bx — Brave Search CLI

Agent Directive

When this skill is active, use bx via exec for all web searches. Do not use the built-in web_search tool. Run bx context "query" as the default — it returns pre-extracted, token-budgeted content ready for use. Fall back to bx answers for synthesized explanations or bx web when search operators are needed.

A zero-dependency, token-efficient CLI for the Brave Search API, built for AI agents and LLMs.

One binary, JSON in/out, no runtime dependencies. The default subcommand is context — bare bx "query" is equivalent to bx context "query". It replaces search + scrape + extract in a single call with token-budgeted output — purpose-built for RAG and LLM grounding.

Quick Start

macOS/Linux

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/brave-search-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/brave-search-cli/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex"

bx config set-key YOUR_API_KEY    # get a key at https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com
bx "your search query"
bx --help                        # see all commands; bx <command> --help for flags

Getting an API Key

Sign up at https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/register
Choose a plan — all plans include $5/month free credits (~1,000 free queries). Different endpoints may require different plans.
Go to "API Keys" in the dashboard, generate a key (shown once — save it)

Configuring the API Key

Three methods, in priority order:

| Priority | Method | Example | |----------|--------|---------| | 1 (highest) | --api-key flag | bx --api-key KEY web "test" | | 2 | BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY env var | export BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY=KEY | | 3 | Config file | bx config set-key KEY |

The config file is stored at ~/.config/brave-search/api_key (Linux), ~/Library/Application Support/brave-search/api_key (macOS), or %APPDATA%\brave-search\api_key (Windows).

Security tip: Prefer the env var or config file over --api-key, which is visible in process listings. Use bx config set-key without an argument to enter the key interactively, avoiding shell history.

For AI Agents

Use context by default. It returns pre-extracted, relevance-scored web content ready for LLM prompt injection. One API call replaces the search → scrape → extract pipeline.

# RAG grounding with token budget
bx context "Python TypeError cannot unpack non-iterable NoneType" --max-tokens 4096

# Direct AI answer (OpenAI-compatible, streams by default)
bx answers "explain Rust lifetimes with examples"

# Raw web search when you need site: scoping or result filtering
bx web "site:docs.rs axum middleware" --count 5

Note: Some examples below pipe output through jq for illustration. Do not assume jq is installed — if you need to filter JSON in a shell pipeline, use whatever is available in your environment (e.g., jq, PowerShell's ConvertFrom-Json, Python's json module), or simply read the raw JSON output directly.

When to Use Which Command

| Your need | Command | Why | |-----------|---------|-----| | Look up docs, errors, code patterns | context | Pre-extracted text, token-budgeted | | Get a synthesized explanation | answers | AI-generated, cites sources | | Search a specific site (site:) | web | Supports search operators | | Find discussions/forums | web --result-filter discussions | Forums often have solutions | | Check latest versions/releases | context or news --freshness pd | Fresh info beyond training data | | Research security vulnerabilities | context or news | CVE details, advisories | | Boost/filter specific domains | --goggles on context/web/news | Custom re-ranking, no other API has this |

Response Shapes

bx context — RAG/grounding (recommended)

{
  "grounding": {
    "generic": [
      { "url": "...", "title": "...", "snippets": ["extracted content...", "..."] }
    ]
  }
}

bx answers --no-stream — AI answer (single response)

{"choices": [{"message": {"content": "Rust lifetimes ensure references..."}}]}

bx answers — AI answer (streaming, one JSON chunk per line)

{"choices": [{"delta": {"content": "R"}}]}
{"choices": [{"delta": {"content": "u"}}]}
{"choices": [{"delta": {"content": "s"}}]}
{"choices": [{"delta": {"content": "t"}}]}
{"choices": [{"delta": {"content": " "}}]}

bx web — Full search results

{
  "web": { "results": [{"title": "...", "url": "...", "description": "..."}] },
  "news": { "results": [...] },
  "videos": { "results": [...] },
  "discussions": { "results": [...] }
}

Agent Workflow Examples

Debugging an error:

bx "Python TypeError cannot unpack non-iterable NoneType" --max-tokens 4096

Evaluating a dependency:

bx context "reqwest crate security issues maintained 2026" --threshold strict
bx news "reqwest Rust crate" --freshness pm

Corrective RAG loop:

# 1. Broad search
bx "axum middleware authentication" --max-tokens 4096
# 2. Too general? Narrow down
bx "axum middleware tower layer authentication example" --threshold strict --max-tokens 4096
# 3. Still need synthesis? Ask for an answer
bx answers "how to implement JWT auth middleware in axum" --enable-research

Checking for breaking changes before upgrading:

bx context "Next.js 15 breaking changes migration guide" --max-tokens 8192
bx news "Next.js 15 release" --freshness pm

Focused search with Goggles (custom re-ranking):

bx "Python asyncio gather vs wait" \
  --goggles '$boost=3,site=docs.python.org
/docs/$boost=3
/blog/$downrank=2
$discard,site=geeksforgeeks.org
$discard,site=w3schools.com' --max-tokens 4096

Token budget control:

bx context "topic" --max-tokens 4096 --max-tokens-per-url 1024 --max-urls 5

Non-streaming answers (for programmatic use):

bx answers "compare SQLx and Diesel for Rust" --no-stream | jq '.choices[0].message.content'

Answers stdin mode — pass - to read a full JSON request body:

echo '{"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"review this code for security issues"}]}' | bx answers -

Other commands:

bx images "system architecture diagram microservices" | jq '.results[].thumbnail.src'
bx suggest "how to implement" --count 10 | jq '.results[].query'
bx places "coffee" --location "San Francisco CA US" | jq '.results[].title'
bx web "restaurants near me" --lat 37.7749 --long -122.4194 --city "San Francisco"
bx web "rust" --result-filter "web,discussions"

