{
  "slug": "io-github-brave-brave-search-mcp-server",
  "name": "io.github.brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
  "title": "brave-search-mcp-server",
  "description": "Brave Search MCP Server: web results, images, videos, rich results, AI summaries, and more.",
  "version": "2.1.3",
  "publishedAt": "2026-08-20T16:12:11.244327Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-08-20T16:12:11.244327Z",
  "repoUrl": "https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
  "websiteUrl": null,
  "namespace": {
    "type": "github",
    "owner": "brave"
  },
  "kind": "local",
  "packages": [
    {
      "registryType": "npm",
      "identifier": "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
      "version": "2.1.3",
      "transport": "stdio",
      "runtimeHint": null
    }
  ],
  "remotes": [],
  "envVars": [
    {
      "name": "BRAVE_API_KEY",
      "isSecret": true,
      "isRequired": true,
      "description": "Your API key for the service"
    }
  ],
  "category": "ai-media",
  "subcategory": "image",
  "company": "brave",
  "categoryAuto": true,
  "checks": [
    {
      "id": "source-linked",
      "label": "Source repository linked",
      "result": "pass",
      "detail": "https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server"
    },
    {
      "id": "version-pinned",
      "label": "Version pinned",
      "result": "pass",
      "detail": "Every package has an explicit version"
    },
    {
      "id": "secrets-requested",
      "label": "Secrets requested",
      "result": "info",
      "detail": "Asks for 1 secret: BRAVE_API_KEY"
    },
    {
      "id": "known-registry",
      "label": "Known package registry",
      "result": "pass",
      "detail": "All packages come from npm, PyPI, OCI, NuGet or MCPB"
    },
    {
      "id": "namespace",
      "label": "Namespace ownership",
      "result": "info",
      "detail": "Name verified via GitHub account brave"
    },
    {
      "id": "meta-text",
      "label": "Registry text aimed at the AI",
      "result": "pass",
      "detail": "Description and settings contain no hidden characters or instructions to the AI"
    },
    {
      "id": "install-scripts",
      "label": "Install scripts",
      "result": "warn",
      "detail": "Runs at install: prepare: npm run format && npm run build"
    },
    {
      "id": "code-flags",
      "label": "Code red flags",
      "result": "pass",
      "detail": "Read 57 files in @brave/brave-search-mcp-server@2.1.3: no obfuscation, encoded execution, credential reads or data-collection endpoints found"
    },
    {
      "id": "ai-text",
      "label": "Text aimed at the AI",
      "result": "pass",
      "detail": "No hidden characters or instructions to the AI in 57 files, including comments and the README"
    }
  ],
  "scannedAt": "2026-10-29",
  "level": "Scanned",
  "install": [
    {
      "label": "Claude Desktop (npm)",
      "kind": "claude_desktop_json",
      "text": "{\n  \"mcpServers\": {\n    \"brave-search-mcp-server\": {\n      \"command\": \"npx\",\n      \"args\": [\n        \"-y\",\n        \"@brave/brave-search-mcp-server@2.1.3\"\n      ],\n      \"env\": {\n        \"BRAVE_API_KEY\": \"<your value>\"\n      }\n    }\n  }\n}"
    }
  ],
  "curated": true,
  "stars": 1539,
  "archived": false,
  "pushedAt": "2026-10-27T00:48:24Z",
  "review": {
    "package": "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
    "version": "2.1.3",
    "at": "2026-10-31",
    "files": 55,
    "lines": 3717,
    "verdict": "pass",
    "summary": "Brave Search lets the AI search the web, news, images, videos and places. It only talks to Brave's own search API, and only when a tool is used, sending the search text and your Brave API key. It reads no files besides an optional key file and a .env, runs no commands and has no telemetry.",
    "hosts": [
      {
        "host": "api.search.brave.com",
        "when": "only when a tool is called",
        "sends": "search query and tool parameters as query string; X-Subscription-Token API key; optional location / user-agent / api-version headers when the model supplies them (llm_context, place_search)"
      }
    ],
    "env": [
