Official

Brave Search MCP Server

Brave Search API integration providing web search and local business discovery tools.

Data last scanned today · Reviewed yesterday

112 tools★ 288JavaScriptMIT

Overview

Brave Search MCP Server enables AI assistants to query the Brave Search API directly. It provides two primary tools: web search for general information with pagination controls and local search for locating businesses, restaurants, and services. The local search tool includes a smart fallback mechanism that automatically directs queries to a web search if no local results are identified. Configuration is straightforward, requiring a valid Brave Search API key. Users can integrate the server into their environments via Docker or by running it directly through NPX. The implementation supports result filtering, such as adjusting the number of returned items for both web and local search workflows.

Our verdict

This server receives a security score of 0/100, representing a high-risk level. The project is officially archived and has not received updates for over 414 days, meaning no future bug fixes or security patches will be issued. Additionally, it lacks any authentication method, meaning any local process with access to your configuration can trigger searches using your API key. Given its abandoned status, it is not recommended for new implementations.

Integrated fallback to web search for local queries
Provides pagination and freshness controls for web search
Simple dependency profile with only one direct dependency
Includes documentation for Docker and NPX deployment

Repository is officially archived and unmaintained
No authentication mechanisms protecting the API key
No ongoing security updates or editorial review
Lacks support for modern OAuth authentication

Setup

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search"
      ],
      "command": "npx"
    }
  }
}

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows), then restart Claude Desktop. Some servers require API keys or tokens as environment variables — check the project's README and add an "env" object if needed.

No read-only mode — running this grants full read/write access.
No built-in authentication — anyone with access to this config can invoke every tool it exposes.