Exa Search
Neural search for web content, code, companies, and people via the Exa MCP server.
When to Activate
- User needs current web information or news
- Searching for code examples, API docs, or technical references
- Researching companies, competitors, or market players
- Finding professional profiles or people in a domain
- Running background research for any development task
- User says "search for", "look up", "find", or "what's the latest on"
MCP Requirement
Exa MCP server must be configured. Add to ~/.claude.json:
"exa-web-search": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "exa-mcp-server"],
"env": { "EXA_API_KEY": "YOUR_EXA_API_KEY_HERE" }
}
Get an API key at exa.ai.
This repo's current Exa setup documents the tool surface exposed here: web_search_exa and get_code_context_exa.
If your Exa server exposes additional tools, verify their exact names before depending on them in docs or prompts.
Core Tools
web_search_exa
General web search for current information, news, or facts.
web_search_exa(query: "latest AI developments 2026", numResults: 5)
Parameters:
| Param | Type | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
query |
string | required | Search query |
numResults |
number | 8 | Number of results |
type |
string | auto |
Search mode |
livecrawl |
string | fallback |
Prefer live crawling when needed |
category |
string | none | Optional focus such as company or research paper |
get_code_context_exa
Find code examples and documentation from GitHub, Stack Overflow, and docs sites.
get_code_context_exa(query: "Python asyncio patterns", tokensNum: 3000)
Parameters:
| Param | Type | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
query |
string | required | Code or API search query |
tokensNum |
number | 5000 | Content tokens (1000-50000) |
Usage Patterns
Quick Lookup
web_search_exa(query: "Node.js 22 new features", numResults: 3)
Code Research
get_code_context_exa(query: "Rust error handling patterns Result type", tokensNum: 3000)
Company or People Research
web_search_exa(query: "Vercel funding valuation 2026", numResults: 3, category: "company")
web_search_exa(query: "site:linkedin.com/in AI safety researchers Anthropic", numResults: 5)
Technical Deep Dive
web_search_exa(query: "WebAssembly component model status and adoption", numResults: 5)
get_code_context_exa(query: "WebAssembly component model examples", tokensNum: 4000)
Tips
- Use
web_search_exafor current information, company lookups, and broad discovery - Use search operators like
site:, quoted phrases, andintitle:to narrow results - Lower
tokensNum(1000-2000) for focused code snippets, higher (5000+) for comprehensive context - Use
get_code_context_exawhen you need API usage or code examples rather than general web pages
Related Skills
deep-research— Full research workflow using firecrawl + exa togethermarket-research— Business-oriented research with decision frameworks