mcp-server-brave-search

Provides an MCP server (for use with Zed/Context Servers) that wraps Brave Search’s official MCP server, requiring a Brave Search API key for search access.

Evaluated Mar 30, 2026 (22d ago)
Repo ↗ Search mcp search brave-search zed api-key rust
⚙ Agent Friendliness
50
/ 100
Can an agent use this?
🔒 Security
51
/ 100
Is it safe for agents?
⚡ Reliability
25
/ 100
Does it work consistently?

Score Breakdown

⚙ Agent Friendliness

MCP Quality
55
Documentation
60
Error Messages
0
Auth Simplicity
85
Rate Limits
65

🔒 Security

TLS Enforcement
60
Auth Strength
70
Scope Granularity
20
Dep. Hygiene
50
Secret Handling
50

TLS enforcement and secret-handling practices are not described in the README; assumes the underlying Brave Search API uses HTTPS. API key is required; no evidence of fine-grained scopes or safe secret-storage practices in this wrapper’s documentation.

⚡ Reliability

Uptime/SLA
0
Version Stability
40
Breaking Changes
40
Error Recovery
20
AF Security Reliability

Best When

You want MCP-based search tool access for an agent using Brave Search’s API, and you can supply/manage the required API key.

Avoid When

You cannot securely provide an API key or you need enterprise controls not described here (e.g., strict residency/compliance).

Use Cases

  • • Enable an agent to perform web search queries via MCP using Brave Search
  • • Build retrieval/search workflows in tools that support MCP (e.g., Zed context servers)

Not For

  • • Use as a general-purpose web scraper or high-volume crawler beyond the intended Brave Search API terms/limits
  • • Replacing your own rate-limiting/monitoring for production workloads
  • • Use cases that require open-ended unauthenticated search

Interface

REST API
No
GraphQL
No
gRPC
No
MCP Server
Yes
SDK
No
Webhooks
No

Authentication

Methods: API key (brave_api_key)
OAuth: No Scopes: No

Authentication is described as a required Brave Search API key provided in the MCP server settings.

Pricing

Free tier: Yes
Requires CC: No

Pricing details are not comprehensive in this repo README; it points to Brave’s plans.

Agent Metadata

Pagination
none
Idempotent
False
Retry Guidance
Not documented

Known Gotchas

  • ⚠ No documentation here about the upstream MCP tools’ exact schemas, pagination, or how rate-limit errors are surfaced to agents.
  • ⚠ This wrapper README does not describe retry/idempotency behavior; agent should assume transient failures may occur and implement its own retry strategy.

Alternatives

Directly use the upstream @brave/brave-search-mcp-server Use another search provider’s MCP/server or a REST search API with your own integration Use an existing agent/search framework’s native web search tool (if available)

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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-30.

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Packages Evaluated
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