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How to add Brave Search to Claude Desktop

Official Brave Search MCP server: web, local, image, video, news search and AI summarization. Paste the config into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json and restart Claude Desktop.

Last updated June 15, 2026 · 1.2k★ · stdio · apikey · official

Claude Desktop config for Brave Search

npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAVE_API_KEY": "<your-brave-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Setup steps

  1. 1Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config (this opens ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json).
  2. 2Paste the Brave Search config below under the top-level "mcpServers" key.
  3. 3Fill in any placeholder secrets (API keys, paths) in the snippet.
  4. 4Save the file, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.
  5. 5Open a chat and confirm Brave Search's tools appear under the 🔌 tools menu.

Before you start

  • Node.js 22.x or later (or Docker)
  • A Brave Search API key from https://brave.com/search/api/ (set as BRAVE_API_KEY)
  • An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop, VS Code, or MCP Inspector

What Brave Search can do in Claude Desktop

brave_web_search

General web search with filtering options.

brave_local_search

Find local businesses and places.

brave_image_search

Search for images with metadata.

brave_video_search

Search for video content.

brave_news_search

Search current news articles.

brave_place_search

Find points of interest in a geographic area.

brave_llm_context

Return pre-extracted web content optimized for AI/RAG.

brave_summarizer

Generate an AI summary from search results.

Security

Requires a Brave Search API key passed via BRAVE_API_KEY; treat it as a secret and avoid committing it to source control. Search results are arbitrary third-party web content, so downstream tools should treat returned text as untrusted.

Brave Search + Claude Desktop FAQ

Where is the Claude Desktop config file?

Claude Desktop reads MCP servers from ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Paste the Brave Search config there under the "mcpServers" key and restart the client.

Is Brave Search safe to use with Claude Desktop?

Requires a Brave Search API key passed via BRAVE_API_KEY; treat it as a secret and avoid committing it to source control. Search results are arbitrary third-party web content, so downstream tools should treat returned text as untrusted.

Is there a free tier?

Brave offers a free Search API plan with a monthly query allowance and rate limits, plus paid tiers for higher volume. Check brave.com/search/api for current quotas, as they vary by plan.

Can it run as a remote HTTP server?

Yes. By default it uses stdio, but version 2.x supports `--transport http` with a configurable host (default 0.0.0.0) and port (default 8000).

Which clients does it support?

The README documents Claude Desktop, VS Code, and MCP Inspector, with both npx and Docker run options. Any standard MCP client works.

View repo Full Brave Search page