# Brave Search via Locus x402 (AI Answers)

> Brave Search via Locus x402 (AI Answers) is a paid API for AI agents from brave.x402.paywithlocus.com, paid per call via x402, $0.085/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Submits a chat-style query to Brave's independent web index and returns an AI-synthesized answer with grounded web, news, and LLM context, billed per call via x402/USDC.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://brave.x402.paywithlocus.com/brave/answers
- Price: $0.085/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/brave-search-via-locus-x402-ai-answers-52e96891
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_H2YE0pZxAH1jY4el-Z6Fp

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability brave-search-via-locus-x402-ai-answers-52e96891 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Search the web using Brave's independent index and give me an AI-synthesized answer to this question: what are the latest developments in fusion energy as of this week? Use the brave-pro model and limit the response to 500 tokens.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need AI-synthesized answers grounded in live, up-to-date web content from a large independent index (not Google/Bing), and you want privacy-first search without tracking. Ideal for agents that need current information beyond their training cutoff, or for applications where independence from major search duopolies matters. The x402/USDC pay-per-call model is well-suited for agent workflows that need metered, on-demand search without API key subscriptions. Prefer brave-pro for higher quality results.

## Known failure modes

- Insufficient USDC payment or failed x402 payment handshake — request rejected before processing
- Invalid model value (not 'brave' or 'brave-pro') — likely returns a validation error
- Malformed messages array (missing role/content fields) — may return empty or error response
- Query topic outside indexable web content (e.g. private documents) — returns no useful results
- Rate limiting or upstream Brave API unavailability — returns error or timeout
- max_completion_tokens set too low — answer may be truncated mid-sentence

## How this service works

Independent web search — web, news, images, videos, AI answers, and LLM context. Privacy-first search from a large independent index.

## Output

A JSON object containing a 'data' field with the AI-generated answer and supporting search context (web snippets, news, LLM context), a 'payment' object confirming settled USDC amount, a 'request' object with a unique ID and status URL for async tracking, and a 'success' boolean. The answer reflects Brave's large independent web index and is not proxied through Google or Bing.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "model": {
   "type": "string"
  },
  "stream": {
   "type": "boolean"
  },
  "messages": {
   "type": "array",
   "items": {
    "type": "object",
    "required": [
     "role"
    ],
    "properties": {
     "name": {
      "type": "string"
     },
     "role": {
      "type": "string"
     },
     "content": {
      "anyOf": [
       {
        "type": "string"
       },
       {
        "type": "array",
        "items": {
         "type": "object",
         "required": [
          "type"
         ],
         "properties": {
          "text": {
           "type": "string"
          },
          "type": {
           "type": "string"
          },
          "image_url": {
           "type": "object",
           "required": [
            "url"
           ],
           "properties": {
            "url": {
             "type": "string"
            }
           },
           "additionalProperties": true
          }
         },
         "additionalProperties": true
        }
       },
       {
        "type": "null"
       }
      ]
     },
     "tool_calls": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
       "type": "object",
       "additionalProperties": true
      }
     },
     "tool_call_id": {
      "type": "string"
     }
    },
    "additionalProperties": true
   }
  },
  "max_completion_tokens": {
   "type": "number"
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "data": {},
  "payment": {
   "scheme": "exact",
   "settledUsdc": "0.001000",
   "authorizedMaxUsdc": "0.001000"
  },
  "request": {
   "id": "00000000-0000-4000-8000-000000000000",
   "statusUrl": "/requests/00000000-0000-4000-8000-000000000000"
  },
  "success": true
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/brave-search-via-locus-x402-ai-answers-52e96891/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from brave.x402.paywithlocus.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/brave.x402.paywithlocus.com/llms.txt)