MCP serverWeb & SearchVerified Last verified 2026-07-24

Brave Search MCP Server

by Brave

An MCP server that integrates the Brave Search API so an agent can run web and local searches for fresh, current results. It supports general web queries plus news, and local business/points-of-interest search, with filtering options. It requires a Brave Search API key and works with any MCP-compatible host.

Official page

Works with

Any MCP Client Claude Code Claude (Desktop & Web)Cursor Windsurf Cline VS Code Zed

The Model Context Protocol (MCP).

When to use it

Answering questions that need up-to-date, post-training information
Adding a citeable web-search step to an agent workflow
Independent search that isn't tied to a single big provider

When not to

When you specifically need a browser to interact with pages — use a browser-automation server instead

What it does

Run live web searches for current information
Search news and recent articles
Look up local businesses and points of interest

How to install

Setup steps with copy-paste config. Sources are cited under each method.

npx (API key)

Requires: Node.js · A Brave Search API key

Get a Brave Search API key
Create an API key in the Brave Search API dashboard.

Add to your MCP config

Provide the API key as an environment variable.

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server"],
      "env": { "BRAVE_API_KEY": "<your-api-key>" }
    }
  }
}

Brave Search MCP Server — documentation · Brave · Documentation · accessed 2026-07-24

How to prompt it

Copy-paste prompts written to exercise this plugin, with what to expect.

Research with citations

You need current facts the model wasn't trained on.

Search the web for the latest changes in this framework's v3 release and summarize them with source links.

What to expect: The agent runs a live Brave search and answers with a summary plus source URLs, rather than relying on stale training data.

Ask explicitly for source links so you can verify each claim.

Tips for getting the most out of it

Keep your API key in environment variables, never in a committed config file.
Prompt for citations — web results are only useful if you can check them.

Prompts to pair with it

Real prompts from the IterPrompt library you can copy or run.

Skill subagent

4.3(13)

Search Specialist Agent

Expert web researcher using advanced search techniques and synthesis. Masters search operators, result filtering, and multi-source verification. Handles competitive analysis and fa

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Prompt ux research

4.7(98)