Brave Search

Access the Brave Search API with managed authentication. Search the web, images, news, and videos with a privacy-focused search engine.

Quick Start

bash
# Web search
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=python+programming&count=5')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Base URL

https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/{native-api-path}

Replace {native-api-path} with the actual Brave Search API endpoint path. The gateway proxies requests to api.search.brave.com and automatically injects your API key.

Authentication

All requests require the Maton API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer $MATON_API_KEY

Environment Variable: Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

bash
export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Getting Your API Key

1. Sign in or create an account at maton.ai
2. Go to maton.ai/settings
3. Copy your API key

Connection Management

Manage your Brave Search connections at https://ctrl.maton.ai.

List Connections

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections?app=brave-search&status=ACTIVE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Connection

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'app': 'brave-search'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Get Connection

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "connection": {
    "connection_id": "1472d925-86d6-4cbb-8f2f-17e18f6bc0c7",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "creation_time": "2026-03-10T11:12:30.963141Z",
    "last_updated_time": "2026-03-10T11:13:55.282885Z",
    "url": "https://connect.maton.ai/?session_token=...",
    "app": "brave-search",
    "metadata": {},
    "method": "API_KEY"
  }
}

Delete Connection

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}', method='DELETE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Specifying Connection

If you have multiple Brave Search connections, specify which one to use with the Maton-Connection header:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=test')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Maton-Connection', '1472d925-86d6-4cbb-8f2f-17e18f6bc0c7')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

If omitted, the gateway uses the default (oldest) active connection.

API Reference

Web Search

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q={query}

Required Parameters:

• q (string): Search query (1-400 characters, max 50 words)

Optional Parameters:

• country (string): 2-letter country code (default: "US")
• search_lang (string): Search language code (default: "en")
• ui_lang (string): UI language in RFC 9110 format (default: "en-US")
• count (integer): Results per page, 1-20 (default: 20)
• offset (integer): Page offset, 0-9 (default: 0)
• safesearch (string): Filter level - "off", "moderate", "strict" (default: "moderate")
• freshness (string): Time filter - "pd" (past day), "pw" (past week), "pm" (past month), "py" (past year), or date range
• text_decorations (boolean): Include highlighting markers (default: true)
• result_filter (string): Comma-separated result types (discussions, faq, infobox, news, videos, web)
• extra_snippets (boolean): Get up to 5 alternative excerpts
• summary (boolean): Enable summarizer

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=machine+learning&count=10&freshness=pw')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "type": "search",
  "query": {
    "original": "machine learning",
    "show_strict_warning": false,
    "is_navigational": false,
    "country": "us",
    "more_results_available": true
  },
  "web": {
    "type": "search",
    "results": [
      {
        "title": "Machine Learning - Wikipedia",
        "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning",
        "description": "Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence...",
        "language": "en",
        "family_friendly": true
      }
    ]
  },
  "discussions": {...},
  "faq": {...},
  "videos": {...}
}

Image Search

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/images/search?q={query}

Required Parameters:

• q (string): Search query

Optional Parameters:

• country (string): 2-letter country code
• search_lang (string): Search language code
• count (integer): Results per page, 1-20
• safesearch (string): Filter level - "off", "moderate", "strict"

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/images/search?q=sunset&count=5')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "type": "images",
  "results": [
    {
      "title": "Beautiful Sunset",
      "url": "https://example.com/sunset.jpg",
      "source": "https://example.com/gallery",
      "thumbnail": {
        "src": "https://imgs.search.brave.com/..."
      },
      "properties": {
        "width": 1920,
        "height": 1080,
        "format": "jpeg"
      }
    }
  ]
}

News Search

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/news/search?q={query}

Required Parameters:

• q (string): Search query

Optional Parameters:

• country (string): 2-letter country code
• search_lang (string): Search language code
• count (integer): Results per page, 1-20
• freshness (string): Time filter - "pd", "pw", "pm", "py"
• safesearch (string): Filter level

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/news/search?q=technology&count=5&freshness=pd')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "type": "news",
  "results": [
    {
      "title": "Latest Tech News",
      "url": "https://example.com/news/tech",
      "description": "Breaking technology news...",
      "age": "2 hours ago",
      "source": {
        "name": "Tech News",
        "url": "https://technews.com"
      },
      "thumbnail": {
        "src": "https://imgs.search.brave.com/..."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Video Search

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/videos/search?q={query}

Required Parameters:

• q (string): Search query

Optional Parameters:

• country (string): 2-letter country code
• search_lang (string): Search language code
• count (integer): Results per page, 1-20
• safesearch (string): Filter level

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/videos/search?q=tutorial&count=5')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "type": "videos",
  "results": [
    {
      "title": "Python Tutorial for Beginners",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...",
      "description": "Learn Python programming...",
      "age": "1 year ago",
      "duration": "3:45:00",
      "thumbnail": {
        "src": "https://imgs.search.brave.com/..."
      },
      "meta_url": {
        "hostname": "www.youtube.com"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Local POIs

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/local/pois?ids={poi_ids}

Get details about local points of interest by their IDs (obtained from web search results).

