What Is Brave Search MCP? Setup, Free Credit, Privacy and Tools
You ask your assistant to look something up; Brave Search MCP runs web, news, image, video, local business and place searches with the Brave search engine and produces AI summaries. It's the MIT-licensed MCP server Brave publishes itself (package @brave/brave-search-mcp-server, version 2.1.4); all eight of its tools only read, it doesn't access local files or accounts, and it sends your search query to the Brave Search API. It needs a Brave Search API key to work: according to the pricing page there's free credit every month, but Brave says all plans require payment information. Query logs are kept for up to 90 days.
- What it does
- Lets your assistant run web, news and place searches with Brave
- Type
- MCP server (local, open source)
- Made by
- Brave
- Writing
- None, it only searches
- Queries
- Go to Brave (US), kept for 90 days
- Turkish
- Result quality not covered in the docs
- Price
- Server is free; API: $5 credit a month, card required
What Is Brave Search MCP Used For?
MCP is the standard for connecting AI programs to external tools. With Brave Search MCP, the assistant uses the Brave search engine to get up-to-date information. It has eight tools, all read-only: brave_web_search (web), brave_local_search (local businesses), brave_video_search, brave_image_search, brave_news_search, brave_summarizer (AI summary), brave_place_search (places) and brave_llm_context (AI-ready page content).
Outgoing: your search query. It doesn't access local files or accounts.
!The official server is the brave/brave-search-mcp-server repository and the @brave/brave-search-mcp-server package. The old @modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search package is marked "no longer supported" on npm; don't use the old one for new installs.
Who it's for: users who want their assistant to look up current web, news and place information and who are fine with their search queries going to Brave.
How Do You Install Brave Search MCP?
First you need a Brave Search API key: create an account at brave.com/search/api, choose a plan (Search or Answers) and generate the key on the api-dashboard.search.brave.com/app/keys page. According to Brave's privacy notice, you can't access the API without creating an account and activating a plan; billing information is required. Then you add the server to your client with Node.js (npx) or Docker. The JSON snippets are taken verbatim from the README.
› {"mcpServers":{"brave-search":{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@brave/brave-search-mcp-server","--transport","http"],"env":{"BRAVE_API_KEY":"YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"}}}}!The README uses --transport http in this example; the same document says the default mode is STDIO and uses --transport stdio in the VS Code and fx examples. The documentation doesn't clarify which is correct; if it doesn't work, use stdio. In HTTP mode, the endpoint has no authentication.
› {"inputs":[{"password":true,"id":"brave-api-key","type":"promptString","description":"Brave Search API Key"}],"servers":{"brave-search-mcp-server":{"command":"npx","args":["-y","@brave/brave-search-mcp-server","--transport","stdio"],"env":{"BRAVE_API_KEY":"${input:brave-api-key}"}}}}The key is requested through VS Code's password field and isn't written to the file.
› {"mcpServers":{"brave-search":{"command":"docker","args":["run","-i","--rm","-e","BRAVE_API_KEY","docker.io/mcp/brave-search"],"env":{"BRAVE_API_KEY":"YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"}}}}The README doesn't pin a version in the npx lines. fx uses ~/.fx/mcp.json. The README has no steps for Claude Code, Cursor or ChatGPT; "not in the docs" doesn't mean it doesn't work. Instead of writing the key into the config file, you can have it read from a file with BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE.
How Do You Use Brave Search MCP?
After setup, you write your request normally; the assistant picks the right search itself. Every search draws from your API credit.
The API sends X-RateLimit headers with every response; if you get a 429 error, you've exceeded the per-second limit, so wait and try again.
Which Clients Does Brave Search MCP Work In?
| Claude DesktopYes | JSON example in the README (npx and Docker). |
|---|---|
| VS CodeYes | Install buttons or manual configuration. |
| fxYes | The README has steps. |
| Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, CodexUnclear | No steps in the README; that doesn't mean it doesn't work. |
What Does Brave Search MCP Access, and Where Do My Searches Go?
