Set up Brave Search MCP in Claude Code

Search the web using Brave Search API. Perform web searches and get results directly in your AI editor context.

Locate the config file

Claude Code reads MCP server configuration from the following file:

~/.claude.json

Create this file if it does not already exist.

Add the configuration

You can configure Brave Search MCP using the CLI command or by editing the config file directly.

Option A: CLI command

bash

claude mcp add brave-search-mcp -e BRAVE_API_KEY=YOUR_BRAVE_API_KEY -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-brave-search

Option B: Config file

json

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

Set up environment variables

Brave Search MCP requires the following environment variables:

BRAVE_API_KEYRequired

Brave Search API key

Verify it works

Restart Claude Code. Brave Search MCP should appear in your MCP server list with 2 tools available.

This server adds approximately 1,030 tokens to your context window for tool definitions.

Set up Brave Search MCP in other editors

Cursor VS Code Windsurf Claude Desktop Continue

← Back to Brave Search MCP