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Answer Endpoint Reference

Grounded answer generation surface via POST /answer.
  • Base docs URL: https://exa.ai/docs
  • Answer reference: /reference/answer
  • OpenAI-compatible guide: /reference/openai-sdk

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Contents

  • Overview
  • Request shape
  • When to prefer /answer
  • Structured output
  • Streaming
  • Response shape
  • Critical pitfalls

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Overview

Use the answer endpoint when you want Exa to:
  • run the retrieval step
  • generate a direct answer or concise summary
  • attach citations in one API response
This is the best fit when the application wants a grounded answer, not just ranked results.

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Request Shape

POST https://api.exa.ai/answer
{
  "query": "What is the latest valuation of SpaceX?",
  "text": true
}

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Core Parameters

ParameterTypeNotes
querystringRequired
streambooleanEnables SSE token streaming
textbooleanInclude full text in cited source objects
outputSchemaobjectJSON Schema for structured answers
systemPromptstringGuide answer behavior
userLocationstringTwo-letter ISO country code

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When To Prefer /answer

Use the answer endpoint when:
  • you need a grounded answer with citations
  • you do not need to manually inspect or rank raw results first
  • the app interface is question-driven rather than retrieval-driven
Prefer the search endpoint when:
  • your application needs the result list itself
  • you want explicit control over contents modes on each result
  • you want deeper synthesized search flows via deep or deep-reasoning

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Structured Output

from exa_py import Exa

exa = Exa(api_key="YOUR_EXA_API_KEY")
response = exa.answer(
    "What is the latest valuation of SpaceX?",
    output_schema={
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
            "valuation": {"type": "string"},
            "date": {"type": "string"}
        },
        "required": ["valuation", "date"]
    }
)
print(response.answer)
Use small, explicit schemas. The answer endpoint is good for question-shaped structured output, while the search endpoint is often the better fit for broader synthesized retrieval.

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Streaming

When stream: true, the answer endpoint returns server-sent events. In SDKs, use the dedicated streaming helpers instead of passing stream=True into ordinary non-streaming helper calls. TypeScript: 
for await (const chunk of exa.streamAnswer("Explain quantum computing")) {
  if (chunk.content) {
    process.stdout.write(chunk.content);
  }
}

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Response Shape

Typical non-streaming response fields:
  • answer
  • citations
  • requestId
  • costDollars
Each citation object may include URL, title, author, published date, and optionally text if requested.

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Critical Pitfalls

  1. Use the answer endpoint for answer-shaped output, not as a substitute for full search result inspection.
  2. If you need rich per-result extraction controls, prefer the search endpoint.
  3. For SDK streaming, prefer stream_answer or streamAnswer helpers over ad hoc raw flags.
Last modified on June 26, 2026