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Brave Api Search

Real-time web search and AI-powered answers using the official Brave Search API.

Rating: 4.1 (482 reviews)
Downloads: 1,720 downloads
Version: 1.0.0

Overview

Real-time web search and AI-powered answers using the official Brave Search API.

Complete Documentation

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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):

bash

# .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.

text

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.

text

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.

text

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

Installation

Terminal bash


openclaw install brave-api-search

Copied!

💻Code Examples

BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY=your_key_here

braveanswersapikeyyourkeyhere.txt

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="React Server Components", summary=true)

bravesearchqueryreact-server-components-summarytrue.txt

**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="einstein", rich=true)

bravesuggestqueryeinstein-richtrue.txt

**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.

example.sh

# .env (do not commit)
BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY=your_key_here
BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY=your_key_here

example.txt

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)

example.txt

brave_suggest(query="hello")
brave_suggest(query="pyt", count=5, country="US")
brave_suggest(query="einstein", rich=true)

example.txt

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)