Brave Api Search

Real-time web search, autosuggest, and AI-powered answers using the official Brave Search API. Use for searching documentation, facts, current events, or any...

Security Scan

The skill's code and instructions match its declared function (Brave Search + Answers) and only require Brave API keys; the only notable issue is a minor metadata mismatch about required env vars in the registry summary.

Purpose & Capability

Name/description, SKILL.md, skill.json, and the three included Node scripts all align: they implement search, autosuggest, and AI answers via the Brave Search API. The requested credentials (BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY, BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY) are appropriate and necessary for these endpoints.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions are narrowly scoped to calling Brave API endpoints and formatting results. The SKILL.md tells the agent to use local .env or shell-exported keys and does not instruct reading unrelated files, scanning system state, or sending data to third-party hosts outside the documented Brave endpoints.

Install Mechanism

There is no external install/download step and all code is provided as local Node scripts. No URLs, extract operations, or package installs are requested in the manifest; this is a low-risk, instruction+local-source distribution.

Credentials

The only environment variables used are BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY and BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY which are proportionate. However, the registry summary at the top of the provided metadata indicated 'Required env vars: none' while SKILL.md and skill.json correctly declare the two Brave keys; this metadata mismatch should be corrected/verified before install.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill does not request persistent system privileges, does not set always:true, and does not modify other skills or system configuration. It runs as on-demand Node scripts and exits if required env vars are missing.

Assessment

This skill appears to be what it says: three local Node scripts that call official Brave API endpoints and require two Brave API keys. Before installing, verify the registry metadata (some copies showed 'no required env vars' which conflicts with SKILL.md/skill.json), ensure you obtain and store BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY and BRAVE_ANSWERS_API_KEY securely (do not commit .env), and confirm your agent/runtime provides a Node environment with fetch available. If you need stronger assurance, inspect the files locally to confirm there are no modifications to other system components and test with a disposable API key or test account.

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