Images 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/images/search?q=mountain+landscape" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: ${BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY}"

With Parameters

curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/images/search" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: ${BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY}" \
  -G \
  --data-urlencode "q=northern lights photography" \
  --data-urlencode "country=US" \
  --data-urlencode "search_lang=en" \
  --data-urlencode "count=20" \
  --data-urlencode "safesearch=strict"

Endpoint

GET https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/images/search

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

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 | 2+ char language code | | count | int | No | 50 | Results to return (1-200) | | safesearch | string | No | strict | off or strict (no moderate for images) | | spellcheck | bool | No | true | Auto-correct query; corrected query in query.altered |

Response Format

{
  "type": "images",
  "query": {
    "original": "mountain landscape",
    "altered": null,
    "spellcheck_off": false,
    "show_strict_warning": false
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "type": "image_result",
      "title": "Beautiful Mountain Landscape",
      "url": "https://example.com/mountain-photo",
      "source": "example.com",
      "page_fetched": "2025-09-15T10:30:00Z",
      "thumbnail": {
        "src": "https://imgs.search.brave.com/...",
        "width": 200,
        "height": 150
      },
      "properties": {
        "url": "https://example.com/images/mountain.jpg",
        "placeholder": "https://imgs.search.brave.com/placeholder/...",
        "width": 1920,
        "height": 1080
      },
      "meta_url": {
        "scheme": "https",
        "netloc": "example.com",
        "hostname": "example.com",
        "favicon": "https://imgs.search.brave.com/favicon/...",
        "path": "/mountain-photo"
      },
      "confidence": "high"
    }
  ],
  "extra": {
    "might_be_offensive": false
  }
}

Response Fields

| Field | Type | Description | |--|--|--| | type | string | Always "images" | | query.original | string | Original query | | query.altered | string? | Spellchecked query (null if no correction) | | query.spellcheck_off | bool? | Whether spellcheck was disabled | | query.show_strict_warning | bool? | True if strict safesearch hid relevant results | | results[] | array | List of image results | | results[].type | string | Always "image_result" | | results[].title | string? | Image title | | results[].url | string? | Page URL where image was found | | results[].source | string? | Source domain | | results[].page_fetched | string? | ISO datetime of last page crawl | | results[].thumbnail.src | string? | Brave-proxied thumbnail URL (~500px width) | | results[].thumbnail.width | int? | Thumbnail width | | results[].thumbnail.height | int? | Thumbnail height | | results[].properties.url | string? | Original full-size image URL | | results[].properties.placeholder | string? | Low-res placeholder URL (Brave-proxied) | | results[].properties.width | int? | Original image width (may be null) | | results[].properties.height | int? | Original image height (may be null) | | results[].meta_url.scheme | string? | URL protocol scheme | | results[].meta_url.netloc | string? | Network location | | results[].meta_url.hostname | string? | Lowercased domain | | results[].meta_url.favicon | string? | Favicon URL | | results[].meta_url.path | string? | URL path | | results[].confidence | string? | Relevance: low, medium, or high | | extra.might_be_offensive | bool | Whether results may contain offensive content |

Use Cases

• Visual content discovery: Build image galleries, mood boards, or visual research tools. Use count=200 for comprehensive coverage. Prefer over web-search when you need image-specific metadata (dimensions, thumbnails).
• Content enrichment: Add relevant images to articles or generated content. Use country and search_lang to target your audience's locale.
• Safe image retrieval: Default safesearch=strict ensures family-friendly results out of the box. Only two modes (off/strict) — no moderate option, unlike web/video/news search.
• High-volume batch retrieval: Up to 200 images per request (vs 20 for web, 50 for videos/news). Ideal for bulk image sourcing or visual analysis pipelines.

Notes

• SafeSearch: Defaults to strict for images (stricter than web search)
• High volume: Can return up to 200 results per request
• Thumbnails: Brave-proxied for user privacy (500px width). Use properties.url for original full-resolution image.
• Dimensions: properties.width/height may be missing for some images
• Placeholder: properties.placeholder is a low-res URL (not inline base64) useful for progressive loading UX