Brave Search

What is Brave Search?

Brave Search is an MCP server that integrates the Brave Search API, providing comprehensive search capabilities including web search, local business search, image search, video search, news search, and AI-powered summarization. It supports both HTTP and STDIO transports and is designed for developers building AI agents or MCP-compatible tools.

How to use Brave Search?

Obtain a Brave Search API key from the developer dashboard, then configure the server via environment variables (e.g., BRAVE_API_KEY, BRAVE_MCP_TRANSPORT) or command‑line options (--brave-api-key, --transport, --port, --host). Install using Docker (mcp/brave-search) or NPX (@brave/brave-search-mcp-server), and add the appropriate configuration to your Claude Desktop or VS Code settings.

Key features of Brave Search

• Web search with rich results and advanced filtering (country, language, safety, freshness)
• Local business search with ratings, hours, and AI-generated descriptions (Pro plan required)
• Image search with automatic base64 encoding for direct display
• Video search with metadata and thumbnail information
• News search with freshness controls and breaking news indicators
• AI-powered summarizer using summary keys from web search results

Use cases of Brave Search

• Enable an AI agent to perform real‑time web searches and present summarized results
• Find local businesses and places with detailed information for recommendation systems
• Retrieve current news articles with time filtering for news aggregation tools
• Search and display images or videos in conversational interfaces
• Generate AI summaries from search results to answer complex queries concisely

FAQ from Brave Search

Do I need a Brave Search API key?

Yes. You must sign up for a Brave Search API account and generate an API key from the developer dashboard. The key is set via the BRAVE_API_KEY environment variable or the --brave-api-key command‑line option.

What plans are available?

Two plans are mentioned: a Free plan (2,000 queries/month, basic web search) and a Pro plan (enhanced features including local search, AI summaries, and extra snippets). Local search and the summarizer may require Pro access.

How do I use the AI summarizer?

First perform a web search with the summary: true parameter to obtain a summary key. Then call brave_summarizer with that key, and optionally include entity information or inline references.

What transport types are supported?

Both HTTP and STDIO transports are supported. The default is HTTP. Set the BRAVE_MCP_TRANSPORT environment variable or use the --transport flag to switch to stdio.

What are the query length limits?

All search queries are limited to 400 characters (max 50 words). Pagination offset is capped at 9. Results per page vary by tool (e.g., web search 1‑20, image search 1‑200).