Agentifact assessment — independently scored, not sponsored.
Brave Search MCP
Official MCP server for Brave Search API. Web and local search with privacy-first results. Reliable, fast, no rate limit surprises on paid plans.
Solid choice for most workflows
You need privacy-focused web search for AI agents without SEO spam or tracking, across web, local, images, video, news, and summaries
Fast responses (~20s avg), high result quality from independent index, STDIO default with HTTP/SSE options; Pro plan unlocks local search, free tier falls back to web
Your agents handle location-based or multimedia queries but existing search tools lack detail or pollute context with base64 images
Detailed structured results stream in real-time; image responses optimized (no base64 bloat); local needs Pro API or degrades gracefully
Local search requires Pro plan
Full brave_local_search (business details, ratings, hours) needs Brave Pro API; free tier falls back to filtered web search
Node.js + Brave API key
Server runs via npx on Node.js; API key mandatory (free limited, Pro $5+/mo unlocks local/images); Windows node installer may have MCP issues
Free tier rate limits
Free API has strict quotas; exceed and searches fail. Monitor via server logs, upgrade to paid for production (no surprises on paid plans)
Trust Breakdown
What It Actually Does
Lets your application search the web and local content using Brave's privacy-focused search engine, with predictable pricing and no unexpected throttling on paid plans.
Official MCP server for Brave Search API. Web and local search with privacy-first results. Reliable, fast, no rate limit surprises on paid plans.
Fit Assessment
Best for
- ✓web-search
- ✓image-search
- ✓video-search
- ✓news-search
- ✓local-search
Not ideal for
- ✗local search falls back to web search without Pro API plan
Connection Patterns
Blueprints that include this tool:
Known Failure Modes
- local search falls back to web search without Pro API plan
Score Breakdown
Protocol Support
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-searchCapabilities
Governance
- permission-scoping