exa-search

name: exa-search description: Use when querying Exa through ArkSpace web_search routing, especially semantic/neural search, coding documentation, repositories, technical research, domain/date filtered discovery, or Exa-specific search controls.

Exa Search

Use Exa as an API-backed web_search provider when ArkSpace routes a semantic or technical discovery task to Exa, or when the user explicitly asks for Exa search.

Exa configuration is managed by provider-manager; do not ask the user to edit config files by hand.

Source References

• Official Search API: https://exa.ai/docs/reference/search
• Official Contents API: https://exa.ai/docs/reference/get-contents
• Official Find Similar API: https://exa.ai/docs/reference/find-similar-links
• Official Answer API: https://exa.ai/docs/reference/answer
• OpenClaw guide: https://docs.openclaw.ai/tools/exa-search

Before Use

Resolve the installed ArkSpace package root before running commands. Replace <installed-arkspace-path> with the directory two levels above this loaded SKILL.md, such as /Users/<user>/.claude/plugins/cache/ark-space/ark-space/0.1.2. Use the installed package path, not a repository-relative command.

Check configuration:

python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py provider check exa --capability web_search

Set up Exa once:

python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py provider setup exa --wizard

For multiple API keys:

python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py provider setup exa --wizard --key-count 2

Missing Configuration Recovery

If the provider check reports a missing Exa API key:

1. Ask the user whether to start setup now: "Exa is not configured. Should I start the ArkSpace setup wizard now?"
2. Present exactly two choices:
   • "Start setup wizard" - start interactive setup with python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py provider setup exa --wizard.
   • "Not now" - leave Exa unconfigured; if the user still wants results, ask whether to continue with another registered provider or a clearly labeled non-ArkSpace fallback.
3. Run the setup command only when the host shell can provide interactive secret input. If the shell is non-interactive, do not run --wizard through that tool.
4. In Claude Code non-interactive tool sessions, offer:
   • run ! python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py provider setup exa --wizard in the Claude prompt or terminal, or
   • paste the API key in chat and let the agent save it with python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py provider setup exa --save-secret EXA_API_KEY --secret-stdin.
5. Re-run the provider check after setup.
6. If setup succeeds, rerun or tell the user to rerun the original invocation, such as /ark-space:exa-search <query>.
7. Do not return Exa search results until the provider check succeeds.

Helper Script

Basic semantic search:

python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py web search --provider exa "agent skills frameworks" --output json

Search with domain filters and content extraction:

python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py web search --provider exa "Claude Code plugin docs" \
  --include-domains docs.anthropic.com,github.com \
  --search-type neural \
  --include-highlights \
  --max-results 5 \
  --output json

Deep search with structured output:

python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py web search --provider exa "top open-source agent skill systems" \
  --search-type deep-reasoning \
  --output-schema '{"type":"object","properties":{"projects":{"type":"array"}}}' \
  --output json

Deep search with related query expansion:

python3 <installed-arkspace-path>/scripts/arkspace.py web search --provider exa "open-source agent skill systems" \
  --search-type deep-reasoning \
  --additional-queries "Claude Code skills,Codex plugins,agent workflow repositories" \
  --include-summary \
  --output json

Routing Notes

• Prefer Exa for semantic search, code/documentation discovery, repository research, conceptually related pages, strict domain/date filtered discovery, and search results with summaries/highlights/text.
• Use exa-similar instead when the user starts from a known URL and wants similar pages, comparable products, adjacent papers, or related repositories.
• Use exa-context instead when a code role needs ready-to-use examples, API syntax, or framework usage context rather than source URLs.
• Prefer SearXNG when privacy or self-hosted search is required.
• Prefer Tavily when the task needs broad current web search plus Tavily map/crawl/research workflows.
• Use exa-contents after Exa search when selected URLs need full text.