Skip to content
mcp/harbor

Zed Brave Search brave_web_search

How to: Zed Brave Search brave_web_search

client:Zed transport:stdio tool:brave_web_search

Add Brave Search to Zed

  1. 01

    Open ~/.config/zed/settings.json and merge this in. Keep any servers already there. 

{
  "context_servers": {
    "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 Zed.

  2. 03

    Ask for something brave_web_search does. Zed lists the server's tools on connect and calls brave_web_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.

Merge this into your existing settings object — do not replace the file. Zed docs

Set these first

Brave Search will not start until these are set, so brave_web_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.

Brave Search MCP server