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MCP-Brave-Search

by modelcontextprotocol
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Brave Search MCP Server

An MCP server implementation that integrates the Brave Search API, providing both web and local search capabilities.

Features

  • Web Search: General queries, news, articles, with pagination and freshness controls

  • Local Search: Find businesses, restaurants, and services with detailed information

  • Flexible Filtering: Control result types, safety levels, and content freshness

  • Smart Fallbacks: Local search automatically falls back to web when no results are found

Related MCP server: 1313

Tools

  • brave_web_search

    • Execute web searches with pagination and filtering

    • Inputs:

      • query (string): Search terms

      • count (number, optional): Results per page (max 20)

      • offset (number, optional): Pagination offset (max 9)

  • brave_local_search

    • Search for local businesses and services

    • Inputs:

      • query (string): Local search terms

      • count (number, optional): Number of results (max 20)

    • Automatically falls back to web search if no local results found

Configuration

Getting an API Key

  1. Sign up for a Brave Search API account

  2. Choose a plan (Free tier available with 2,000 queries/month)

  3. Generate your API key from the developer dashboard

Usage with Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

Docker

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "BRAVE_API_KEY",
        "mcp/brave-search"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAVE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

NPX

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

Usage with VS Code

For quick installation, use the one-click installation buttons below...

Install with NPX in VS Code Install with NPX in VS Code Insiders

Install with Docker in VS Code Install with Docker in VS Code Insiders

For manual installation, add the following JSON block to your User Settings (JSON) file in VS Code. You can do this by pressing Ctrl + Shift + P and typing Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON).

Optionally, you can add it to a file called .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace. This will allow you to share the configuration with others.

Note that the mcp key is not needed in the .vscode/mcp.json file.

Docker

{
  "mcp": {
    "inputs": [
      {
        "type": "promptString",
        "id": "brave_api_key",
        "description": "Brave Search API Key",
        "password": true
      }
    ],
    "servers": {
      "brave-search": {
        "command": "docker",
        "args": [
          "run",
          "-i",
          "--rm",
          "-e",
          "BRAVE_API_KEY",
          "mcp/brave-search"
        ],
        "env": {
          "BRAVE_API_KEY": "${input:brave_api_key}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

NPX

{
  "mcp": {
    "inputs": [
      {
        "type": "promptString",
        "id": "brave_api_key",
        "description": "Brave Search API Key",
        "password": true
      }
    ],
    "servers": {
      "brave-search": {
        "command": "npx",
        "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"],
        "env": {
          "BRAVE_API_KEY": "${input:brave_api_key}"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Build

Docker build:

docker build -t mcp/brave-search:latest -f src/brave-search/Dockerfile .

License

This MCP server is licensed under the MIT License. This means you are free to use, modify, and distribute the software, subject to the terms and conditions of the MIT License. For more details, please see the LICENSE file in the project repository.

Available Tools

2 tools

Tool Schema Changelog

Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

  1. 2 tool updates
    • First observedbrave_local_search
    • First observedbrave_web_search
Deploy Server
One endpoint for every MCP toolRayrun runs every MCP server behind one URL and holds the credentials. Each call is decided per client, tool, and argument, then recorded.ray.runAd

TDQS

A4.1/5.0

Scored across 2 tools

Disambiguation5/5

The two tools have clearly distinct purposes: brave_local_search targets physical locations and businesses with local context, while brave_web_search handles general web content and information. Their descriptions explicitly differentiate use cases ('near me' vs. 'general queries'), eliminating any overlap or confusion.

Naming Consistency5/5

Both tools follow a consistent naming pattern: 'brave_' prefix followed by a descriptive term (local_search, web_search). This uniformity makes them easily recognizable as part of the same server and clearly indicates their function.

Tool Count3/5

With only two tools, the server feels thin for a search domain that could benefit from more specialized operations (e.g., image search, news search, or advanced filtering). While the tools cover core local and web search, the limited count may restrict agent flexibility in handling diverse search-related tasks.

Completeness3/5

The server covers basic local and web search functionalities, but there are notable gaps for a comprehensive search toolset. Missing operations include image/video search, news-specific search, autocomplete suggestions, or trend analysis, which could limit agents in fully addressing search-related queries.

Maintenance

ActivityInactive
ResponsivenessNo issues

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