Access Brave Search for Web, Image, Video, and News

The Brave Search MCP server 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.

Installation

npm install -g @brave/brave-search-mcp-server

Configuration

Add to your Claude Code settings:

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

Available Tools

brave_web_search

Performs comprehensive web searches with rich result types and filtering.

brave_web_search(query: string, options?: SearchOptions): SearchResults

Parameters:

• query - Search terms (max 400 chars, 50 words)
• country - Country code (default: "US")
• count - Results per page (1-20, default: 10)
• safesearch - Content filtering ("off", "moderate", "strict")
• freshness - Time filter ("pd", "pw", "pm", "py")

brave_local_search

Searches for local businesses and places with ratings, hours, and descriptions.

brave_local_search(query: string, options?: LocalSearchOptions): LocalResults

brave_image_search

Searches for images with metadata and thumbnail information.

brave_image_search(query: string, options?: ImageSearchOptions): ImageResults

brave_video_search

Searches for videos with comprehensive metadata.

brave_video_search(query: string, options?: VideoSearchOptions): VideoResults

brave_news_search

Searches for current news articles with freshness controls.

brave_news_search(query: string, options?: NewsSearchOptions): NewsResults

brave_summarizer

Generates AI-powered summaries from web search results.

brave_summarizer(key: string, options?: SummarizerOptions): Summary

Getting an API Key

1. Sign up for a Brave Search API account
2. Choose a plan:
   • Free: 2,000 queries/month, basic web search
   • Pro: Enhanced features including local search, AI summaries
3. Generate your API key from the developer dashboard

Usage Example

Claude, search the web for the latest news about AI developments
and summarize the top results.