Brave Search MCP server
io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server·v2.1.3·1.6k starsBrave Search MCP Server: web results, images, videos, rich results, AI summaries, and more.
1.6k stars35k downloads/wk
Reviews
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If you have run it, two minutes of your experience saves the next person an afternoon.
Brave Search tools (8)
write = sends, deletes, buys or postsRead from the package source without running it. The installed server may list more.
brave_image_searchbrave_llm_contextbrave_local_searchbrave_news_searchbrave_place_searchbrave_summarizerbrave_video_searchbrave_web_search
Public scan report
scanner v0.1.10 · 2026-11-02 · same rubric, same numbers if you re-run it
- Code scan56 source files scanned25/25
- –Live reliabilityno gateway calls yet and no remote to proben/a
- –Tool poisoningtools not inspected (local package is not executed); not countedn/a
- Auth qualitystatic API keys via environment variables6/15
- Maintenancelast push 3 days ago15/15
- Maintainer identityregistry namespace matches repository owner; GitHub account older than a year9/10
How Brave Search compares
Against every graded Web search MCP server, from our own scans and uptime checks. Updated after each scan run.
- Safety score
- 85/100
- higher than 75% of 3,443 Web search servers
- Tools
- 8
- the typical Web search server has 5
- Tools that change things
- 0%
- typical: 0%. Fewer write tools means less an agent can break
- GitHub stars
- 1,552
- more than 95% of 1,781 Web search servers
- Downloads a week
- 34,601
- more than 97% of 994 Web search servers with a package
What its tools let an agent do: 8 read
Install Brave Search in Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code
Runs npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server on your machine. Read the scan report first; the gateway never runs local packages.
claude mcp add brave-search-mcp-server -- npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server
What the publisher says
From the Brave Search repository's README, as published. We do not edit it. Read it on GitHub
Brave Search MCP Server
An MCP server implementation that integrates the Brave Search API, providing comprehensive search capabilities including web search, local business search, place search, image search, video search, news search, LLM context, and AI-powered summarization. This project supports both STDIO and HTTP transports, with STDIO as the default mode.
Migration
1.x to 2.x
Default transport now STDIO
To follow established MCP conventions, the server now defaults to STDIO. If you would like to continue using HTTP, you will need to set the BRAVEMCPTRANSPORT environment variable to http, or provide the runtime argument --transport http when launching the server.
Response structure of braveimagesearch
Version 1.x of the MCP server would return base64-encoded image data along with image URLs. This dramatically slowed down the response, as well as consumed unnecessarily context in the session. Version 2.x removes the base64-encoded data, and returns a response object that more closely reflects the original Brave Search API response. The updated output schema is defined in src/tools/images/schemas/output.ts.
Tools
Web Search (bravewebsearch)
Performs comprehensive web searches with rich result types and advanced filtering options.
Parameters:
- query (string, required): Search terms (max 400 chars, 50 words)
- country (string, optional): Country code (default: "US")
- search_lang (string, optional): Search language (default: "en")
- ui_lang (string, optional): UI language (default: "en-US")
- count (number, optional): Results per page (1-20, default: 10)
- offset (number, optional): Pagination offset (max 9, default: 0)
- safesearch (string, optional): Content filtering ("off", "moderate", "strict", default: "moderate")
- freshness (string, optional): Time filter ("pd", "pw", "pm", "py", or date range)
- text_decorations (boolean, optional): Include highlighting markers (default: true)
- spellcheck (boolean, optional): Enable spell checking (default: true)
- result_filter (array, optional): Filter result types (default: ["web", "query"])
- goggles (array, optional): Custom re-ranking definitions
Local Search (bravelocalsearch)
Searches for local businesses and places with detailed information including ratings, hours, and AI-generated descriptions.
Parameters:
- Same as bravewebsearch with automatic location filtering
- Automatically includes "web" and "locations" in result_filter
Note: Requires Pro plan for full local search capabilities. Falls back to web search otherwise.
Video Search (bravevideosearch)
Searches for videos with comprehensive metadata and thumbnail information.
Parameters:
- query (string, required): Search terms (max 400 chars, 50 words)
- country (string, optional): Country code (default: "US")
- search_lang (string, optional): Search language (default: "en")
- ui_lang (string, optional): UI language (default: "en-US")
- count (number, optional): Results per page (1-50, default: 20)
- offset (number, optional): Pagination offset (max 9, default: 0)
- spellcheck (boolean, optional): Enable spell checking (default: true)
- safesearch (string, optional): Content filtering ("off", "moderate", "strict", default: "moderate")
- freshness (string, optional): Time filter ("pd", "pw", "pm", "py", or date range)
Image Search (braveimagesearch)
Searches for images with metadata including URLs, dimensions, and confidence scores.
Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.
Nothing above is checked by us. What we check is on the safety report.
Brave Search: common questions
- Is Brave Search MCP server safe?
- Yes, by our scan: it is graded A (85/100). Read the Brave Search safety report
- How do I install Brave Search?
- It runs on your machine. Copy the Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Claude Desktop config from the install section.
- Does Brave Search need an API key?
- Yes. The registry entry asks for
BRAVE_API_KEY. - Is Brave Search maintained?
- The last commit was 16 days ago (2026-10-30). The latest release is v2.1.3.
- What can I use instead of Brave Search?
- Servers from other publishers that do the same job: Brave MCP server, Zotero MCP server and webclaw MCP server.
- How does Brave Search compare with other Web search MCP servers?
- safety score 85/100 (higher than 75% of 3,443 Web search servers); tools 8 (the typical Web search server has 5); tools that change things 0% (typical: 0%. Fewer write tools means less an agent can break). Full comparison.
Alternatives to Brave Search
Same job from other publishers: the closest match first, then the best rated.
- BraveVisit https://brave.com/search/api/ for a free API key. Search the web, local businesses, images,…not reviewedEstablishedA
Zotero MCPSearch, read, annotate, and add to your Zotero research library, local or web.not reviewedWidely usedB- webclawWeb scraping, search, crawling, structured extraction and research for AI agents.not reviewedWidely usedA
- Perplexity API Platform (moved to ai.perplexity/mcp-server)Real-time web search, reasoning, and research through Perplexity's APInot reviewedWidely usedA
- Perplexity API PlatformReal-time web search, reasoning, and research through Perplexity's APInot reviewedEstablishedA