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Brave Search MCP

Brave

stdio (default), Streamable HTTP (optional)4+ documented tools21

About Brave Search MCP

Brave's official local MCP server connects AI clients to Brave Search API capabilities including web, local business, place, image, video, news, LLM-context, and AI-answer search.

What you can use it for

  • Search the web for pages and rich search result types
  • Find local businesses and places
  • Search images, videos, and news
  • Retrieve LLM-optimized search context and AI summaries
Connection and setup
Hosting
Local; can also run in HTTP mode
Transport
stdio (default), Streamable HTTP (optional)
Endpoint
Local process; no hosted endpoint documented
Authentication
Brave Search API key required through BRAVE_API_KEY or BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE. API access and plan restrictions apply.

Requirements

  • Brave Search API account and API key
  • Node.js 22+ and npm for local development; Docker option also documented
  • Client configured for stdio or the explicitly started HTTP endpoint

Setup steps

  1. Create a Brave Search API account and generate an API key in the developer dashboard.
  2. Add the official package @brave/brave-search-mcp-server as an stdio server using npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server --transport stdio.
  3. Pass BRAVE_API_KEY via a secret/environment input; do not put a real key in prompts or committed config.
  4. Restart/reload the client if required and confirm its server status.
  5. Try a harmless web search; local search may require a Pro plan for full capability.
Tools 4+

Stored four search identifiers are a subset. Current maintainer docs describe additional tools and configurable enabled/disabled tool allowlists; API access requires a Brave Search API key.

  • brave_web_search
    01
  • brave_local_search
    02
  • brave_video_search
    03
  • brave_image_search
    04

This server’s available tools can vary by account, permissions, or configuration. The list shown is not its full runtime catalog.

Limitations and notes
  • Local search full capabilities require the Brave Search API Pro plan; otherwise it falls back to web search.
  • extra_snippets is documented as Pro-plan only. Other access depends on the Brave Search API plan.
  • Version 2.x changed default transport to stdio and altered brave_image_search output by removing base64 image payloads.
  • The directory source attributed this row to Anthropic, but current Brave-maintained repository/package docs identify Brave as publisher. The prior Anthropic attribution may refer to an older different implementation and must not be reused for this record.
Source discrepancies
  • The discovery listing attributes this row to Anthropic, but the researched implementation is the separate Brave-maintained repository/package. Publisher corrected to Brave; do not apply Anthropic branding or metadata.
Original sources
  • official tool reference

    The maintainer documents multiple search tools and configurable enabled/disabled tool allowlists; stored four names are only a subset.

  • official documentation

    The maintainer documents multiple search tools and configurable enabled/disabled tool allowlists; stored four names are only a subset.

Documentation checked 2026-10-28T12:48:00.000Z. Connection has not been runtime tested.

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