MCP server Official

Brave Search MCP Server

Brave's official MCP server for web, local, image, video and news search plus AI summarization.

Author: Brave
Works with: Any MCP client
License: MIT
Documented: Oct 2, 2026

What Brave Search MCP Server is

Integrates the Brave Search API with STDIO as the default transport and HTTP optional. It replaces the archived reference Brave Search server, per the modelcontextprotocol/servers README.

What it does

Where Brave Search MCP Server runs and what it adds, from its documentation

Web search with filters (brave_web_search)
Local business search (Pro plan for full support)
Image and video search
News search, LLM context and summarization
STDIO or HTTP transport

When to use it

Good fit

Giving an agent current web search
Local place lookups with a Pro plan

Not for

Local search on non-Pro plans: falls back to web search
Extra snippets on non-Pro plans

How to install Brave Search MCP Server

You need: Node.js or Docker; Brave Search API key

Get a Brave Search API key
Set BRAVE_API_KEY (or BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE)
Add the npx config with @brave/brave-search-mcp-server and --transport stdio
Restart your client

Configuration example (from the official docs)

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

Permissions and security

What it can access

Sends queries to Brave Search API

Security notes from the maintainers

API key via env or file

Review the source before granting an agent access to credentials or production systems. We document what the maintainers state; we do not audit code.

Limitations

2.x defaults to STDIO; set BRAVE_MCP_TRANSPORT=http for HTTP
brave_image_search no longer returns base64 in 2.x

Frequently asked questions

Does Brave Search MCP replace the old reference server?

Yes, the servers README says the archived one was replaced by this official server. source

What transport is default in Brave Search MCP 2.x?

STDIO. source

What does Brave Search MCP need?

A BRAVE_API_KEY. source

Related guides

Sources and gaps

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server/main/README.md readme, checked Oct 2, 2026
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/modelcontextprotocol/servers/main/README.md readme, checked Oct 2, 2026

Not stated by the maintainers: last_release date not visible in the checked README.