About Exa
Exa is a hosted MCP server for AI agents that need web search, page retrieval, or multi-step research. Optional tools add filtered search and Exa Agent workflows for structured results.
Key features
- 01Web search
- 02Fetch webpages as Markdown
- 03Optional multi-step research
- 04Search filters and crawling
- 05Hosted MCP endpoint
Use cases
- 01Research a topic across the web
- 02Retrieve clean content from URLs
- 03Build structured research results
MCP support
Exa exposes web search and webpage-fetch tools at its hosted MCP endpoint. Optional tools include advanced search and `agent_run` for multi-step research.
Configuration
Remote servers need no local install. Pick your client, then copy the config or install in one click.
https://mcp.exa.ai/mcpclaude mcp add --transport http exa https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp{"mcpServers":{"exa":{"type":"http","url":"https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"}}}Open in Cursor{"servers":{"exa":{"type":"http","url":"https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"}}}Open in VS Code{"mcpServers":{"exa":{"type":"http","url":"https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"}}}{"mcpServers":{"exa":{"serverUrl":"https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"}}}Run commands in a terminal; paste JSON into the client’s MCP config and restart. Servers that need sign-in will prompt on first connect.
Tools
2| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| query | string | Yes | Natural language search query. Should be a semantically rich description of the ideal page, not just keywords. Optionally include category:<type> (company, people) to focus results — e.g. 'category:people John Doe software engineer'. |
| numResults | number | No | Number of search results to return (default: 10). |
| objective | string | Yes | Goal for this search turn; say which documents should rank first, which should be excluded, and what specific facts or figures to pull from them. |
Details
From the project README
Exa MCP Server
Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research.
Documentation · NPM Package · Get your API key
Installation
Connect to Exa's hosted MCP server:
https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp
Or use a plugin when your client supports one.
Agent Plugin
This repository is an Agent Plugin. Install it with any compatible client.
Claude
Install from the Claude Plugin Marketplace, or run:
claude plugin install exa@claude-plugins-official
Codex / ChatGPT
Install via Plugins in ChatGPT, or run:
codex mcp add exa --url https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp
Other MCP Clients
Most clients can be configured manually with the standard mcpServers shape:
{
"mcpServers": {
"exa": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
}
}
}
Client-specific configs
Exa MCP works with most other clients, point them at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp.
| Client | Where to add it |
|---|---|
| Kiro | Use the Kiro power, or add manually to ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json |
| LM Studio | Add to LM Studio, or add manually to mcp.json |
| Replit | Add to Replit |
| Grok Build | /marketplace → install Exa, then /mcp to sign in |
| Gemini CLI | Add manually to ~/.gemini/settings.json |
| OpenCode | Add manually to opencode.json |
| Windsurf | Add manually to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json |
| Google Antigravity | Add manually to mcp_config.json |
| Zed | Add manually to settings.json under context_servers |
| Warp | Settings → Agents → MCP servers |
| v0 by Vercel | Settings → MCP connections |
Available Tools
Default Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
web_search_exa | Search the web for any topic and get clean, ready-to-use content |
web_fetch_exa | Read a webpage's full content as clean markdown from one or more URLs |
Optional Tools (enable via the tools parameter)
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
agent_run | Run an Exa Agent for multi-step research, list-building, enrichment, and structured output |
web_search_advanced_exa | Advanced search with filters, domains, dates, highlights, summaries, and subpage crawling |
Enable tools by appending them to the MCP URL (this will replace the defaults, so include all you want):
https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_advanced_exa
https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_exa,web_fetch_exa,agent_run
Exa Agent requires authentication (OAuth or an API key).
Agent Skills
Skills live in skills/ and load with Agent Plugin installs. The Claude plugin in plugins/exa/ ships a copy of them; npm test fails when the copy drifts. Each package version bump on main publishes plugins/exa/ to the root of the claude-plugin branch, which Claude's plugin directory reads. To publish a plugin-only change between releases, run the Publish Claude plugin workflow manually.
| Skill | Path | Use when |
|---|---|---|
search | skills/search/ | Deep research, lead gen, competitive analysis, multi-step web investigation |
exa-agent | skills/exa-agent/ | Exa Agent runs, enrichment, structured output, Connect providers |
Invoke from your client's skill UI (or /skill-name where supported). MCP-only setups still get the tools; skills add orchestration on top.
Authentication
The hosted MCP server works anonymously with rate limits. For higher limits and access to Exa Agent, use either OAuth or an API key.
OAuth is preferred: most clients prompt you to sign in to Exa. To force the login flow (useful for shared connectors and plugins), use https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?login or https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp/oauth.
If you prefer, you can get an API key from the dashboard and pass it on the URL as ?exaApiKey=…. You can also send it as a Authorization: Bearer … header or an x-api-key header.
Built with ❤️ by Exa
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.