exa

name: exa description: Web search, content crawling, code context lookup, company research, and deep AI research via Exa. Use when the user needs to search the web, fetch page content from a URL, find code examples or documentation, research a company, or run a deep research report on a complex topic.

Web search, crawling, code context, and deep research via the Exa MCP server (exa-mcp-server).

Setup

MCP server: exa-mcp-server (npm, stdio transport)
Config: ~/.pi/agent/mcp.json → mcpServers.exa
Auth: EXA_API_KEY in ~/.zshrc.local, interpolated via ${EXA_API_KEY}
Mode: Proxy (accessed through the mcp gateway tool)

When to Use

Search the web for any topic
Fetch full content from a known URL
Find code examples, docs, and programming solutions
Research a company
Run deep AI research reports on complex topics

Available Tools

Access all tools through the mcp gateway:

mcp({ server: "exa" })           # List available tools
mcp({ search: "exa" })           # Search for exa tools
mcp({ describe: "tool_name" })   # Show tool details

web_search_exa (default, enabled)

Search the web for any topic. Returns clean text content from top results.

mcp({ tool: "web_search_exa", args: '{"query": "latest AI agent frameworks", "numResults": 5}' })

Parameter	Required	Description
`query`	yes	Search query
`numResults`	no	Number of results (default: 8)
`livecrawl`	no	`fallback` (default) or `preferred`
`type`	no	`auto` (default) or `fast`
`contextMaxCharacters`	no	Max characters for context (default: 10000)

get_code_context_exa (default, enabled)

Find code examples, documentation, and programming solutions from GitHub, Stack Overflow, and docs.

mcp({ tool: "get_code_context_exa", args: '{"query": "React useState hook examples", "tokensNum": 10000}' })

Parameter	Required	Description
`query`	yes	Programming search query
`tokensNum`	no	Tokens to return, 1000–50000 (default: 5000)

crawling_exa (default, enabled)

Get the full content of a specific webpage from a known URL.

mcp({ tool: "crawling_exa", args: '{"url": "https://example.com/docs"}' })

Parameter	Required	Description
`url`	yes	URL to crawl
`maxCharacters`	no	Max characters to extract (default: 3000)

company_research_exa (optional)

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

Parameter	Required	Description
`companyName`	yes	Company name
`numResults`	no	Number of results (default: 3)

deep_researcher_start / deep_researcher_check (optional)

Start an AI research agent for complex topics (15s–3min depending on model).

Start:

Parameter	Required	Description
`instructions`	yes	Detailed research question
`model`	no	`exa-research-fast` (~15s), `exa-research` (15–45s), `exa-research-pro` (45s–3min)

Check:

Parameter	Required	Description
`researchId`	yes	Research ID from start

Keep calling check until status is completed.

Env Vars

Variable	Location	Description
`EXA_API_KEY`	`~/.zshrc.local`	Exa API key from dashboard.exa.ai

Troubleshooting

Server not connecting

Verify EXA_API_KEY is set: echo $EXA_API_KEY
Run source ~/.zshrc.local
Restart Pi
Check: mcp({ server: "exa" })

Rate limit errors (429)

Free plan has rate limits. Ensure you're using your own API key.
Get a key at dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys

Tools not appearing

Restart Pi after config changes
Verify ~/.pi/agent/mcp.json is valid JSON
Try mcp({ connect: "exa" }) to force reconnect