bx

name	bx
description	USE FOR web search, research, RAG, grounding, browse, find, lookups, fact-checking, documentation, agentic AI. All-in-one, optimized for AI agents. Pre-extracted, token-budgeted web content, deep research, news, images, videos, places, custom ranking.

bx — Brave Search CLI

Use bx for all web searches. Run bx "query" as the default — it returns pre-extracted, token-budgeted web content ready for use. Use bx answers for synthesized explanations or bx web for traditional search results. If bx is not found, install it: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/brave-search-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

Requires: Brave Search API Key + bx binary

Plans: Different subcommands may require different plans. See https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/app/subscriptions/subscribe

Quick Start

# Install (macOS/Linux)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/brave-search-cli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

# Configure API key (get one at https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com)
bx config set-key              # interactive (avoids shell history)
# or: export BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY

# Search (default = bx context "query")
bx "your search query"

When to Use Which Command

Your need	Command	Why
Look up docs, errors, code patterns	bx "query"	Pre-extracted text, token-budgeted (default)
Get a synthesized explanation	bx answers "query"	AI-generated, cites sources, streams
Deep research on complex topics	bx answers "query" --enable-research	Multi-search iterative research
Traditional search results	bx web "query"	All result types (web, news, discussions, etc.)
Find discussions/forums	bx web "query" --result-filter discussions	Forums often have solutions
Latest news / recent events	bx news "query" --freshness pd	Fresh info beyond training data
Find images	bx images "query"	Up to 200 results
Find videos	bx videos "query"	Duration, views, creator
Local businesses / places	bx places "coffee" --location "San Francisco"	200M+ POIs
Boost/filter specific domains	bx "query" --include-site docs.rs	Or use --goggles for full control

Commands

Command	Description	Output path
context	Default. RAG/LLM grounding — pre-extracted web content	.grounding.generic[] -> {url, title, snippets[]}
answers	AI answers — OpenAI-compatible, streaming by default	.choices[0].delta.content (stream)
web	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}
suggest	Autocomplete/query suggestions	.results[] -> {query}
spellcheck	Spell-check a query	.results[0].query
config	Manage API key and settings	set-key, show-key, path, show

Response Shapes

bx "query" (context — default, recommended)

{
  "grounding": {
    "generic": [
      { "url": "...", "title": "...", "snippets": ["extracted content...", "..."] }
    ]
  },
  "sources": {
    "https://example.com": { "title": "...", "hostname": "...", "age": ["...", "2025-01-15", "392 days ago"] }
  }
}

bx answers "query" --no-stream (single JSON response)

{"choices": [{"message": {"content": "Full answer text..."}}]}

bx answers "query" (streaming — default, one JSON chunk per line)

{"choices": [{"delta": {"content": "chunk"}}]}

bx web "query" (full search results)

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

Token Budget Control

Control output size for context (the default command):

Flag	Short alias	Default	Description
--maximum-number-of-tokens	--max-tokens	8192	Approximate total tokens (1024-32768)
--maximum-number-of-tokens-per-url	--max-tokens-per-url	4096	Max tokens per URL (512-8192)
--maximum-number-of-urls	--max-urls	20	Max URLs in response (1-50)
--maximum-number-of-snippets	--max-snippets	50	Max snippets across all URLs
--maximum-number-of-snippets-per-url	--max-snippets-per-url	—	Max snippets per URL
--context-threshold-mode	--threshold	balanced	Relevance: strict, balanced, lenient

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

Goggles — Custom Ranking

Goggles let you control which sources appear in results. Boost official docs, suppress SEO spam, or build focused search scopes. No other search tool offers this. Supported on context, web, and news.

Domain Shortcuts

# Allowlist — only results from these domains
bx "rust axum" --include-site docs.rs --include-site github.com

# Blocklist — exclude specific domains
bx "python tutorial" --exclude-site example.com

--include-site, --exclude-site, and --goggles are mutually exclusive.

Inline Rules

# Boost official docs, demote blog posts
bx "axum middleware tower" \
  --goggles '$boost=5,site=docs.rs
$boost=3,site=github.com
/docs/$boost=5
/blog/$downrank=3' --max-tokens 4096

# Allowlist mode — only include matched sites
bx "Python asyncio patterns" \
  --goggles '$discard
$boost,site=docs.python.org
$boost,site=peps.python.org'

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=example.com
$discard,site=DOMAIN	Remove domain entirely	$discard,site=example.com
/path/$boost=N	Boost matching URL paths	/docs/$boost=5
Generic $discard	Allowlist mode — discard unmatched	$discard (as first rule)

Separate rules with newlines. Full DSL: goggles-quickstart.

Piping Rules via Stdin

echo '$boost=5,site=docs.rs
$boost=5,site=crates.io
$boost=3,site=github.com' | bx "axum middleware" --goggles @- --max-tokens 4096

Use @/path/to/file to reuse a goggle across queries.

Agent Workflow Examples

Debugging an error:

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

Corrective RAG loop:

# 1. Broad search
bx "axum middleware authentication" --max-tokens 4096
# 2. Too general? Narrow with strict threshold
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 "Next.js 15 breaking changes migration guide" --max-tokens 8192
bx news "Next.js 15 release" --freshness pm

Non-streaming answers for programmatic use:

bx answers "compare SQLx and Diesel for Rust" --no-stream

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
3	Auth/permission error (401/403)	Check API key: bx config show-key
4	Rate limited (429)	Retry after delay
5	Server/network error	Retry with backoff

Notes

• All output is JSON to stdout; errors go to stderr
• Global flags: --api-key KEY, --timeout SECS (default 30), --extra KEY=VALUE (repeatable, adds arbitrary API parameters)
• Location awareness: context and web support --lat, --long, --city, --state, --state-name, --loc-country, --postal-code, --timezone
• Research mode: bx answers --enable-research can take up to 5 minutes; set client timeout accordingly
• Help: bx --help for all commands; bx <command> --help for per-command flags