> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://exa.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Hermes Agent

> Give Hermes Agent live web search and page contents with Exa.

[Hermes Agent](https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent) includes Exa as a native backend for its model-callable `web_search` and `web_extract` tools. Use Exa for both capabilities, or pair it with another Hermes web provider.

## Connect your Exa account

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get an Exa API key">
    <Card title="Get your Exa API key" icon="key" horizontal href="https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys">
      Create a key in the dashboard. New accounts start with free credits.
    </Card>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Exa in Hermes">
    Run the tool setup wizard:

    ```bash theme={null}
    hermes tools
    ```

    Open **Web Search & Extract**, choose Exa, and select the API-key-backed option. When prompted, enter your Exa API key. Hermes stores secrets in `~/.hermes/.env` and provider selection in `~/.hermes/config.yaml`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test web access">
    Start Hermes and ask it to search, then read one of the results:

    ```text theme={null}
    Search the web for the latest Exa product updates, then read the most relevant result.
    ```

    Hermes should call `web_search`, followed by `web_extract` when it needs the page itself.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Configure manually

Add your key to the Hermes environment file:

```bash ~/.hermes/.env theme={null}
EXA_API_KEY=your-exa-api-key
```

Then select Exa for both web capabilities:

```yaml ~/.hermes/config.yaml theme={null}
web:
  search_backend: "exa"
  extract_backend: "exa"
```

You can use the shared fallback instead:

```yaml ~/.hermes/config.yaml theme={null}
web:
  backend: "exa"
```

The per-capability settings take precedence over `web.backend`. This lets you use Exa only for search or only for extraction when combining providers.

## Tools Hermes gets

| Tool          | Exa behavior                                                                     |
| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `web_search`  | Searches with Exa and returns ranked pages with titles, URLs, and text snippets. |
| `web_extract` | Retrieves readable content from one or more URLs through Exa Contents.           |

Hermes truncates long extracted pages to its configured character budget and stores the complete text on disk. Change the default with `web.extract_char_limit`, or let the agent request a larger `char_limit` for an individual call.

<Note>
  Hermes can use Exa through its keyless free-provider pool without an API key. That pool is rate-limited and may rotate among providers. Configure `EXA_API_KEY` and select the API-key-backed Exa option when you need requests to use your Exa account consistently.
</Note>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Hermes does not select Exa">
    Run `hermes tools` and explicitly select Exa. If you configure files manually, check that `web.search_backend`, `web.extract_backend`, or `web.backend` is set to `exa`.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Hermes reports that EXA_API_KEY is missing">
    Add the key to `~/.hermes/.env`, then restart Hermes so it reloads the environment.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Search works but extraction uses another provider">
    Hermes can configure search and extraction independently. Set both `web.search_backend` and `web.extract_backend` to `exa`.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Resources

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Hermes web tools" icon="book-open" href="https://hermes-agent.nousresearch.com/docs/user-guide/features/web-search" cta="Read guide" arrow="true">
    Review Hermes provider selection, caching, and extraction behavior.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Exa Search" icon="search" href="/docs/search/quickstart" cta="Read guide" arrow="true">
    Learn how Exa searches, filters, and returns page contents.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Exa Contents" icon="file-text" href="/docs/contents/quickstart" cta="Read guide" arrow="true">
    Understand the extraction API behind `web_extract`.
  </Card>
</Columns>