Brave Search is an MCP server that provides both web and local search capabilities using the Brave Search API.
To use it, sign up for a Brave Search API account to get an API key. Configure the server with this key to start making search queries.
Key features include Web Search for general queries, news, and articles with pagination controls. Local Search finds businesses and services, automatically falling back to web search if needed. It offers Flexible Filtering for result types, safety, and freshness, and uses Smart Fallbacks to ensure relevant results are always provided.
Use cases include conducting general web searches, finding local businesses quickly, and applying custom filters to search results.
To obtain an API key, sign up for an account, select a plan, and generate the key from the developer dashboard. A free tier is available, allowing up to 2,000 queries per month. If no local results are found, the service automatically falls back to a web search.
{
"mcpServers": {
"brave-search": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"-e",
"BRAVE_API_KEY",
"mcp/brave-search"
],
"env": {
"BRAVE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}