News Search Agent Skill

News Search

> Requires API Key: Get one at https://api.search.brave.com

>

> Plan: Included in the Search plan. See https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/app/subscriptions/subscribe

Quick Start (cURL)

Basic Search

curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/news/search?q=space+exploration" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: ${BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY}"

Recent News (Past 24 Hours)

curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/news/search" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: ${BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY}" \
  -G \
  --data-urlencode "q=cybersecurity" \
  --data-urlencode "country=US" \
  --data-urlencode "freshness=pd" \
  --data-urlencode "count=20"

Date Range Filter

curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/news/search" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: ${BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY}" \
  -G \
  --data-urlencode "q=climate summit" \
  --data-urlencode "freshness=2026-01-01to2026-01-31"

Endpoint

GET https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/news/search
POST https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/news/search

Authentication: X-Subscription-Token: <API_KEY> header

Note: Both GET and POST are supported. POST is useful for long queries or complex Goggles.

Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |

|--|--|--|--|--|

| q | string | Yes | - | Search query (1-400 chars, max 50 words) |

| country | string | No | US | Search country (2-letter country code or ALL) |

| search_lang | string | No | en | Language preference (2+ char language code) |

| ui_lang | string | No | en-US | UI language (e.g., "en-US") |

| count | int | No | 20 | Number of results (1-50) |

| offset | int | No | 0 | Page offset (0-9) |

| safesearch | string | No | strict | Adult content filter (off/moderate/strict) |

| freshness | string | No | - | Time filter (pd/pw/pm/py or date range) |

| spellcheck | bool | No | true | Auto-correct query |

| extra_snippets | bool | No | - | Up to 5 additional excerpts per result |

| goggles | string or array | No | - | Custom ranking filter (URL or inline; repeat param for multiple) |

| operators | bool | No | true | Apply search operators |

| include_fetch_metadata | bool | No | false | Include fetch timestamps in results |

Freshness Values

| Value | Description |

|--|--|

| pd | Past day (24 hours) - ideal for breaking news |

| pw | Past week (7 days) |

| pm | Past month (31 days) |

| py | Past year (365 days) |

| YYYY-MM-DDtoYYYY-MM-DD | Custom date range |

Response Format

{
  "type": "news",
  "query": {
    "original": "space exploration"
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "type": "news_result",
      "title": "New Developments in Space Exploration",
      "url": "https://news.example.com/space-exploration",
      "description": "Recent missions have advanced our understanding of...",
      "age": "2 hours ago",
      "page_age": "2026-01-15T14:30:00",
      "page_fetched": "2026-01-15T15:00:00Z",
      "meta_url": {
        "scheme": "https",
        "netloc": "news.example.com",
        "hostname": "news.example.com",
        "favicon": "https://imgs.search.brave.com/favicon/news.example.com",
        "path": "/space-exploration"
      },
      "thumbnail": {
        "src": "https://imgs.search.brave.com/..."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Response Fields

| Field | Type | Description |

|--|--|--|

| type | string | Always "news" |

| query.original | string | The original search query |

| query.altered | string? | Spellcheck-corrected query (if changed) |

| query.cleaned | string? | Cleaned/normalized query from spellchecker |

| query.spellcheck_off | bool? | Whether spellcheck was disabled |

| query.show_strict_warning | bool? | True if strict safesearch blocked results |

| query.search_operators | object? | Applied search operators |

| query.search_operators.applied | bool | Whether operators were applied |

| query.search_operators.cleaned_query | string? | Query after operator processing |

| query.search_operators.sites | list[str]? | Domains from site: operators |

| results[].type | string | Always "news_result" |

| results[].title | string | Article title |

| results[].url | string | Source URL of the article |

| results[].description | string? | Article description/summary |

| results[].age | string? | Human-readable age (e.g. "2 hours ago") |

| results[].page_age | string? | Publication date from source (ISO datetime) |

| results[].page_fetched | string? | When page was last fetched (ISO datetime) |

| results[].fetched_content_timestamp | int? | Fetch timestamp (only with include_fetch_metadata=true) |

| results[].meta_url.scheme | string? | URL protocol scheme |

| results[].meta_url.netloc | string? | Network location |

| results[].meta_url.hostname | string? | Lowercased domain name |

| results[].meta_url.favicon | string? | Favicon URL |

| results[].meta_url.path | string? | URL path |

| results[].thumbnail.src | string | Served thumbnail URL |

| results[].thumbnail.original | string? | Original thumbnail URL |

| results[].extra_snippets | list[str]? | Up to 5 additional excerpts per result |

Goggles (Custom Ranking) — Unique to Brave

Goggles let you re-rank news results — boost trusted outlets or suppress unwanted sources.

| Method | Example |

|--|--|

| Hosted | --data-urlencode "goggles=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/brave/goggles-quickstart/main/goggles/hacker_news.goggle" |

| Inline | --data-urlencode 'goggles=$discard\n$site=example.com' |

> Hosted goggles must be on GitHub/GitLab, include ! name:, ! description:, ! author: headers, and be registered at https://search.brave.com/goggles/create. Inline rules need no registration.

Syntax: $boost=N / $downrank=N (1–10), $discard, $site=example.com. Combine with commas: $site=example.com,boost=3. Separate rules with \n (%0A).

Allow list: $discard\n$site=docs.python.org\n$site=developer.mozilla.org — Block list: $discard,site=pinterest.com\n$discard,site=quora.com

Resources: Discover · Syntax · Quickstart

Search Operators

Use search operators to refine results:

• site:local-paper.com - Limit to specific news site
• "exact phrase" - Match exact phrase
• -exclude - Exclude term

Set operators=false to disable operator parsing.

Use Cases

• Breaking news monitoring: Use freshness=pd for the most recent articles on a topic.
• Custom news feeds with Goggles: Boost trusted sources and discard other sources — unique to Brave.
• Historical news research: Use freshness=YYYY-MM-DDtoYYYY-MM-DD to find articles from specific time periods.
• Multilingual news: Combine country, search_lang, and ui_lang for cross-locale results.
• Data pipelines: Set include_fetch_metadata=true for fetched_content_timestamp on each result.

Notes

• SafeSearch: Defaults to strict
• Pagination: Use offset (0-9) with count
• Extra snippets: Up to 5 additional excerpts when extra_snippets=true