diff --git a/src/gateway/env.ts b/src/gateway/env.ts
index a57e781..6c920f1 100644
--- a/src/gateway/env.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/env.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ export function buildEnvVars(env: MoltbotEnv): Record<string, string> {
   if (env.SLACK_APP_TOKEN) envVars.SLACK_APP_TOKEN = env.SLACK_APP_TOKEN;
   if (env.CDP_SECRET) envVars.CDP_SECRET = env.CDP_SECRET;
   if (env.WORKER_URL) envVars.WORKER_URL = env.WORKER_URL;
+  if (env.BRAVE_API_KEY) envVars.BRAVE_API_KEY = env.BRAVE_API_KEY;
 
   return envVars;
 }
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index bb82c8c..52a3ed9 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ export interface MoltbotEnv {
   DISCORD_DM_POLICY?: string;
   SLACK_BOT_TOKEN?: string;
   SLACK_APP_TOKEN?: string;
+  BRAVE_API_KEY?: string;
   // Cloudflare Access configuration for admin routes
   CF_ACCESS_TEAM_DOMAIN?: string; // e.g., 'myteam.cloudflareaccess.com'
   CF_ACCESS_AUD?: string; // Application Audience (AUD) tag
diff --git a/start-moltbot.sh b/start-moltbot.sh
index 7e225e8..48d0764 100644
--- a/start-moltbot.sh
+++ b/start-moltbot.sh
@@ -152,6 +152,7 @@ config.agents.defaults = config.agents.defaults || {};
 config.agents.defaults.model = config.agents.defaults.model || {};
 config.gateway = config.gateway || {};
 config.channels = config.channels || {};
+config.tools = config.tools || {};
 
 // Clean up any broken anthropic provider config from previous runs
 // (older versions didn't include required 'name' field)
@@ -191,6 +192,18 @@ if (process.env.TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN) {
     config.channels.telegram.dmPolicy = process.env.TELEGRAM_DM_POLICY || 'pairing';
 }
 
+// web search via Brave
+if (process.env.BRAVE_API_KEY) {
+    config.tools.web = config.tools.web || {};
+    config.tools.web.search = config.tools.web.search || {};
+    config.tools.web.search.enabled = true;
+    config.tools.web.search.provider = 'brave';
+    config.tools.web.search.maxResults = 5;
+    config.tools.web.search.timeoutSeconds = 20;
+    config.tools.web.search.cacheTtlMinutes = 15;
+    config.tools.web.search.apiKey = process.env.BRAVE_API_KEY;
+}
+
 // Discord configuration
 if (process.env.DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN) {
     config.channels.discord = config.channels.discord || {};