Brave Search - Prisme.ai

The Brave Search connector exposes the Brave Search API as a remote MCP server for AI agents. It bundles two complementary tools — brave_search for raw web results and brave_llm_context for pre-structured grounding snippets — and returns them in the standard MCP content response format.

Current Web Search

Retrieve recent results from the open web with titles, URLs and snippets

LLM Grounding

Get token-budgeted, pre-formatted context ready to inject into an agent prompt

Brave Goggles

Apply site whitelist / re-ranking rules per call or workspace-wide

MCP Native

Exposes a JSON-RPC MCP endpoint that Agent Creator agents can call directly

Prerequisites

A Brave Search API account with an active subscription token (api-dashboard.search.brave.com)
A plan that exposes both /res/v1/web/search and /res/v1/llm/context (the Data for AI plan is required for the LLM Context endpoint)
Your Brave subscription token

This connector targets agent web-search scenarios and exposes two MCP tools: brave_search and brave_llm_context.

Instance Configuration

The Brave Search connector is available in your Prisme.ai instance. Before using it from an agent:

Open the connector configuration
Set the Brave API key in workspace secrets
Add your Brave Goggle in the Default Goggles field (see the “Brave Goggles” section below) — this is required if you want every Brave Search call to be scoped to your whitelist
Adjust the other default search options if needed (count, market, token budget…)

Connector Configuration

Set these values in the connector configuration. They define the provider and the default search options used when the agent omits them.

Field	Default	Description
Provider	`brave`	Search provider identifier
Default Count	`5`	Number of web search results when `num_results` is omitted (`brave_search`)
Default Market	`US`	Country code when `market` is omitted (`brave_search`)
Default LLM Context Count	`20`	Number of grounding entries when `count` is omitted (`brave_llm_context`)
Default LLM Context Market	`us`	Country code when `country` is omitted (`brave_llm_context`)
Default Max Tokens	`8192`	Token budget for the LLM context response when `max_tokens` is omitted
Default Context Threshold Mode	`balanced`	Relevance filter for `brave_llm_context` (`strict`, `balanced`, `lenient`, `disabled`)
Default Goggles	(empty)	Primary place to configure a Brave Goggle. Paste a raw Goggle definition or a hosted URL — applied to every call from this workspace. Leave empty only if you intentionally want unfiltered Brave Search.

The Default Goggles field is where you configure the Goggle that applies to every Brave Search call from this workspace. Most deployments will set this once at install time and leave the goggles tool argument unused.

Workspace Secrets

Set this value in the workspace secrets panel. It is referenced by the connector configuration and sent as the x-subscription-token header on every call to the Brave API.

Secret	Description
`BRAVE_API_KEY`	Brave Search API subscription token

Keep the Brave API key in workspace secrets. Do not paste the token into the visible connector configuration fields.

Brave Goggles

A Brave Goggle is a small text file that re-ranks or filters Brave Search results: whitelist a set of domains, boost some sites, discard the rest. The connector forwards any goggle you provide on every call to brave_search and brave_llm_context. Reference syntax: github.com/brave/goggles-quickstart.

Where to configure

Goggles are configured in the workspace connector configuration, in the Default Goggles field. This is the standard way to apply a Goggle to every Brave Search call from agents in this workspace. Once set, agents don’t need to be aware of the goggle — it is applied transparently. A per-call goggles MCP argument also exists, but it is an advanced override for special cases (A/B testing, dynamic goggles, multi-tenant flows). Day-to-day deployments only need the workspace config.

Format accepted by `Default Goggles`

Hosted URL — point to a publicly reachable goggle file (e.g. a GitHub raw URL).
Inline raw definition — paste the goggle content as a multi-line string.

Syntax rules

Every line that targets a site must include an action — $discard, $boost,site=..., or $downrank,site=.... A bare $site=domain.com line is not valid Goggles syntax and Brave will reject the call. A typical whitelist pattern is $discard (drop everything not boosted) followed by one $boost,site=... per allowed domain:

! name: French finance whitelist
! description: Restrict and boost results to French finance sources
! public: false
! author: Prisme.ai
$discard

$boost,site=lesechos.fr
$boost,site=latribune.fr
$boost,site=banque-france.fr

Precedence

By default every Brave Search call uses the workspace Default Goggles. The goggles MCP tool argument is an override: when provided, it fully replaces the workspace default for that call (no merge). Leave both empty only to run a plain, unfiltered Brave Search.

