Brave Search MCP

Brave runs its own independent search index, and this official server gives Claude a plain search box on it. It is the closest thing to "just Google it" you can bolt onto Claude Code.

Exa is better when you want page content and research; Brave is better for quick lookups, news and local results. You need an API key from Brave, which takes a couple of minutes.

• Search the web and read the top results
• Find recent news on a topic
• Look up local businesses and places
• Search for images and videos
• Get a short summarised answer to a question

Open your terminal in the project folder and run:

claude mcp add --env BRAVE_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY brave-search -- npx -y @brave/brave-search-mcp-server

Or add this to your project's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server"],
      "env": { "BRAVE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

You'll be asked to sign in or paste an API key the first time you use it.

Anyone who wants Claude to check current facts, news or local listings.

• Quick fact checks
• News monitoring
• Local business lookups