feat: switch default search engine to Brave Search by AugmentedMode · Pull Request #26356 · MetaMask/metamask-mobile

AugmentedMode · 2026-02-20T15:27:08Z

Description

The MetaMask mobile in-app browser currently defaults to Google search, which shows ads that can lead users to fake/scam websites. This PR switches the default search engine to Brave Search, providing a privacy-focused, ad-free search experience that better protects users.

Changes:

Updated DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE constant from 'Google' to 'Brave'
Added Brave Search URL (https://search.brave.com/search?q=) and refactored the if/else chain to a module-scoped lookup map (SEARCH_ENGINE_URLS) for cleaner extensibility and to avoid re-allocation on every call
Added 'Brave Search' option to the search engine picker in General Settings
Added Redux persist migration (121) to automatically switch all existing users to Brave, following the same pattern as migration 58
Updated processUrlForBrowser default parameter to use AppConstants.DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE instead of hardcoded 'Google'
Updated SitesSearchFooter to use the shared SEARCH_ENGINE_URLS map so the "Search for ... on {engine}" label and URL correctly reflect the selected engine (previously hardcoded to Google/DuckDuckGo only)
Fallback for unknown search engine values now uses AppConstants.DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE (Brave) instead of hardcoded Google

Changelog

CHANGELOG entry: Changed the default search engine to Brave Search for a privacy-focused, ad-free browsing experience

Related issues

Fixes:

Manual testing steps

Feature: Brave Search as default search engine

  Scenario: New user searches in the in-app browser
    Given the user has freshly installed the app

    When user types a search keyword in the browser URL bar
    Then the search results are served by Brave Search (search.brave.com)

  Scenario: Existing user is migrated to Brave Search
    Given the user previously had Google or DuckDuckGo as their search engine

    When the user updates the app and launches it
    Then the search engine setting is automatically changed to Brave
    And searches in the in-app browser use Brave Search

  Scenario: Search footer label reflects selected engine
    Given the user is typing a keyword in the browser URL bar

    When the autocomplete dropdown appears
    Then the footer shows "Search for {keyword} on Brave" (not Google)
    And tapping it navigates to search.brave.com

  Scenario: User can still select other search engines
    Given the user is on Settings > General

    When user opens the Search Engine picker
    Then Google, DuckDuckGo, and Brave Search are all available options
    And the user can switch between them
    And the search footer label updates to match the selected engine

Screenshots/Recordings

Before

After

Pre-merge author checklist

I've followed MetaMask Contributor Docs and MetaMask Mobile Coding Standards.
I've completed the PR template to the best of my ability
I've included tests if applicable
I've documented my code using JSDoc format if applicable
I've applied the right labels on the PR (see labeling guidelines). Not required for external contributors.

Pre-merge reviewer checklist

I've manually tested the PR (e.g. pull and build branch, run the app, test code being changed).
I confirm that this PR addresses all acceptance criteria described in the ticket it closes and includes the necessary testing evidence such as recordings and or screenshots.

Note

Medium Risk
Changes core browser URL processing and the default search engine, plus a state migration that mutates persisted user settings; mistakes could send users to wrong destinations or override preferences unexpectedly.

Overview
Switches the in-app browser default search engine from Google to Brave. This updates AppConstants.DEFAULT_SEARCH_ENGINE, adds Brave to the General Settings search engine picker, and centralizes engine base URLs in SEARCH_ENGINE_URLS.

Search URL generation is refactored to use the shared lookup (with fallback to the default) in both processUrlForBrowser and SitesSearchFooter, and the footer testID/text are renamed from Google-specific to a generic trending-search-footer-search-link.

Adds migration 126 to move persisted settings.searchEngine from Google to Brave for existing users, and updates unit/integration/e2e tests and selectors to match the new engine + testIDs.

^{Written by Cursor Bugbot for commit 471a8dd. This will update automatically on new commits. Configure here.}

github-actions · 2026-02-20T15:27:18Z

CLA Signature Action: All authors have signed the CLA. You may need to manually re-run the blocking PR check if it doesn't pass in a few minutes.