To keep large inline goggle definitions safe from URL length limits, the connector calls Brave with POST + JSON body (no GET query string). This is transparent to agents — the MCP request/response format does not change.

Plug into an Agent Creator capability

Agents consume MCP servers directly through Agent Creator capabilities. This is the preferred way to expose Brave Search to an agent.

Install the Brave Search connector

From the Prisme.ai console, open the workspace that will host the connector and install Brave Search from the Imports panel.

Configure the connector

Set BRAVE_API_KEY in workspace secrets, then open the connector configuration and fill in the defaults you need (most importantly Default Goggles — see the “Brave Goggles” section above).

Copy the MCP endpoint

Still on the connector configuration page, copy the value of MCP Endpoint.

Open Agent Creator

Switch to Agent Creator and open the agent you want to extend.

Add a capability

Add a new capability to the agent:

If a dedicated Brave Search capability exists — select it. The server URL is already wired; the connector resolves the Brave API key server-side from the workspace configuration.
Otherwise — select the generic custom_mcp capability and paste the MCP Endpoint into the Server URL field. The endpoint is authenticated with the caller’s Prisme.ai principal (user JWT, workspace JWT, or organization API key), so no extra header is required.

Save

The agent now has access to brave_search and brave_llm_context.

Brief the agent in its system prompt

Wiring the capability is not enough — the agent also needs to know the MCP exists and when to reach for it. Add a short paragraph to the agent’s system prompt. Copy-pasteable starter:

You have access to the Brave Search MCP server. Use it whenever the user asks for information that requires fresh, public web sources — news, regulatory updates, market data, factual lookups, competitor research. Call `brave_search` when you need raw web results (titles, URLs, snippets) and `brave_llm_context` when you only need pre-formatted grounding snippets to cite in your answer. Prefer recent results (`freshness: Day` / `pd` for breaking news) and a market matching the user's language. Always cite the source URLs returned by the tool.

Refine the trigger keywords (regulatory areas, market codes, language) so the agent reliably picks up the right intent in your context.

Available Tools

Tool	Description
`brave_search`	Search the web through Brave Search and return raw results (titles, URLs, snippets, infoboxes)
`brave_llm_context`	Retrieve LLM-optimized grounding context as pre-formatted Markdown snippets with sources

Choosing Between the Two Tools

Tool	Brave endpoint	Response shape	When to use
`brave_search`	`/res/v1/web/search`	Stringified Brave JSON	The agent needs the full response (multiple result types, ranking signals, infobox)
`brave_llm_context`	`/res/v1/llm/context`	Markdown text (`## title` / `Source: url` / snippets)	The agent only needs factual grounding ready to concatenate into its prompt

`brave_search` Arguments

Argument	Type	Required	Description
`query`	string	Yes	Search query
`num_results`	number	No	Number of results to request, from 1 to 20
`market`	string	No	Market code, for example `en-US` or `fr-FR` (the connector maps it to a 2-letter country code)
`freshness`	string	No	Recency filter: `Day`, `Week`, or `Month`
`goggles`	string	No	Advanced per-call override of the workspace `Default Goggles`. URL of a hosted Brave Goggle or raw inline goggle definition. Most deployments configure goggles once at the workspace level — see the “Brave Goggles” section.

`brave_llm_context` Arguments

Argument	Type	Required	Description
`query`	string	Yes	Search query (1–400 characters, max 50 words)
`count`	number	No	Number of grounding entries to request, from 1 to 50 (default 20)
`country`	string	No	2-letter country code, for example `us` or `fr`
`search_lang`	string	No	Search language, for example `en` or `fr`
`freshness`	string	No	Recency filter: `pd` (past day), `pw` (past week), `pm` (past month), `py` (past year)
`max_tokens`	number	No	Maximum total tokens in the response, from 1024 to 32768 (default 8192)
`context_threshold_mode`	string	No	Relevance threshold: `strict`, `balanced`, `lenient`, or `disabled`
`goggles`	string	No	Advanced per-call override of the workspace `Default Goggles`. URL of a hosted Brave Goggle or raw inline goggle definition. Most deployments configure goggles once at the workspace level — see the “Brave Goggles” section.

