Brave Search MCP server

The Brave Search MCP Server integrates the Brave Search API with Claude's Model Context Protocol, enabling both web and local search capabilities. This server allows Claude to search for general information, news, local businesses, and services with advanced filtering options.

Installation Options

Prerequisites

Before setting up the server, you'll need:

• A Brave Search API key
• Docker (for Docker installation method) or Node.js (for NPX method)

Getting a Brave Search API Key

1. Sign up for a Brave Search API account
2. Choose a plan (Free tier available with 2,000 queries/month)
3. Generate your API key from the developer dashboard

Docker Installation

To use the server with Docker, add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "-e",
        "BRAVE_API_KEY",
        "mcp/brave-search"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAVE_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Be sure to replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your actual Brave Search API key.

NPX Installation

To use the server with NPX, add the following to your claude_desktop_config.json:

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

Again, replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your actual Brave Search API key.

Using the Brave Search MCP Server

Once configured, Claude can access two main search tools:

Web Search

The brave_web_search tool allows general web searches with several options:

Parameters:

• query (string, required): Your search terms
• count (number, optional): Results per page (maximum 20)
• offset (number, optional): Pagination offset (maximum 9)

Example usage: Ask Claude to search for information using commands like:

• "Search the web for the latest AI developments"
• "Find news articles about climate change from the past week"
• "Look up the top-rated restaurants in New York City"

Local Search

The brave_local_search tool searches for local businesses and services:

Parameters:

• query (string, required): Local search terms
• count (number, optional): Number of results (maximum 20)

If no local results are found, this automatically falls back to web search.

Example usage: Ask Claude to find local businesses with commands like:

• "Find coffee shops near Central Park"
• "Search for Italian restaurants in Chicago"
• "Look for hardware stores in Austin, Texas"

Features and Capabilities

• Search Result Control: Adjust the number of results and pagination
• Content Filtering: The server supports filtering by content type and safety levels
• Freshness Control: Specify how recent the content should be
• Intelligent Fallbacks: Local searches automatically convert to web searches when appropriate

How to add this MCP server to Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.