…cessing

…d centralize URL handling

…ns for clarity

…handling

…ady set to DuckDuckGo or Brave

github-actions · 2026-03-19T19:56:05Z

🔍 Smart E2E Test Selection

Selected E2E tags: SmokeWalletPlatform
Selected Performance tags: None (no tests recommended)
Risk Level: medium
AI Confidence: 90%

click to see 🤖 AI reasoning details

E2E Test Selection:
The PR makes the following changes:

Default search engine changed from Google to Brave (AppConstants.ts): This is a user-facing behavioral change affecting all new users and existing users via migration 126.
Browser utility refactored (app/util/browser/index.ts): Added SearchEngine type and SEARCH_ENGINE_URLS map supporting Google, DuckDuckGo, and Brave. The processUrlForBrowser function now uses this map instead of hardcoded Google/DuckDuckGo logic.
SitesSearchFooter updated (SitesSearchFooter.tsx): Now uses SEARCH_ENGINE_URLS for URL construction and supports Brave. The testID was renamed from trending-search-footer-google-link to trending-search-footer-search-link.
GeneralSettings updated (index.js): Added Brave as a selectable search engine option in Settings.
Migration 126 (126.ts + index.ts): Migrates existing users with Google as their search engine to Brave.
E2E test infrastructure updated (TrendingView.selectors.ts, TrendingView.ts, trending-search.spec.ts): Updated selectors and page object methods to use the new trending-search-footer-search-link testID and renamed methods (scrollToSearchEngineOption, verifySearchEngineOptionVisible).

Tag Selection Rationale:

SmokeWalletPlatform: The trending-search.spec.ts is tagged with SmokeWalletPlatform and directly tests the Trending search functionality that was modified. The search footer component (SitesSearchFooter) is part of the Trending view. The E2E test infrastructure (selectors, page objects) was updated to match the new testIDs, so running this tag validates the changes end-to-end.

Tags NOT selected:

No other tags are needed. The changes are scoped to the browser search engine feature (Trending search, browser URL processing, settings). No confirmations, accounts, network, swaps, or other flows are affected.
The migration is a simple field update that doesn't affect any other controller or state that would require broader testing.

Performance tests NOT selected:

The changes are purely functional (search engine URL construction, default value change, migration). No rendering performance, list loading, or startup paths are affected.

Performance Test Selection:
The changes are purely functional - changing the default search engine from Google to Brave, adding Brave as a search engine option, and migrating existing users. No UI rendering performance, list loading, data fetching, or app startup paths are affected. No performance tests are warranted.

View GitHub Actions results

github-actions · 2026-03-19T20:14:43Z

✅ E2E Fixture Validation — Schema is up to date
16 value mismatches detected (expected — fixture represents an existing user).
View details

sonarqubecloud · 2026-03-19T20:22:13Z

Quality Gate passed

Issues
0 New issues
0 Accepted issues

Measures
0 Security Hotspots
93.1% Coverage on New Code
0.0% Duplication on New Code

See analysis details on SonarQube Cloud

Cal-L

LGTM

feat: update default search engine to Brave with migration

e81b6e2

metamaskbot added the team-product-safety Push issues to Product Safety team label Feb 20, 2026

AugmentedMode marked this pull request as ready for review February 20, 2026 15:27

AugmentedMode requested review from a team as code owners February 20, 2026 15:27

github-actions Bot added the size-M label Feb 20, 2026

AugmentedMode added 3 commits February 20, 2026 10:38

fix: typescript issues

a6e4ef0

feat: centralize search engine URLs in a constant for cleaner URL pro…

10bc971

…cessing

refactor: update search engine integration to use Brave as default an…

0db1b3f

…d centralize URL handling

AugmentedMode self-assigned this Feb 20, 2026

cursor Bot reviewed Feb 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread app/components/UI/Sites/components/SitesSearchFooter/SitesSearchFooter.tsx Outdated

