claude-agents-skills/skills/exa-search/references/tools.md

Exa MCP Tools Reference

web_search_exa

Basic web search with clean, ready-to-use content.

Parameters:

• query (string, required): Search query
• numResults (number, optional): Number of results (default: 10)

Example:

exa-cli.mjs search "AI agent frameworks 2026"

---

web_search_advanced_exa

Advanced search with full control over filters.

Parameters:

• query (string, required): Search query
• numResults (number, optional): Number of results
• type (string, optional): "auto", "neural", "deep"
• category (string, optional): "company", "news", "tweet", "people", "personal site"
• includeDomains (array, optional): Only include these domains
• excludeDomains (array, optional): Exclude these domains
• startPublishedDate (string, optional): ISO date YYYY-MM-DD
• endPublishedDate (string, optional): ISO date YYYY-MM-DD
• livecrawl (string, optional): "never", "fallback", "always"

Category Restrictions:

• category: "company": Cannot use domain or date filters
• category: "people": Cannot use date filters, excludeDomains, or excludeText
• includeText/excludeText: Only single-item arrays

Examples:

# Domain filter
exa-cli.mjs search-advanced "AI news" --domains techcrunch.com,wired.com

# Date filter
exa-cli.mjs search-advanced "OpenAI" --after 2026-01-01 --before 2026-02-01

# More results
exa-cli.mjs search-advanced "machine learning" --num 30

---

get_code_context_exa

Find code examples, documentation, and solutions from GitHub, StackOverflow, and technical docs.

Parameters:

• query (string, required): Code-related query
• tokensNum (number, optional): Token limit (default: 5000, range: 1000-50000)

Best Practices:

• Always include programming language in query
• Include framework + version when relevant
• Use exact identifiers (function names, error messages)

Token Strategy:

• Focused snippet: 1000-3000
• Most tasks: 5000
• Complex integration: 10000-20000

Examples:

# Python specific
exa-cli.mjs code "Python asyncio retry exponential backoff"

# Framework specific
exa-cli.mjs code "Next.js 14 server actions form handling"

# Error lookup
exa-cli.mjs code "ECONNREFUSED Node.js Docker"

---

crawling_exa

Get full content from a specific URL.

Parameters:

• url (string, required): URL to crawl

Example:

exa-cli.mjs crawl "https://docs.anthropic.com/claude/docs"

---

company_research_exa

Research any company for business information, news, and insights.

Parameters:

• companyName (string, required): Company name to research

Returns:

• Company overview
• Recent news
• Key metrics (when available)
• Competitors
• Funding info

Example:

exa-cli.mjs company "Stripe"
exa-cli.mjs company "Klarna fintech"

---

people_search_exa

Find people and their professional profiles.

Parameters:

• query (string, required): Search query (role, name, company, etc.)
• numResults (number, optional): Number of results

Notes:

• Returns public LinkedIn profiles and professional bios
• Works best with role + location/company

Examples:

exa-cli.mjs people "VP Engineering AI startups San Francisco"
exa-cli.mjs people "CTO fintech Stockholm"

---

deep_researcher_start

Start an AI research agent that searches, reads, and writes a detailed report.

Parameters:

• query (string, required): Research topic

Returns:

• taskId: Use with research-check to get results

Note: Deep research is async. Poll with research-check until status is "completed".

Example:

exa-cli.mjs research "Current state of nuclear fusion energy startups 2026"
# Returns: taskId: abc123...

exa-cli.mjs research-check abc123
# Poll until complete

---

deep_researcher_check

Check status and get results from a deep research task.

Parameters:

• taskId (string, required): Task ID from deep_researcher_start

Status Values:

• pending: Still processing
• completed: Results ready
• failed: Error occurred

Example:

exa-cli.mjs research-check abc123-def456-...

---

Rate Limits

Free Plan:

• ~1 request/second
• 2000 requests/month

With API Key:

• Higher limits based on plan
• Get key: https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys

Set key:

export EXA_API_KEY="your-key-here"

---

MCP Server URL

Base: https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

With all tools:

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_exa,web_search_advanced_exa,get_code_context_exa,crawling_exa,company_research_exa,people_search_exa,deep_researcher_start,deep_researcher_check

With API key:

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=YOUR_KEY&tools=...