> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.dos.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.dos.ai/dosclaw/plugins-and-connectors/productivity/brave-search.md).

# Brave Search Engine

Equip your AI agents with real-time web grounding using the **Brave Search API**. Enables bots to retrieve current news, market data, sports scores, weather updates, and fact-check information that occurred beyond the LLM's training cutoff date.

## Capabilities & MCP Tools

| MCP Tool      | Operation | Description                                                                                            |
| ------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `web_search`  | Read      | Perform privacy-first web searches. Returns ranked page titles, snippets, URLs, and publication dates. |
| `news_search` | Read      | Search recent news articles with country, freshness, and language filters.                             |
| `fact_check`  | Read      | Cross-reference factual claims against authoritative public web sources.                               |

***

## Why Brave Search?

1. **Independent Index**: Powered by Brave's own web index, not resold from Google or Bing, avoiding vendor lock-in.
2. **Privacy First**: Zero tracking of customer search queries or personal identifiers.
3. **High Speed & Low Latency**: Fast API response times (<250ms) prevent lag during streaming conversational chat.

***

## Setup Guide

### Method 1: Managed by DOS Platform (Default)

For agents on Plus and Pro plans, web grounding is pre-configured and managed by the platform. You do not need to provide an external API key.

1. Open your agent $\rightarrow$ **Tools / Skills**.
2. Toggle **Web Search (Brave Search)** to `ON`.
3. Save changes. Your agent can now search the web autonomously when answering questions about current events.

### Method 2: Custom Brave Search API Key (BYOK)

If you have your own Brave Search developer plan with custom rate limits:

1. Register at [brave.com/search/api/](https://brave.com/search/api/) and copy your **Brave Search API Key**.
2. In the **DOS.AI Dashboard**, go to **Integrations** $\rightarrow$ **Brave Search Engine**.
3. Select **Use Custom API Key** and paste your key.
4. Click **Verify & Save**.

***

## Agent Usage & Grounding Rules

### When Does the Agent Search?

Agents evaluate user prompts using reasoning models:

* **Searches Triggered**: "Thời tiết Hà Nội hôm nay thế nào?", "Tỷ giá USD/VND hiện tại", "Tin tức mới nhất về iPhone 18", "Giá cổ phiếu VinFast hôm nay".
* **Searches Avoided**: General coding, math calculations, roleplay, or questions answered fully by the agent's uploaded knowledge base.

### Anti-Hallucination & Link Verification

DOSClaw enforces strict **No Invented Links** grounding policies:

* The agent is forbidden from fabricating URLs.
* All outbound links included in answers must be derived directly from the `url` returned in `web_search` results.

***

## Troubleshooting

| Issue                                | Cause                            | Solution                                                                                                 |
| ------------------------------------ | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Search returns 429 Too Many Requests | Rate limit on custom key reached | Upgrade your Brave Search plan tier or switch to the DOS Platform managed search pool.                   |
| Outdated search results              | Query lacks freshness parameter  | Specify time constraints in prompt (e.g. "tin tức trong 24h qua") so the agent passes `freshness: "pd"`. |


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.dos.ai/dosclaw/plugins-and-connectors/productivity/brave-search.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.