Set it up
- 1
Turn on Brave Search in your AI
In Claude: open Settings → Connectors and add Brave Search. In ChatGPT: Settings → Apps & Connectors.
- 2
Add it to your app once
Copy the short config below into your app. It just tells your AI where to find Brave Search.
- 3
Just ask
Tell it what you want in plain words — no special commands.
For example, say
“Search the web for the latest news about Anthropic and give me a 3-sentence summary”
Need the exact config? Show it +
Add to your client
{
"mcpServers": {
"brave-search": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"],
"env": {
"BRAVE_API_KEY": "<your-brave-api-key>"
}
}
}
}Paste into your client's MCP configuration file.
Quick skills
Copy one, paste it to your AI, watch it work.
Research Assistant
“Research the latest developments in AI coding assistants released in 2025”
Fact Checker
“What is the current pricing for Vercel Pro plan? Check the official website.”
Good to know
- · Brave Search is usage-based — free tier has a monthly query cap
- · Results come from Brave's independent index, which can differ from Google
- · Search quality for highly technical or long-tail queries may vary
When to use
- ✓ You want Claude to have access to current information
- ✓ You need to research recent events, news, or product releases
- ✓ You want to verify facts with live data
- ✓ You're doing market research or competitive analysis
When not to use
- × You only work with historical data or your own documents
- × You need deep website content (use firecrawl-mcp for full page scraping)
- × You have very high search volumes (API costs can add up)
About
By default, Claude's knowledge has a cutoff date — it doesn't know what happened yesterday. This server fixes that. It gives your AI a search engine so it can look things up on the web in real time. Ask about current events, recent prices, new software versions, or anything that happened recently.
The official Brave Search MCP server integrates Brave's privacy-focused search engine into any MCP-compatible AI assistant. Get real-time web search results, news, and factual information without sending queries to Google.
Requires a Brave Search API key (free tier available). One of the most popular ways to give Claude access to current information.
Workflows That Use Brave Search MCP
Recommended recipe
Let Claude search and browse the live webReal-time search, page scraping, and full browser automation — Claude works with what's on the web right now.
Works With
Also Consider
FAQ
What does Brave Search MCP do? +
By default, Claude's knowledge has a cutoff date — it doesn't know what happened yesterday. This server fixes that. It gives your AI a search engine so it can look things up on the web in real time. Ask about current events, recent prices, new software versions, or anything that happened recently.
Do I need to know how to code? +
No. Turn it on in your AI's settings and ask in plain English — no terminal, no coding.
When should I use Brave Search MCP? +
Reach for it when you need to: You want Claude to have access to current information; You need to research recent events, news, or product releases; You want to verify facts with live data; You're doing market research or competitive analysis.
When should I avoid Brave Search MCP? +
Skip it when: You only work with historical data or your own documents; You need deep website content (use firecrawl-mcp for full page scraping); You have very high search volumes (API costs can add up).
Is Brave Search MCP free? +
Brave Search MCP has a free tier (2,000 queries/month). Paid plans start at $5/month.
How do I install Brave Search MCP? +
In Claude Code, run: claude mcp add brave-search -e BRAVE_API_KEY=<your-brave-api-key> -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search. Copy-paste configs for Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf are at the top of this page.