Required Parameters:

• ids (string): Comma-separated POI IDs

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/local/pois?ids=poi_123,poi_456')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "type": "local_pois",
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "poi_123",
      "name": "Coffee Shop",
      "address": "123 Main St",
      "phone": "+1-555-1234",
      "rating": 4.5,
      "reviews": 128
    }
  ]
}

POI Descriptions

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/local/descriptions?ids={poi_ids}

Get detailed descriptions for local points of interest.

Required Parameters:

• ids (string): Comma-separated POI IDs

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/local/descriptions?ids=poi_123')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "type": "local_descriptions",
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "poi_123",
      "description": "A cozy coffee shop known for artisanal brews..."
    }
  ]
}

Autosuggest

> Note: Requires Autosuggest subscription plan.

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/suggest/search?q={query}

Get search suggestions as users type.

Required Parameters:

• q (string): Partial search query

Optional Parameters:

• country (string): 2-letter country code
• count (integer): Number of suggestions to return
• rich (boolean): Enable enhanced metadata

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/suggest/search?q=how+to&count=5&rich=true')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "type": "suggest",
  "query": {
    "original": "how to"
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "query": "how to learn python",
      "is_entity": false
    },
    {
      "query": "how to code",
      "is_entity": false
    }
  ]
}

Spellcheck

> Note: Requires Spellcheck subscription plan.

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/spellcheck/search?q={query}

Check spelling and get corrections.

Required Parameters:

• q (string): Query to check for spelling errors
• country (string): Country code for localized corrections

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/spellcheck/search?q=helo+wrold&country=US')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

json
{
  "type": "spellcheck",
  "query": {
    "original": "helo wrold"
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "query": "hello world"
    }
  ]
}

Summarizer

> Note: Requires Summarizer subscription plan.

First, perform a web search with summary=1 to get a summarizer key, then use that key to fetch the summary.

Get Summarizer Key

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q={query}&summary=1

Fetch Summary

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/summarizer/search?key={summarizer_key}

Optional Parameters:

• entity_info (boolean): Include entity details
• inline_references (boolean): Include citation markers

Example:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json

# Step 1: Get summarizer key from web search
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=what+is+python&summary=1')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
data = json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req))
summarizer_key = data.get('summarizer', {}).get('key')

# Step 2: Fetch summary using the key
if summarizer_key:
    req = urllib.request.Request(f'https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/summarizer/search?key={summarizer_key}')
    req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
    print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Additional Summarizer Endpoints

bash
GET /brave-search/res/v1/summarizer/summary?key={key}           # Summary only
GET /brave-search/res/v1/summarizer/title?key={key}             # Title only
GET /brave-search/res/v1/summarizer/enrichments?key={key}       # Enrichment data
GET /brave-search/res/v1/summarizer/followups?key={key}         # Follow-up suggestions
GET /brave-search/res/v1/summarizer/entity_info?key={key}       # Entity information

Pagination

Use count and offset for pagination:

bash
# First page (results 1-10)
GET /brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=test&count=10&offset=0

# Second page (results 11-20)
GET /brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=test&count=10&offset=1

Note: offset ranges from 0-9, giving access to up to 200 results (20 results × 10 pages).

Check query.more_results_available in the response to determine if more results exist.

Location Headers

For location-aware results, include location headers:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=restaurants+near+me&count=10')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('x-loc-lat', '37.7749')
req.add_header('x-loc-long', '-122.4194')
req.add_header('x-loc-city', 'San Francisco')
req.add_header('x-loc-state', 'CA')
req.add_header('x-loc-country', 'US')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Available Location Headers:

• x-loc-lat: Latitude (-90 to 90)
• x-loc-long: Longitude (-180 to 180)
• x-loc-timezone: IANA timezone identifier
• x-loc-city: City name
• x-loc-state: State/province
• x-loc-country: 2-letter country code
• x-loc-postal-code: ZIP/postal code

Code Examples

JavaScript

javascript
const response = await fetch(
  'https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=javascript&count=10',
  {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    }
  }
);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.web.results);

Python

python
import os
import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/web/search',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}'},
    params={'q': 'python programming', 'count': 10}
)
data = response.json()
for result in data.get('web', {}).get('results', []):
    print(f"{result['title']}: {result['url']}")

Notes

• Maximum 20 results per request
• Maximum 10 pages of results (offset 0-9)
• Query length: 1-400 characters, max 50 words
• Brave Search is privacy-focused and doesn't track users
• Results include multiple types: web, news, videos, discussions, FAQ, infobox
• IMPORTANT: When piping curl output to jq or other commands, environment variables like $MATON_API_KEY may not expand correctly in some shell environments

Error Handling

| Status | Meaning | |--------|---------| | 400 | Missing Brave Search connection | | 401 | Invalid or missing Maton API key | | 404 | Subscription not found | | 422 | Invalid subscription token | | 429 | Rate limited or quota exceeded | | 4xx/5xx | Passthrough error from Brave Search API |

Troubleshooting: API Key Issues

1. Check that the MATON_API_KEY environment variable is set:

bash
echo $MATON_API_KEY

1. Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

bash
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Troubleshooting: Invalid App Name

1. Ensure your URL path starts with brave-search. For example:

• Correct: https://gateway.maton.ai/brave-search/res/v1/web/search?q=test
• Incorrect: https://gateway.maton.ai/res/v1/web/search?q=test

Resources

• Brave Search API Documentation
• Brave Search API Dashboard
• Maton Community
• Maton Support