what is Exa?

Exa is a search engine designed specifically for AI models, allowing them to perform real-time web searches in a safe and controlled manner.

How to use Exa?

To use Exa, you need to set up the Exa MCP (Model Context Protocol) server with Claude or another compatible AI assistant. You can either use the remote hosted server or run it locally.

1. Remote Connection
   • Use Exa's hosted MCP server URL with your API key https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=your-exa-api-key
   • Configure Claude Desktop to use the remote server
2. Local Installation
   • Install via NPM: npm install -g exa-mcp-server
   • Or use Smithery: npx -y @smithery/cli install exa --client claude
   • Configure Claude Desktop to connect to the local server by editing claude_desktop_config.json

Key features of Exa?

• Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration for AI assistants
• Remote server option for easy setup
• Local installation via NPM or Smithery
• Multiple search tools including:
  • Web search
  • Research paper search
  • Company research
  • Competitor analysis
  • LinkedIn search
  • Wikipedia search
  • GitHub search
• Configurable tool selection

Use cases of Exa?

1. Enabling AI models to access real-time, up-to-date information from the web
2. Conducting academic research through specialized paper searches
3. Comprehensive business research and competitor analysis
4. Extracting content from specific web pages or documents
5. Searching professional and social networks like LinkedIn
6. Accessingstructured knowledge from encyclopedias like Wikipedia

FAQ from Exa?

• What's an Exa API key?

  An API key from dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys that authenticates your access to the Exa search engine.

• How do I configure Claude Desktop?

  Open Developer Mode, access settings, and edit the claude_desktop_config.json file as shown in the documentation.

• What tools are available?

  Multiple tools are provided, and you can select which ones to enable using the --tools parameter in your server configuration.

Exa MCP Server 🔍

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets AI assistants like Claude use the Exa AI Search API for web searches. This setup allows AI models to get real-time web information in a safe and controlled way.

Remote Exa MCP 🌐

Connect directly to Exa's hosted MCP server (instead of running it locally).

Remote Exa MCP URL

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=your-exa-api-key

Replace your-api-key-here with your actual Exa API key from dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys.

Claude Desktop Configuration for Remote MCP

Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=your-exa-api-key"
      ]
    }
  }
}

NPM Installation

npm install -g exa-mcp-server

Using Smithery

To install the Exa MCP server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install exa --client claude

Configuration ⚙️

1. Configure Claude Desktop to recognize the Exa MCP server

You can find claude_desktop_config.json inside the settings of Claude Desktop app:

Open the Claude Desktop app and enable Developer Mode from the top-left menu bar.

Once enabled, open Settings (also from the top-left menu bar) and navigate to the Developer Option, where you'll find the Edit Config button. Clicking it will open the claude_desktop_config.json file, allowing you to make the necessary edits.

OR (if you want to open claude_desktop_config.json from terminal)

For macOS:

1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration:

code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

For Windows:

1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration:

code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the Exa server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "exa-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace your-api-key-here with your actual Exa API key from dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys.

3. Available Tools & Tool Selection

The Exa MCP server includes the following tools, which can be enabled by adding the --tools:

• web_search_exa: Performs real-time web searches with optimized results and content extraction.
• research_paper_search: Specialized search focused on academic papers and research content.
• company_research: Comprehensive company research tool that crawls company websites to gather detailed information about businesses.
• crawling: Extracts content from specific URLs, useful for reading articles, PDFs, or any web page when you have the exact URL.
• competitor_finder: Identifies competitors of a company by searching for businesses offering similar products or services.
• linkedin_search: Search LinkedIn for companies and people using Exa AI. Simply include company names, person names, or specific LinkedIn URLs in your query.
• wikipedia_search_exa: Search and retrieve information from Wikipedia articles on specific topics, giving you accurate, structured knowledge from the world's largest encyclopedia.
• github_search: Search GitHub repositories using Exa AI - performs real-time searches on GitHub.com to find relevant repositories, issues, and GitHub accounts.

You can choose which tools to enable by adding the --tools parameter to your Claude Desktop configuration:

Specify which tools to enable:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "exa-mcp-server",
        "--tools=web_search_exa,research_paper_search,company_research,crawling,competitor_finder,linkedin_search,wikipedia_search_exa,github_search"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

For enabling multiple tools, use a comma-separated list:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "exa-mcp-server",
        "--tools=web_search_exa,research_paper_search,company_research,crawling,competitor_finder,linkedin_search,wikipedia_search_exa,github_search"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you don't specify any tools, all tools enabled by default will be used.

4. Restart Claude Desktop

For the changes to take effect:

1. Completely quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window)
2. Start Claude Desktop again
3. Look for the icon to verify the Exa server is connected

Using via NPX

If you prefer to run the server directly, you can use npx:

# Run with all tools enabled by default
npx exa-mcp-server

# Enable specific tools only
npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search_exa

# Enable multiple tools
npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search_exa,research_paper_search

# List all available tools
npx exa-mcp-server --list-tools

Troubleshooting 🔧

Common Issues

1. Server Not Found

   • Verify the npm link is correctly set up
   • Check Claude Desktop configuration syntax (json file)

2. API Key Issues

   • Confirm your EXA_API_KEY is valid
   • Check the EXA_API_KEY is correctly set in the Claude Desktop config
   • Verify no spaces or quotes around the API key

3. Connection Issues

   • Restart Claude Desktop completely
   • Check Claude Desktop logs:

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Built with ❤️ by team Exa