# Do coding agents recommend Brave Search API? > Brave Search API was chosen in 11% of 277 judged AI search sessions, ranking third. Measured with Claude Code, Codex and Cursor. Source: https://armature.tech/library/do-coding-agents-recommend-brave-search-api Published: 2026-09-14 Publisher: Armature, Inc. (https://armature.tech) --- > Brave Search API was chosen in 11% of 277 judged AI search sessions, ranking third. It was also raised as a candidate in 73 further sessions without being chosen. This page reports what happened when Claude Code, Codex and Cursor had to solve a problem in AI search inside a realistic codebase. Not what a chat assistant says about Brave Search API. What an agent actually installed. ## The numbers | | | | --- | --- | | Category | AI search | | Sessions in the category | 277 | | Sessions where Brave Search API was chosen | 31 | | Install share | 11% | | Rank in category | 3 of 27 | | Codebases it won in | 10 | | Raised as a candidate, not chosen | 73 | | Chosen when considered | 30% | | Site | brave.com | ## By agent The three agents agree closely on Brave Search API, choosing it at rates within 3 points of each other. | Agent | Sessions | Chose Brave Search API | Share | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Claude Code | 92 | 10 | 11% | | Codex | 96 | 12 | 13% | | Cursor | 89 | 9 | 10% | ## By who was asking Brave Search API performs similarly across the four kinds of buyer, from 6% to 17%. That is unusual: the category leader changed with the persona in 20 of the 25 categories we measured. | Who is asking | Sessions | Chose Brave Search API | Share | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Vibe coder | 44 | 3 | 7% | | Junior developer | 117 | 16 | 14% | | Senior engineer | 68 | 4 | 6% | | Enterprise team | 48 | 8 | 17% | ## What Brave Search API was up against The full ranking in AI search, from the same sessions: | # | Product | Runs won | Share | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Anthropic web search | 56 | 20% | | 2 | Exa | 38 | 14% | | 3 | Brave Search API **(this page)** | 31 | 11% | | 4 | Tavily | 21 | 8% | | 5 | OpenAI web search | 16 | 6% | | 6 | Firecrawl | 14 | 5% | | 7 | Parallel | 13 | 5% | | 8 | Built in-house (no product adopted) | 13 | 5% | ## What this means Brave Search API was raised in 73 sessions and chosen in 31. That ratio is balanced enough that the ceiling is presence rather than integration: the product converts reasonably when it is on the table, and it is not on the table often enough. ## Where these numbers come from The 277 sessions in AI search are part of a published set of 7,025, run with real coding agents inside realistic codebases and judged blind. The full method is on one page: [how we measured this](/library/how-we-measured-this). Every AI search run can be replayed on [the board](/leaderboards/ai-search). If you work on Brave Search API: the judge recorded a reason for every session where it was raised and passed over. Those reasons are in the transcripts. ## Common questions ### Do coding agents recommend Brave Search API? Yes. Brave Search API was chosen in 31 of the 277 judged sessions in AI search, a 11% install share, ranking third in its category. ### Does Claude Code recommend Brave Search API? In 10 of the 92 sessions in AI search run with Claude Code, which is 11%. ### Do different coding agents treat Brave Search API differently? Not much. The three agents chose it at similar rates, between 10% and 13% of their runs. ### How was this measured? Real coding agents at pinned versions were run in sandboxes inside 77 realistic codebases and asked to solve real tasks. A simulated project owner approved or questioned each recommendation before any code was written, and a judge from a model family that builds none of the agents read every session blind. ### How often is Brave Search API considered but not chosen? It was raised as a candidate in 73 sessions without being chosen, and chosen in 31. That is a 30% conversion from considered to chosen. ## Read next - [How to get picked for AI search by coding agents](https://armature.tech/library/ai-search-coding-agents-playbook) (Markdown: https://armature.tech/library/ai-search-coding-agents-playbook.md) - [Do coding agents recommend Anthropic web search?](https://armature.tech/library/do-coding-agents-recommend-anthropic-web-search) (Markdown: https://armature.tech/library/do-coding-agents-recommend-anthropic-web-search.md) - [Do coding agents recommend Exa?](https://armature.tech/library/do-coding-agents-recommend-exa) (Markdown: https://armature.tech/library/do-coding-agents-recommend-exa.md) - [Do Claude Code, Codex and Cursor pick the same tools?](https://armature.tech/library/do-claude-code-and-codex-agree) (Markdown: https://armature.tech/library/do-claude-code-and-codex-agree.md) --- Armature helps software products get discovered and used by coding agents. Service: https://armature.tech/discoverability · Results: https://armature.tech/leaderboards/sectors · Contact: contact@armature.tech