Commands

| Command | Description | Output Shape | |---------|-------------|--------------| | context | RAG/LLM grounding — pre-extracted web content | .grounding.generic[] → {url, title, snippets[]} | | answers | AI answers — OpenAI-compatible, streaming | .choices[0].delta.content (stream) | | web | Full web search — all result types | .web.results[], .news.results[], etc. | | news | News articles with freshness filters | .results[] → {title, url, age} | | images | Image search (up to 200 results) | .results[] → {title, url, thumbnail.src} | | videos | Video search with duration/views | .results[] → {title, url, video.duration} | | places | Local place/POI search (200M+ POIs) | .results[] → {title, postal_address, contact} | | suggest | Autocomplete/query suggestions | .results[] → {query} | | spellcheck | Spell-check a query | .results[0].query | | pois | POI details by ID | (use IDs from places) | | descriptions | AI-generated POI descriptions | .results[].description | | config | Manage API key | set-key, show-key, path |

Goggles — Custom Search Re-Ranking

Brave Goggles let you define custom re-ranking rules for search results. Boost domains, URL paths, or content patterns; downrank noise; discard SEO spam — from simple domain allow/deny lists to complex multi-rule ranking profiles. No other search API offers this. Supported on context, web, and news.

Domain Shortcuts — `--include-site` / `--exclude-site`

For the common case of restricting to or excluding specific domains, use the convenience flags (available on context, web, news):

# Only include results from these domains (allowlist)
bx "rust axum" --include-site docs.rs --include-site github.com

# Exclude specific domains
bx web "rust tutorial" --exclude-site w3schools.com --exclude-site medium.com

These generate Goggles rules internally. For more advanced re-ranking (boosting, path patterns, wildcards), use --goggles directly. The three flags are mutually exclusive.

Why Agents Should Use Goggles

Domain & path targeting: Boost, downrank, or discard by domain ($site=) or URL path (/docs/$boost=5) — fine-grained control with wildcards
Better than site:: Brave converts site: operators to Goggles internally — explicit Goggles unlock the full DSL (hundreds of rules, path patterns, boost/downrank strengths) without bloating the query
Clean queries: A single --goggles parameter replaces long site:X OR site:Y chains, saving tokens
Reusable: Host a .goggle file on GitHub and share across agents, CI, and teams
Community-maintained: Leverage existing Goggles like Tech Blogs

Inline Rules (zero setup)

# Allowlist — only include results from trusted domains
bx context "Python asyncio patterns" \
  --goggles '$discard
$site=docs.python.org
$site=peps.python.org'

# Path-based boosting — prefer /docs/ over /blog/ across all sites
bx context "axum middleware tower" \
  --goggles '/docs/$boost=5
/api/$boost=3
/blog/$downrank=3' --max-tokens 4096

# Ecosystem focus — boost Rust sources for crate research
bx context "serde custom deserializer" \
  --goggles '$boost=5,site=docs.rs
$boost=5,site=crates.io
$boost=3,site=github.com' --max-tokens 4096

# Downrank blog spam in news results
bx news "npm security advisory" --freshness pd \
  --goggles '$downrank=5,site=medium.com'

DSL Quick Reference

| Rule | Effect | Example | |------|--------|---------| | $boost=N,site=DOMAIN | Promote domain (N=1-10) | $boost=3,site=docs.rs | | $downrank=N,site=DOMAIN | Demote domain (N=1-10) | $downrank=5,site=medium.com | | $discard,site=DOMAIN | Remove domain entirely | $discard,site=w3schools.com | | /path/$boost=N | Boost matching URL paths | /docs/$boost=5 | | *pattern*$boost=N | Wildcard URL matching | *api*$boost=3 | | Generic $discard | Allowlist mode — discard all unmatched | $discard (as first rule) |

Separate multiple rules with newlines. Full DSL + pattern syntax: goggles-quickstart.

From a File (`@file`) — ideal for agents

Agents can generate a .goggle file on the fly and reference it:

# Agent writes rules to a file, then uses it across multiple queries
cat > /tmp/rust.goggle << 'EOF'
$boost=5,site=docs.rs
$boost=5,site=crates.io
$boost=3,site=github.com
/blog/$downrank=3
$discard,site=w3schools.com
$discard,site=geeksforgeeks.org
EOF

bx context "axum middleware tower" --goggles @/tmp/rust.goggle --max-tokens 4096
bx context "serde custom deserializer" --goggles @/tmp/rust.goggle --max-tokens 4096

From stdin (`@-`) — pipe generated rules

echo '$boost=5,site=docs.rs
$boost=3,site=github.com' | bx web "tokio runtime" --goggles @-

Hosted Goggles (reusable, shareable)

Host a .goggle file on GitHub/GitLab, submit it to Brave, then reference by URL:

bx web "distributed systems" \
  --goggles 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/goggles-quickstart/main/goggles/tech_blogs.goggle'

Community Goggles: brave/goggles-quickstart | Discover page

Exit Codes

| Code | Meaning | Agent action | |------|---------|-------------| | 0 | Success | Process results | | 1 | Client error (bad request) | Fix query/parameters | | 2 | Usage error (bad flags) | Fix CLI arguments (clap) | | 3 | Auth/permission error (401/403) | Check API key or plan: bx config show-key | | 4 | Rate limited (429) | Retry after delay | | 5 | Server/network error | Retry with backoff |

Error output format (stderr):

error: rate limited (429) — Request rate limit exceeded for plan.
hint: retry after a short delay, or upgrade plan for higher rate limits
{"type":"ErrorResponse","error":{"code":"RATE_LIMITED","status":429,...}}