connects with a header and has no browser sign-in, so it uses an API key. In SpecStream, open Agents & API, choose API keys, then Create API key. Give it execute permission and a spending limit above zero, so it can search and read pages. Copy the key when it is shown. It is not shown again.
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2. Put the header value in one environment variable
The plugin replaces a header value with an environment variable only when the whole value is ${NAME}. A value written as Bearer ${NAME} is sent as it is written, and SpecStream answers 401. So keep the whole header value, Bearer and the key, in one variable, and set it in the shell that starts OptiLLM:
Shell
export SPECSTREAM_AUTH="Bearer YOUR_SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"

3. Add SpecStream to mcp_config.json

Open ~/.optillm/mcp_config.json and add an entry under mcpServers. SpecStream is a remote server on Streamable HTTP, so transport is streamable_http (the plugin also accepts streamable-http and http). The description goes to the model with the tool list. timeout is the connection timeout in seconds, 5 by default:

~/.optillm/mcp_config.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "specstream": {
      "transport": "streamable_http",
      "url": "https://api.specstream.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "${SPECSTREAM_AUTH}"
      },
      "timeout": 30,
      "description": "Live web search and page reading"
    }
  },
  "log_level": "INFO"
}

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4. Start OptiLLM
Start the proxy in the same shell, so it has SPECSTREAM_AUTH. The plugin reads mcp_config.json again on every request, so a later change to the file needs no restart. A new or changed environment variable does.
Shell
optillm

5. Call the mcp plugin

Put mcp- before the model name, or send "optillm_approach": "mcp" in extra_body. Ask something that needs the web:

Python
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(base_url="http://localhost:8000/v1")

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="mcp-gpt-4o-mini",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Search the web: what changed in the latest Python release? Name the pages you used."}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)

What the model gets

The plugin shows SpecStream's tools to the model as specstream.<tool>. Two of them do the work in one request:

specstream.search_web with q: one Search API call. It returns the answer with the page it was read from, and the ranked results with title, URL and snippet. The Search API is the most accurate web search API on SimpleQA Verified and WideSearch (scores and method).
specstream.read_pages with urls: one Extract API call that returns the main text of up to 20 pages, PDF, Word and Excel files included. A page that refuses a plain read is tried again as a browser would ask for it, then in a real browser, then from the site's own feed, then from its newest public archive capture.

One round of tool calls per request

OptiLLM's plugin runs the tool calls the model asks for once, sends the results back, and returns the model's next reply. A search, or a read of pages you name, fits in that round. Lists with a price to approve (Deep Search) take several calls and your approval, so ask for those from an assistant connected to the SpecStream MCP server.

Next to the web_search and readurls plugins

OptiLLM's own web_search plugin runs Google searches by driving Chrome with Selenium, so the host needs Chrome. Its readurls plugin fetches the URLs written in the request. Through the mcp plugin, SpecStream answers both over HTTPS with no browser on the OptiLLM host, and the model decides when to search and which pages to read.

If the model answers without searching

When the plugin cannot reach any server, it answers without tools and writes the reason to ~/.optillm/logs/mcp_plugin.log. The line Environment variable SPECSTREAM_AUTH not found for header Authorization means OptiLLM started without the variable: set it and start OptiLLM again. A 401 means the header reached SpecStream without a valid key: check that the variable holds Bearer, a space and the key.

Cost

Each search_web call is one Search API call at $5 per 1,000 searches of up to 10 results. Each page read_pages returns with text costs $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and a page with no text is not charged. Both come out of your balance with no quote and no approval, and the key's spending limit caps what it can spend. New accounts start with $10 of credit, no card. Balance and billing has the details.

Disconnect

Remove the specstream entry from mcp_config.json. Then open Agents & API in your workspace, choose API keys, and revoke the key. Questions go to [email protected].

SpecStream for OptiLLM covers what it does in OptiLLM on one page. Every other tool has its guide in Connect your tools. You see the most a request can cost before it starts, and the matches are paid from your balance. Billing has the details. For help, email [email protected].