It doesn't access local files or accounts. For the search query you send, it reads web, news, image, video, local business and place results, the AI summary and context from the Brave Search API.
Nothing; it only sends the search query to the Brave Search API.
Nothing.
Your search queries go to the Brave Search API (Brave Software Inc., US). According to Brave, query logs are kept for up to 90 days; Enterprise customers have a zero data retention option. Brave says it doesn't collect identifiers that would tie a query to a specific user. Account data is kept for 12 months after the account is deleted.
!In HTTP mode, the server's endpoint has no authentication; by default it binds only to 127.0.0.1, so open it to 0.0.0.0 only on a trusted network. Two open GitHub issues (#327, HTTP mode without authentication; #277, the claim that a single request can turn into many Brave requests) show no response from Brave.
GitHub Security Advisories and OSV returned nothing; the repo has no SECURITY.md. No recorded advisories appear; that doesn't mean "safe."
Is Brave Search MCP Free?
The server is MIT-licensed and free. Searches run through the Brave Search API, and its pricing applies. According to Brave's pricing page, every plan includes $5 of free credit a month. Brave says all plans require payment information, which means you also enter a card to get the free credit.
| Plan | Price | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|
| Search | $5 per 1,000 requests | 50 requests per second |
| Answers | $4 per 1,000 requests and $5 per million tokens | 2 requests per second |
Prices are from Brave's pricing page, in US dollars; $5 of credit comes to about 1,000 searches on Search (5 divided by 5). What happens when the credit runs out isn't stated on the pricing page; for details, check Brave's "Credit Terms" document. The README says "Pro plan" for local search, but the current pricing page has no Pro plan. Brave's terms of service prohibit storing results, redistributing them and training AI models on them. There's no Turkish lira pricing. This isn't financial advice.
Official pricing page last checked on .
Common Problems and Fixes
| What's happening | What to do |
|---|---|
| 429 error | Your plan's per-second limit was exceeded (Search 50, Answers 2); wait and try again. |
| Reported by users npx -y stops with an EOVERRIDE error before starting | There may be an npm overrides conflict in the package.json of the folder you're running it from (issue #300, open). Try starting the server from a different folder, or try Docker. |
| It doesn't ask for authentication in HTTP mode | A design limitation: the README says the endpoint has no authentication; by default it binds only to the local address. |
How Do You Remove Brave Search MCP?
- In the client: Delete the brave-search entry from the MCP config file (claude_desktop_config.json, VS Code mcp.json, ~/.fx/mcp.json) and restart the client.
- If you installed it with Docker:
docker image rm mcp/brave-search. - Account: Manage your API key in the Brave developer dashboard; account data is kept for 12 months after the account is deleted.
Frequently asked questions
Is Brave Search MCP free, and what's its license?
The server is MIT-licensed and free. Searches run through the Brave Search API: according to the pricing page, there's $5 of free credit every month (about 1,000 searches on the Search plan), and after that you pay by usage. Brave says all plans require payment information.
Is this Brave's official server?
Yes: the repo is in Brave's GitHub organization, the package is under the @brave namespace on npm, and Brave's API page has an MCP Server link in its menu. The old modelcontextprotocol package is marked no longer supported on npm.
Which programs does it work in?
The ones with setup steps in the README: Claude Desktop, VS Code and fx. There are no steps for Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT and Codex; that doesn't mean it doesn't work.
Where do my searches go, and are they logged?
Queries are sent to the Brave Search API (US). According to Brave, query logs are kept for up to 90 days for billing and troubleshooting; Enterprise customers have a zero data retention option.
How do I keep my API key safe?
Instead of writing the key into the config file, you can have it read from a file with BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE (the README recommends this for Docker secrets). The VS Code example asks for the key through a password field.
Related guides
Sources
Not clear in the official sources: What happens after the credit runs out · how long the free credit lasts and whether it rolls over (in the Credit Terms document) · the plan required for local search · the minimum Node version · result quality in Turkish · information for Turkey and Turkish lira pricing · the HTTP/stdio inconsistency in the README example. Each is covered in the relevant section.