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