How can a Brave LLM Context integration retain the previous content pipeline?

Definition: In Brave LLM Context, version pinning means sending the Api-Version request header with a dated value so the endpoint uses a specific API behavior. Brave documents Api-Version: 2026-02-06 as the value that keeps the content pipeline used before the 31 July 2026 default change.

Key facts

• Brave describes LLM Context as web search with pre-extracted content for AI agents, grounding, and retrieval augmented generation pipelines in its LLM Context documentation.
• The LLM Context changelog records a new content pipeline as the default on 31 July 2026 and names Api-Version: 2026-02-06 for the previous pipeline.
• Brave's versioning guide says requests without a version header use the latest version and that Api-Version locks behavior to a specific version.
• The LLM Context API reference describes the API version format as YYYY-MM-DD and lists the default as the latest available version.

Which header retains the previous pipeline?

Add the dated header to every request whose behavior must remain on the previous content pipeline. The value is a calendar date in the YYYY-MM-DD format. For this change, Brave names 2026-02-06, the launch date recorded in the LLM Context changelog.

Api-Version: 2026-02-06

The header is sent alongside the subscription token. The LLM Context endpoint supports both GET and POST, and the documentation shows the endpoint as https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/llm/context.

What happens when the header is omitted?

Brave's versioning guide states that a request without a version header uses the latest API version. The API reference gives the same default for its API version field. An integration that omits Api-Version therefore follows the current default selected by Brave, including later default changes documented for the service.

Brave separates two versioning schemes. A major version such as v1 appears in the request URL and is reserved for a major API redesign. A dated Api-Version header selects behavior within that URL version and provides the upgrade path for backwards incompatible changes.

How should an integration apply the pin?

Set the header in the shared HTTP client or request wrapper used for both request methods. Keep the value beside the integration's endpoint configuration, so retries and requests made by different parts of the application send the same version. The request shape remains the normal LLM Context call, including its query or JSON body and X-Subscription-Token authentication.

curl -X GET "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/llm/context?q=your+query" \
  -H "X-Subscription-Token: <YOUR_API_KEY>" \
  -H "Api-Version: 2026-02-06"

The versioning guide describes adding optional request parameters or headers and adding response properties as backwards compatible changes. It classifies removing a request parameter or header, removing response properties, renaming response properties, and changing property types as backwards incompatible changes.

How can you check the pin?

Inspect the outgoing request at the HTTP client boundary and confirm that the header is present with the exact value 2026-02-06. Test the same query through the deployed integration after configuration changes. A missing header is observable in the request configuration and causes Brave to use the latest version according to the versioning guide.

The public documentation names the previous pipeline and its pin, but it does not describe a response field that reports which content pipeline processed an individual request. Verification therefore starts with the outgoing header and the returned context consumed by the integration.

Related terms

• How does Brave LLM Context differ from ordinary web results?
• How can low-relevance chunks be filtered from Brave LLM Context?
• How can the last indexed fetch time be returned with Brave context?
• Brave Search API

FAQ

What value should you send to keep the previous pipeline?

Send Api-Version: 2026-02-06 with each LLM Context request that must use the previous pipeline named in Brave's 31 July 2026 changelog.

Is Api-Version a query parameter?

No. The API reference lists api-version in its Headers section, and Brave's versioning guide describes Api-Version as a request header.

What does the service use without the header?

It uses the latest available API version. Pin the dated header when the integration depends on the earlier pipeline.

Sources

1. Brave Search API, "LLM Context: Web search for AI agents and chatbots", 2026-07-31 changelog
2. Brave Search API, "Versioning", undated
3. Brave Search API, "LLM Context: Web search API for AI agents", undated

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