Brave API Search

---

name: brave-api-search

description: Real-time web search, autosuggest, and AI-powered answers using the official Brave Search API. Use for searching documentation, facts, current events, or any web content. Supports AI grounded answers with citations and query autosuggest. Requires BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY and BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY.

license: MIT

metadata:

author: Broedkrummen

version: 3.0.0

---

# Brave API Search

Real-time web search, autosuggest, and AI-powered answers using the official Brave Search API. Three tools:

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:**

**Use `brave_suggest` when:**

**Use `brave_answers` when:**

**Don't use this skill for:**

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:**

**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:**

**Returns:** List of query suggestions, optionally with rich metadata.

**Best Practices:**

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:**

**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):

Always check your live limits and usage in:

Security & Packaging Notes

API vs Web Scraping

This skill uses the **official Brave Search API** — not web scraping. Benefits: