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Brave Search MCP Server

Brave's official MCP server: web, news, image, video and place search plus extracted page content for model context

MCP serverEditors’ pickMedium risk

brave/brave-search-mcp-serverAuthor: Brave

Install

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server", "--transport", "stdio"],
      "env": {
        "BRAVE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to claude_desktop_config.json.

This is third-party code. Review the repository files before installing.

What it does

The server connects an agent to the Brave Search API. It offers separate tools for web search with country, language and freshness filters, plus news, image, video, local business and place search. The brave_llm_context tool returns pre-extracted page content with token and snippet limits, useful for RAG and fact-checking. Result summarization via the Brave API is also available. The tool set can be narrowed with an allow or deny list.

Who it is for. For developers and researchers who want independent web search in their agent through an official API.

Good fit when

  • The agent needs current web search with source links
  • You need page context for an answer without a separate scraper
  • You need fresh news or place search by coordinates

Not a fit when

  • You need Russian-language web search at Yandex quality
  • The agent already has built-in web search that is enough

Example request

Find news from the past week about the PostgreSQL 18 release and link the primary sources

Limitations

Requires a Brave Search API key; plan terms are set by Brave. Extra snippets and full local search need Pro plans. HTTP mode is unauthenticated by default and should only be exposed on a trusted network.

How to disable. Remove the brave-search block from the client's MCP config and restart the agent.

MCP

Transport
stdio, http
Authentication
API key
Environment variables
BRAVE_API_KEY
required, secret		Brave Search API key, not needed if BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE is set
BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE
Path to a file with the key, handy for Docker secrets
BRAVE_MCP_TRANSPORT
Transport stdio or http, default stdio
BRAVE_MCP_ENABLED_TOOLS
Space-separated tool allow list

Security check

  • Calls an external API and returns third-party page content into agent context
  • Requires storing a paid API key

README in short

The README lists the tools with parameters and covers migration from 1.x: stdio is now the default transport and image search no longer returns base64. It explains getting a key, environment variables and CLI flags, including DNS rebinding protection for HTTP mode. It gives configs for Claude Desktop, VS Code and fx via npx or Docker, plus building from source. MIT licensed.

FAQ

How does it differ from the old brave-search server in Anthropic's repo?

This is Brave's official version with more tools, including place search and LLM context. The old reference server is no longer developed.

Can I disable some tools?

Yes, via BRAVE_MCP_ENABLED_TOOLS or BRAVE_MCP_DISABLED_TOOLS.

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