{
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  "record_id": "VXI-EXT-TOOL-TRUST-BRAVE-SEARCH-01-v1",
  "record_kind": "external_reference",
  "title": "Brave Search MCP: API plan and result-type limitations",
  "system": "Brave Search MCP",
  "evidence_family": "agent_tool_trust_review",
  "index_status": "PUBLIC_SAFE_SOURCE_REVIEW",
  "evidence_state": "PRIMARY_DOCUMENTATION_REVIEW_ONLY",
  "canonical_question": "Can I assume a Brave Search MCP response is a complete local-business or factual answer?",
  "near_questions": [
    "Does Brave Search MCP include local search on every plan?",
    "Can a Brave local query fall back to web search?",
    "Does a Brave summary prove the cited claim?",
    "Which Brave API key pays for an agent search?",
    "Does a local Brave MCP server keep queries on my computer?",
    "What location information accompanies a Brave query?",
    "How should I distinguish a summary from source evidence?",
    "What plan evidence supports a Brave local-search result?",
    "Can a missing Brave result prove a business does not exist?",
    "What should an agent preserve from a web-search decision?",
    "Can I save the Brave result-scope review?",
    "When does search evidence need an explicit coverage limit?"
  ],
  "supported_claims": [
    {
      "claim": "Brave documents separate search and summary tools, with plan-dependent local capabilities and a web-search fallback. Record the result type and account entitlement before relying on a local query. A generated summary or returned search page is supporting material, not independent verification of the underlying claim.",
      "reliance": "DOCUMENTED_CAPABILITY_ONLY"
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  ],
  "not_demonstrated_claims": [
    "Verified buyer configuration or effective access rights",
    "Independent execution, completeness or security testing",
    "Vendor certification, legal compliance or guaranteed suitability"
  ],
  "public_summary": "Brave documents separate search and summary tools, with plan-dependent local capabilities and a web-search fallback. Record the result type and account entitlement before relying on a local query. A generated summary or returned search page is supporting material, not independent verification of the underlying claim.",
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    "source_title": "Brave Search MCP official tool and plan boundaries",
    "source_url": "https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
    "checked_on": "2026-10-14",
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    "revalidation": "The delivered snapshot preserves the review date shown. Recheck current primary documentation and deployment context before relying on present applicability; payment does not trigger fresh research."
  },
  "answer_policy": {
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    "bounded_answer": "Brave documents separate search and summary tools, with plan-dependent local capabilities and a web-search fallback. Record the result type and account entitlement before relying on a local query. A generated summary or returned search page is supporting material, not independent verification of the underlying claim.",
    "required_buyer_context": "API account plan, selected tool, query, location context, returned result type and source verification need.",
    "missing_evidence": "A broader claim needs evidence matching the intended use. Payment does not upgrade the evidence state."