      {
        "name": "BRAVE_API_KEY (or --brave-api-key)",
        "sent_to": "api.search.brave.com as X-Subscription-Token header"
      },
      {
        "name": "BRAVE_API_KEY_FILE (or --brave-api-key-file)",
        "sent_to": "local file read to obtain the key, then as above"
      },
      {
        "name": "BRAVE_MCP_LOG_LEVEL, BRAVE_MCP_TRANSPORT, BRAVE_MCP_ENABLED_TOOLS, BRAVE_MCP_DISABLED_TOOLS, BRAVE_MCP_PORT, BRAVE_MCP_HOST, BRAVE_MCP_ALLOWED_ORIGINS, BRAVE_MCP_ALLOWED_HOSTS, BRAVE_MCP_STATELESS",
        "sent_to": "local configuration only"
      }
    ],
    "local": "dotenv loads a .env file from the working directory (config.js:6). Reads the API key file the user names (utils.js:23-35). Shipped test files write throwaway temp files under the OS temp dir, but only when run under node:test; they are not loaded by the server. Nothing reachable from tool input touches the file system.",
    "exec": "None.",
    "telemetry": "None.",
    "tools": [
      "brave_web_search",
      "brave_local_search",
      "brave_video_search",
      "brave_image_search",
      "brave_news_search",
      "brave_summarizer",
      "brave_llm_context",
      "brave_place_search"
    ],
    "toolText": "clean. No hidden or invisible text. brave_local_search tells the model to confirm the user's plan before using it (tools/local/index.js:11); news/llm_context descriptions ask the model to cite sources. Ordinary guidance.",
    "deps": [
      "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk",
      "commander",
      "dotenv",
      "express",
      "zod",
      "ajv (tests only)"
    ],
    "findings": [
      {
        "severity": "info",
        "at": "dist/BraveAPI/index.js:45,104",
        "what": "All outbound traffic goes to a single hard-coded host, api.search.brave.com. Goggle URLs are only accepted if https and are forwarded to Brave, not fetched locally (index.js:21-40)."
      },
      {
        "severity": "info",
        "at": "dist/protocols/http.js:82; dist/config.js:20,44; dist/protocols/rebinding.js:96-121",
        "what": "Optional HTTP transport binds 127.0.0.1 by default and has a DNS-rebinding Origin/Host guard. It has no client authentication, so binding it to 0.0.0.0 would expose the user's API key quota."
      },
      {
        "severity": "info",
        "at": "dist/tools/llm_context/schemas/input.js:178-224; dist/tools/place_search/schemas/input.js:159-170",
        "what": "Location fields (lat/long, city, postal code) are sent to Brave only when the model fills them in."
      },
      {
        "severity": "info",
        "at": "dist/config.js:6",
        "what": "dotenv reads .env from the current working directory at startup."
      },
      {
        "severity": "info",
        "at": "dist/*.test.js, dist/testUtils/mcpTestHarness.js",
        "what": "Test files are shipped in the package (55 files incl. tests). They are inert unless run with node --test; reviewed and harmless."
      },
      {
        "severity": "info",
        "at": "dist/protocols/http.js:15,41-46; dist/helpers.js:1-10",
        "what": "HTTP session map is never pruned and registerSigIntHandler is unused; minor resource quality issue in HTTP mode only."
      },
      {
        "severity": "info",
        "at": "package.json/pyproject",
        "what": "The manifest file was not in the reviewed tree; dependencies listed are inferred from import statements. None look unusual or typosquatted for the job."
      }
    ]
  },
  "health": {
    "score": 79,
    "parts": {
      "popularity": 0.7989466208919112,
      "activity": 0.9242332039633431,
      "issues": 0.5454545454545454,
      "security": 0.8
    },
    "fail": 0,
    "warn": 1,
    "raw": {
      "stars": 1547,
      "forks": 224,
      "downloads": 34601,
      "hn": {
        "n": 0,
        "pts": 0,
        "t": []
      },
      "issuesOpen": 25,
      "issuesClosed": 30,
      "prsMerged": 255,
      "commits90": 27,
      "release": "2026-09-17T14:47:14Z",
      "pushed": "2026-10-27T00:48:24Z",
      "growth": null,
      "growthDays": null,
      "archived": false
    },
    "at": "2026-10-31T07:42:38.200Z"
  },
  "icon": "/icons/co/brave.png"
}