Brave API Search

Brave API Search

Real-time web search, autosuggest, and AI-powered answers using the official Brave Search API. Three tools:

• brave_search — web results with titles, URLs, descriptions, optional AI summary
• brave_suggest — query autosuggestions as users type with optional rich metadata
• brave_answers — AI-grounded answers with inline citations powered by live web search

Setup

Set your Brave API keys in a local .env file (recommended):

# .env (do not commit)
BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY=your_key_here
BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY=your_key_here

Or export them in your shell session if needed.

Get your keys at: https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com

Both keys can be the same if your plan supports both Search and AI Answers endpoints.

Note: brave_search and brave_suggest use BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY. brave_answers requires BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY.

Note: This skill explicitly requires BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY and BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY. It does not use a generic BRAVE_API_KEY fallback.

When to Use This Skill

Use brave_search when:

• Searching for current information, news, or recent events
• Looking up documentation or technical references
• Need ranked results with URLs to follow up on
• Want an AI summary of search results

Use brave_suggest when:

• Power autocomplete in search interfaces
• Help users formulate better queries faster
• Need query completions as users type
• Want rich metadata (titles, descriptions, images) for suggestions

Use brave_answers when:

• Need a synthesized answer with cited sources
• Researching topics that benefit from multiple sources
• Want AI-grounded responses with inline citations
• Deep research mode needed (multi-search)

Don't use this skill for:

• Questions already answered from context or memory
• Tasks that don't require external information

Tools

brave_search

Web search returning ranked results with titles, URLs, and descriptions.

brave_search(query="latest Node.js release", count=5)
brave_search(query="TypeScript generics", extra_snippets=true)
brave_search(query="current weather Copenhagen", freshness="pd")
brave_search(query="React Server Components", summary=true)

Parameters:

• query (required) — Search query, supports operators: site:, "exact phrase", -exclude
• count — Results to return (1-20, default: 10)
• country — 2-letter country code (default: us)
• freshness — Date filter: pd (24h), pw (7 days), pm (31 days), py (1 year)
• extra_snippets — Include up to 5 extra text excerpts per result (default: false)
• summary — Fetch Brave AI summarizer result (default: false)

Returns: Formatted list of results with title, URL, description, and optional AI summary.

brave_suggest

Query autosuggest API providing intelligent query autocompletion as users type.

brave_suggest(query="hello")
brave_suggest(query="pyt", count=5, country="US")
brave_suggest(query="einstein", rich=true)

Parameters:

• query (required) — Partial query to get suggestions for
• count — Number of suggestions (1-10, default: 5)
• country — 2-letter country code (default: US)
• rich — Include enhanced metadata: titles, descriptions, images, entity detection (default: false, requires paid plan)

Returns: List of query suggestions, optionally with rich metadata.

Best Practices:

• Implement debouncing (150-300ms) to avoid excessive API calls as users type
• Load suggestions asynchronously without blocking the UI

brave_answers

AI-powered answers grounded in live web search with inline citations.

brave_answers(query="How does React Server Components work?")
brave_answers(query="Compare Postgres vs MySQL for OLAP", enable_research=true)
brave_answers(query="Latest Python release notes", enable_citations=true)

Parameters:

• query (required) — Question or topic to research
• enable_citations — Include inline source citations (default: true)
• enable_research — Multi-search deep research mode (default: false)
• country — Target country for search context (default: us)

Returns: AI answer with cited sources extracted from the response, plus token usage.

Pricing & Limits

Brave pricing is credit-based and can change. Do not assume a fixed free request count.

Current public guidance (verify in Brave dashboard/docs before production use):

• Monthly trial credits may be offered (e.g. $5 in monthly credits)
• Search and Answers consume credits differently
• Rich suggestions require a paid Autosuggest plan
• Answers may also include token-based costs
• QPS limits depend on your plan tier

Always check your live limits and usage in:

• https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com
• https://brave.com/search/api/

Security & Packaging Notes

• This skill only calls Brave official endpoints under https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1.
• It requires exactly two env vars: BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY and BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY (keep them in .env, not inline in commands/chats).
• It does not request persistent/system privileges and does not modify system config.
• It is source-file based (three local Node scripts), with no external install/download step.

API vs Web Scraping

This skill uses the official Brave Search API — not web scraping. Benefits:

• Reliable, structured JSON responses
• Rate limit headers and proper error messages
• Access to AI summarizer, AI answers, and autosuggest endpoints
• Terms of service compliant