Comment thread app/store/migrations/124.test.ts

refactor: streamline search URL resolution and update test descriptio…

13958da

…ns for clarity

cursor Bot reviewed Feb 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread app/components/Views/Settings/GeneralSettings/index.js Outdated

Comment thread app/util/browser/index.test.ts Outdated

AugmentedMode added 3 commits March 4, 2026 12:00

fix

835a32d

fix

7ae5f46

fix: merge conflicts

6a6610c

cursor Bot reviewed Mar 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread app/store/migrations/124.ts Outdated

Comment thread app/store/migrations/index.ts Outdated

AugmentedMode added 3 commits March 4, 2026 12:10

fix

208a197

fix:prettier

e59c68f

fix: migration number

cd0861a

cursor Bot reviewed Mar 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread app/store/migrations/125.ts Outdated

fix

3f3f87c

imblue-dabadee reviewed Mar 6, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread app/components/UI/Sites/components/SitesSearchFooter/SitesSearchFooter.tsx Outdated

Comment thread app/components/UI/Sites/components/SitesSearchFooter/SitesSearchFooter.test.tsx Outdated

refactor(SitesSearchFooter): update test IDs and improve search link …

49f63b8

…handling

cursor Bot reviewed Mar 11, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread app/components/UI/UrlAutocomplete/index.test.tsx

refactor(TrendingView): rename search link identifiers for clarity

2aec4f2

AugmentedMode requested a review from a team as a code owner March 11, 2026 03:35

imblue-dabadee previously approved these changes Mar 12, 2026

View reviewed changes

fix: merege conflicts

a7c64b8

github-actions Bot added the risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk label Mar 19, 2026

imblue-dabadee reviewed Mar 19, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread app/store/migrations/126.ts Outdated

Comment thread app/util/browser/index.ts Outdated

AugmentedMode added 2 commits March 19, 2026 15:34

feat: define SearchEngine type for SEARCH_ENGINE_URLS in browser utility

d27f30b

fix: update migration logic to prevent changing search engine if alre…

f59e3ac

…ady set to DuckDuckGo or Brave

github-actions Bot added risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk and removed risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk labels Mar 19, 2026

imblue-dabadee previously approved these changes Mar 19, 2026

View reviewed changes

github-actions Bot added risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk and removed risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk labels Mar 19, 2026

fix: lint types

a8ff420

AugmentedMode dismissed imblue-dabadee’s stale review via a8ff420 March 19, 2026 19:44

github-actions Bot added risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk and removed risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk labels Mar 19, 2026

fix: prettier

471a8dd

github-actions Bot added risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk and removed risk-medium Moderate testing recommended · Possible bug introduction risk labels Mar 19, 2026

cortisiko approved these changes Mar 19, 2026

View reviewed changes

imblue-dabadee approved these changes Mar 19, 2026

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Cal-L approved these changes Mar 20, 2026

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AugmentedMode enabled auto-merge March 20, 2026 13:40

PatrykLucka approved these changes Mar 20, 2026

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AugmentedMode added this pull request to the merge queue Mar 20, 2026

Merged via the queue into main with commit bf03a94 Mar 20, 2026
98 checks passed

AugmentedMode deleted the feat/migrate-users-to-brave branch March 20, 2026 14:13

github-actions Bot locked and limited conversation to collaborators Mar 20, 2026

metamaskbot added the release-7.72.0 Issue or pull request that will be included in release 7.72.0 label Mar 20, 2026

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feat: switch default search engine to Brave Search#26356

feat: switch default search engine to Brave Search#26356
AugmentedMode merged 21 commits into
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AugmentedMode commented Feb 20, 2026 •

edited by cursor Bot

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Description

Changelog

Related issues

Manual testing steps

Screenshots/Recordings

Before

After

Pre-merge author checklist

Pre-merge reviewer checklist

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github-actions Bot commented Feb 20, 2026

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github-actions Bot commented Mar 19, 2026

🔍 Smart E2E Test Selection

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sonarqubecloud Bot commented Mar 19, 2026

Quality Gate passed

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AugmentedMode commented Feb 20, 2026 •

edited by cursor Bot

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