Frontmatter

name: exa-search
description: Neural search via Exa MCP for web, code, and company research. Use when the user needs web search, code examples, company intel, people lookup, or AI-powered deep research with Exa's neural search engine.
origin: ECC

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_exa for current information, company lookups, and broad discovery
Use search operators like site:, quoted phrases, and intitle: to narrow results
Lower tokensNum (1000-2000) for focused code snippets, higher (5000+) for comprehensive context
Use get_code_context_exa when you need API usage or code examples rather than general web pages

Related Skills

deep-research — Full research workflow using firecrawl + exa together
market-research — Business-oriented research with decision frameworks