  },
  "private_boundary": "Raw logs, thresholds, private paths, source code, protected mechanisms and reconstruction-level details are excluded from public and paid delivery.",
  "trust_profile": {
    "schema": "varexis-agent-tool-trust/1",
    "identity": {
      "tool": "Brave Search MCP",
      "variant": "Official API-backed local server"
    },
    "review_status": "documentation_review_only",
    "checked_on": "2026-10-14",
    "version_scope": "Dated rolling documentation snapshot; no installed or hosted runtime version independently verified.",
    "plan_scope": "Buyer plan, entitlement and effective configuration are not verified.",
    "findings": [
      {
        "field": "operator",
        "label": "Publisher and operator",
        "status": "documented",
        "statement": "Brave publishes the server and operates the Search API.",
        "source_ids": [
          "brave-main"
        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "purpose",
        "label": "Purpose",
        "status": "documented",
        "statement": "Expose web, local, news, image, video and summary capabilities.",
        "source_ids": [
          "brave-main"
        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "reads",
        "label": "Read capability",
        "status": "documented",
        "statement": "Search responses and generated summaries from the API.",
        "source_ids": [
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        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "writes",
        "label": "Write capability",
        "status": "review_inference",
        "statement": "The documented tool set retrieves information; no buyer application mutation is established.",
        "source_ids": [
          "brave-main"
        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "auth",
        "label": "Authentication",
        "status": "documented",
        "statement": "Brave Search API key configured for the server.",
        "source_ids": [
          "brave-main"
        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "permissions",
        "label": "Permission surface",
        "status": "documented",
        "statement": "Some local and summary capabilities depend on API entitlement and tool inputs.",
        "source_ids": [
          "brave-main"
        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "egress",
        "label": "Data leaving the environment",
        "status": "review_inference",
        "statement": "Search terms and location context may leave the client for Brave processing.",
        "source_ids": [
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        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "failures",
        "label": "Failure modes to consider",
        "status": "review_inference",
        "statement": "A fallback result or generated summary can be mistaken for verified local evidence.",
        "source_ids": [
          "brave-main"
        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "unknown",
        "label": "Unknowns and applicability",
        "status": "unknown",
        "statement": "Buyer plan, query coverage and factual accuracy of returned material are unverified.",
        "source_ids": []
      },
      {
        "field": "gate",
        "label": "Suggested refusal or clarification condition",
        "status": "varexis_review_policy",
        "statement": "Qualify the result type and verify cited evidence before consequential reliance.",
        "source_ids": []
      }
    ],
    "evidence_sources": [
      {
        "source_id": "brave-main",
        "url": "https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
        "final_url": "https://github.com/brave/brave-search-mcp-server",
        "title": "Brave Search MCP official tool and plan boundaries",
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        "sha256": "0e7200716880f513a7467d8cc3292cf4d810ae183c125ede358bc76b456838ba",
        "bytes": 455072
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    ],
    "observed_tool_execution": false,
    "policy_basis": "Suggested VAREXIS review gates; apply the buyer's authorized task and policy. These conditions do not execute or enforce controls.",
    "commercial_reliance_boundary": "A source-linked review aid, not a vendor certification, security clearance or deployment assessment. Unknown does not mean false or unsafe.",
    "paid_value": {
      "decision_context": "Retain the result-type and entitlement qualifications used in a search evidence review.",
      "free": "Complete review, practical questions, sources and limitations; may be saved locally.",
      "single_request": "Existing server-saved version-bound route snapshot for later authenticated retrieval.",
      "evidence_receipt": "The same snapshot plus the existing unsigned delivery receipt.",
      "excluded": [
        "Fresh vendor research",
        "Continuous monitoring or change alerts",
        "Testing the buyer configuration",
        "Private evidence or vendor certification"
      ],
      "integrity": "Hashes identify content versions; they do not prove truth or provide a signature."
    },
    "revalidation": {
      "trigger": "Recheck when permissions, deployment, authentication, source guidance or intended use changes; a purchase does not trigger revalidation.",
      "specific_watch": "Recheck plan entitlements, fallback behavior and summary prerequisites."
    },
    "change_history": [
      {
        "version": 1,
        "date": "2026-10-14",
        "change": "Initial documentation review; no earlier vendor assessment claimed."
      }
    ]
  },
  "paid_access_note": "The full published answer and boundaries are free. Paid access saves the selected route and source versions, with an unsigned receipt when purchased. Preview coverage before paying. Fresh research, bespoke assessment and protected evidence are excluded.",
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    "service_id": "single_request",
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    "operational_status": "AUTOMATIC_SERVICE_CAPABILITIES_GATED",
    "checkout_url": "/index-access"
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  "authority_boundary": "VAREXIS-INDEX informs evidence reliance. It does not provide advice, certification, deployment authority, security assurance, production approval, or guarantee.",
  "human_page": "/varexis-index/catalog.html#brave-search-mcp-plan-result-trust",
  "machine_readable_record": "/varexis-index/records/brave-search-mcp-plan-result-trust.json"
}