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Windsurf Brave Search brave_image_search

How to: Windsurf Brave Search brave_image_search

client:Windsurf transport:stdio tool:brave_image_search

Add Brave Search to Windsurf

  1. 01

    Open ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json and merge this in. Keep any servers already there.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brave-search": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@brave/brave-search-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAVE_API_KEY": "<BRAVE_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}
  1. 02

    Save the file and restart Windsurf.

  2. 03

    Ask for something brave_image_search does. Windsurf lists the server's tools on connect and calls brave_image_search itself — you do not invoke it by name.

  3. 04

    If nothing happens, check the server is running and that Brave Search's identifier in your config matches the one above exactly.

Global only — Windsurf has no per-project MCP config. Refresh Cascade after saving. Windsurf docs

Set these first

Brave Search will not start until these are set, so brave_image_search never becomes available.

  • BRAVE_API_KEY

Same tool, other clients

Mutating and Read-only are read off each tool's name, not its schema — a hint, not a guarantee. The registry stores tool names only; connect the server for its live schemas.