Brave Search MCP Server - Super-Fast Web, Image & AI Answers

From Clearpath, creators of Brave Search Scraper, Google AI Overview and SpyFu Intelligence. Search results, sourced answers and competitor research from the same team.

Why choose this actor?

• Give your assistant four ways to research. Search the web, find images, discover videos or ask for an AI answer through one MCP connection. Use your Apify token; no Brave account or Brave API key is required.
• Get useful detail beyond the link. Web searches include available news, discussions, FAQs and local business details. Image results include URLs and dimensions; videos can include creators, durations and view counts.
• Keep the sources with the answer. The ask tool returns a written answer with numbered source references, so your assistant can follow the evidence. For raw links and descriptions, use web_search instead.

Connect, then try a search

Use this MCP server URL in a compatible client:

https://clearpath--brave-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp

Authenticate with Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN, using your Apify token. Then ask your assistant to search Brave for aurora borealis and return five web results, or call web_search with:

{
  "query": "aurora borealis",
  "max_results": 5,
  "country": "us"
}

Open the actor for connection details. This actor exposes tools to your assistant; search queries are sent through MCP. The example costs $0.00999 in search-call charges. Image and video searches have the same per-call price; an AI answer costs $0.01299. Result counts and extra sections depend on the query; AI answers may not be available for every question.

Clearpath · Search & Research
Brave MCP You are here	Brave Search Bulk search exports	AI Overview Answers & citations	SpyFu Keywords & ad history

Copy to your AI assistant

Copy this block into ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, or any LLM to start using this actor.

clearpath/brave-search-mcp on Apify (Standby actor). Base URL: https://clearpath--brave-search-mcp.apify.actor. Auth: Authorization: Bearer TOKEN. Endpoints: /mcp (MCP endpoint, 4 tools: web_search, image_search, video_search, ask). Full API spec: GET https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/clearpath~brave-search-mcp/builds/default (Bearer TOKEN) → readme, actorDefinition. Pricing: ~$0.01/call for web/image/video search, ~$0.013/call for ask. Get token: https://console.apify.com/account/integrations

Tools

4 tools available to connected AI agents:

• web_search

  • Search the web with Brave Search. Returns web links plus bonus sections.
  • Inputs:
    • query (string): Search query
    • country (string, optional): 2-letter country code (default "us")
    • max_results (number, optional): Max web results, 1-100 (default 20)
    • safesearch (string, optional): "off", "moderate", or "strict" (default "moderate")
    • time_filter (string, optional): "pd" (day), "pw" (week), "pm" (month), "py" (year)
  • Returns web results plus discussions, news, knowledge panels, FAQ, locations, and rich widgets when available.
  • ~$0.01 per call

• image_search

  • Search for images. Returns up to 200 results with URLs, dimensions, and thumbnails.
  • Inputs:
    • query (string): Image search query
    • country (string, optional): 2-letter country code (default "us")
    • safesearch (string, optional): "off", "moderate", or "strict" (default "moderate")
  • ~$0.01 per call

• video_search

  • Search for videos. Returns up to ~60 results with duration, views, and creator info.
  • Inputs:
    • query (string): Video search query
    • country (string, optional): 2-letter country code (default "us")
    • safesearch (string, optional): "off", "moderate", or "strict" (default "moderate")
  • ~$0.01 per call

• ask

  • Get an AI-powered answer with source references, powered by Brave's ChatLLM.
  • Inputs:
    • query (string): Question or search query
    • country (string, optional): 2-letter country code (default "us")
  • Returns markdown-formatted answer with numbered source references.
  • ~$0.013 per call

Output Example

Quick Start

Web search

"Search for the best pizza in New York"

Image search

"Find images of aurora borealis"

Video search

"Find videos about machine learning basics"

AI answer

"What is quantum computing and how does it work?"

How It Works

1. Agent connects to the MCP server endpoint
2. Searches using any of the 4 tools
3. Gets results structured for easy consumption by the AI agent

No authentication with Brave needed. The server handles everything.

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Pricing - Pay Per Event (PPE)

Action	Cost	Per 1,000
Web search	~$0.01	$9.99
Image search	~$0.01	$9.99
Video search	~$0.01	$9.99
AI answer	~$0.013	$12.99

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Configuration

No configuration required. The server works out of the box.

Replace YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN in all examples below with your Apify API token.

Usage with ChatGPT

ChatGPT supports MCP servers natively (Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise plans).

1. Open Settings > Connectors > Add connector
2. Set Name to Brave Search
3. Set MCP Server URL to:

https://clearpath--brave-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp

4. Set Authentication to API Key and set the header:
   • Header name: Authorization
   • Value: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN
5. Click Save
6. Start a new chat, click + near the composer, select More, choose Brave Search

Usage with Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "brave-search": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://clearpath--brave-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
            }
        }
    }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Usage with Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user brave-search \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  https://clearpath--brave-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp

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

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "brave-search": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://clearpath--brave-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp",
            "headers": {
                "Authorization": "Bearer ${APIFY_TOKEN}"
            }
        }
    }
}

Usage with OpenClaw

Add to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "provider": {
    "mcpServers": {
      "brave-search": {
        "url": "https://clearpath--brave-search-mcp.apify.actor/mcp",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Then message your OpenClaw bot on Telegram, WhatsApp, or Discord:

"Search for the latest news about AI regulation"

"What is the current exchange rate for EUR to USD?"

"Find me videos about cooking Italian pasta"

Other MCP Clients

Any client supporting the Streamable HTTP transport works. Use the MCP endpoint URL with your Apify API token as a Bearer auth header.

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FAQ

Do I need a Brave Search API key? No. No Brave API key or Brave account required. The server handles everything.

What countries/languages are supported? 38 countries including US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, and more. The country parameter controls both region and language of results.

What's the difference between web_search and ask? web_search returns links, descriptions, and metadata (like a search engine results page). ask returns a synthesized AI answer with source references (like asking an AI assistant).

Can I use this without an AI assistant? Yes. Any MCP client works. You can also call tools programmatically via any MCP SDK.

How is this different from the Brave Search Scraper? The scraper extracts search data in bulk and stores it in datasets. This MCP server provides real-time search as tool calls for AI agents.

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Support

• Email: max@mapa.slmail.me
• Bugs: Issues tab

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Search the web, images, and videos through AI agents. Get AI-powered answers with source references.