MCP Examples

Web Search with Defaults

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "brave_search",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "latest Brave Search API documentation"
    }
  }
}

Web Search on a French Market with Fresh Results

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 2,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "brave_search",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "actualites intelligence artificielle entreprise",
      "num_results": 5,
      "market": "fr-FR",
      "freshness": "Day"
    }
  }
}

LLM Grounding Context with a Token Budget

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 3,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "brave_llm_context",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "European AI Act enforcement timeline",
      "count": 15,
      "country": "fr",
      "search_lang": "en",
      "freshness": "pm",
      "max_tokens": 4096,
      "context_threshold_mode": "strict"
    }
  }
}

Web Search with a Per-Call Goggle Override (Advanced)

Most workspaces will configure the Goggle once in the connector configuration (Default Goggles) and never pass goggles in the MCP call. The example below shows the advanced per-call override path.

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 4,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "brave_search",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "réglementation DORA banque",
      "num_results": 10,
      "market": "fr-FR",
      "goggles": "! name: FR finance whitelist\n! public: false\n$discard\n\n$boost,site=acpr.banque-france.fr\n$boost,site=banque-france.fr\n$boost,site=lesechos.fr"
    }
  }
}

Response Format

`brave_search`

Successful calls return the Brave JSON payload serialized as text:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "{ \"type\": \"search\", \"web\": { \"results\": [ ... ] }, ... }"
    }
  ],
  "isError": false
}

`brave_llm_context`

Successful calls return Markdown sections, one per grounding entry, ready to inject into an agent prompt:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "## Result title\nSource: https://example.com/article\nFirst snippet…\nSecond snippet…\n\n## Other result\nSource: https://example.org/post\n…\n"
    }
  ],
  "isError": false
}

If the Brave API rejects the call or the query is missing, the connector returns isError: true with a text error message.

Troubleshooting

Error: query parameter is required — The MCP call did not include params.arguments.query. Brave Search API error: <details> — Returned by either tool when Brave rejects the call. Common causes: invalid or expired BRAVE_API_KEY, quota exceeded, plan that does not include the requested endpoint, or an unsupported parameter value. No grounding context found for this query. — brave_llm_context did not find any entry above the relevance threshold. Try a more permissive context_threshold_mode (for example lenient) or broaden the query. Brave Search API error: <goggles-related details> — The Goggle definition was rejected by Brave. Common causes: a $site=... line with no action (use $boost,site=... or $discard + $boost,site=...), an unreachable hosted URL, or unescaped characters. See github.com/brave/goggles-quickstart for the syntax reference. Authentication required (HTTP 401, JSON-RPC error -32000) — The MCP endpoint requires an authenticated principal. Call it with a user JWT, a workspace JWT, or an organization API key.

Connectors Overview

Compare App and MCP connector usage modes

Tool Agents

Plug MCP servers into Knowledges agents

Current Web Search

LLM Grounding

Brave Goggles

MCP Native

​Prerequisites

​Instance Configuration

​Connector Configuration

​Workspace Secrets

​Brave Goggles

​Where to configure

​Format accepted by Default Goggles

​Syntax rules

​Precedence

​Plug into an Agent Creator capability

​Available Tools

​Choosing Between the Two Tools

​brave_search Arguments

​brave_llm_context Arguments

​MCP Examples

​Web Search with Defaults

​Web Search on a French Market with Fresh Results

​LLM Grounding Context with a Token Budget

​Web Search with a Per-Call Goggle Override (Advanced)

​Response Format

​brave_search

​brave_llm_context

​Troubleshooting

​Related

Connectors Overview

Tool Agents

Prerequisites

Instance Configuration

Connector Configuration

Workspace Secrets

Brave Goggles

Where to configure

Format accepted by `Default Goggles`

Syntax rules

Precedence

Plug into an Agent Creator capability

Available Tools

Choosing Between the Two Tools

`brave_search` Arguments

`brave_llm_context` Arguments

MCP Examples

Web Search with Defaults

Web Search on a French Market with Fresh Results

LLM Grounding Context with a Token Budget

Web Search with a Per-Call Goggle Override (Advanced)

Response Format

`brave_search`

`brave_llm_context`

Troubleshooting

Related