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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.

Agents pay Exa with a credit card via Nevermined’s x402 card-delegation scheme. Each $7 purchase returns an Exa API key with $7 of Exa credits.
Use this Nevermined plan ID:
27800462147494506865542649899724877617306579171265399959488097895839186996870
The purchase is for API credits, not for a single search request.
For a first-time Nevermined payer, POST /team-management/nevermined/purchase-key provisions a new Exa API key and adds $7 of credits. If the key runs out, mint a fresh x402 token with the same Nevermined wallet/card details and call the same endpoint again. Exa returns the same API key with another $7 of credits added.

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Buy a key

POST https://admin-api.exa.ai/team-management/nevermined/purchase-key
payment-signature: <x402-token>
  • Cost: $7 per purchase, charged to the card delegated to the x402 token.
  • Response (new payer): { status: "ok", apiKey: "…", expiresAt: null } — a new Exa API key with $7 of credits.
  • Response (returning payer): { status: "ok", apiKey: "…", expiresAt: null } — the same Exa API key with $7 more credits.
  • Response (replayed token): cached result, no new charge.
  • Missing/invalid signature: 402 Payment Required with payment requirements in the body.

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What $7 buys

Credits are consumed at standard Exa API pricing. At current rates, $7 of credits covers roughly:
Endpoint or featurePriceApproximate usage
Search (instant, fast, auto) with up to 10 results$7 / 1,000 requests1,000 requests
Deep-Lite Search$10 / 1,000 requests700 requests
Deep Search$12 / 1,000 requests~583 requests
Deep-Reasoning Search$15 / 1,000 requests~466 requests
Contents (text, highlights, or summary)$1 / 1,000 pages per content type7,000 pages
AI page summaries on Search or Contents$1 / 1,000 pages7,000 summaries
Additional results beyond the first 10$1 / 1,000 results7,000 extra results
Answer$5 / 1,000 requests1,400 requests
Monitors$15 / 1,000 requests~466 requests
Search requests include text and highlights for up to 10 results. Extra results beyond 10 and AI summaries are billed separately.
For full pricing details, see Exa pricing.

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Sample request

Mint an x402 token with the Nevermined SDK using the Exa purchase plan ID, then POST it to Exa. The Nevermined API key and card enrollment come from Nevermined — see NVM Pay docs for SDK setup and card enrollment. 
import { Payments } from "@nevermined-io/payments";

const EXA_PLAN_ID = "27800462147494506865542649899724877617306579171265399959488097895839186996870"

const payments = Payments.getInstance({
  nvmApiKey: process.env.NVM_API_KEY!,  // your Nevermined API key
  environment: "live",
});

// 1. Mint x402 token scoped to an enrolled card
const { accessToken } = await payments.x402.getX402AccessToken(
  EXA_PLAN_ID,
  undefined,
  {
    scheme: "nvm:card-delegation",
    delegationConfig: {
      providerPaymentMethodId: "pm_...",  // Stripe/Credit Card payment method, enrolled in Nevermined
      spendingLimitCents: 700,            // >= $7 purchase
      durationSecs: 3600,
    },
  },
);

// 2. Exchange the token for (or top up) an Exa API key
const res = await fetch(
  "https://admin-api.exa.ai/team-management/nevermined/purchase-key",
  { method: "POST", headers: { "payment-signature": accessToken } },
);
const { apiKey } = await res.json();

// 3. Use the key like any Exa API key
await fetch("https://api.exa.ai/search", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "x-api-key": apiKey, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({ query: "..." }),
});

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Parameters you get from Nevermined

ParameterWhere to get it
planIdUse
27800462147494506865542649899724877617306579171265399959488097895839186996870
for Exa API key purchases and top-ups
nvmApiKeyNevermined dashboard → API Keys
providerPaymentMethodIdEnroll a card via Nevermined, copy the pm_… id

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When the key runs out

Exa returns HTTP 402 on the regular API endpoints once the API key’s credits are exhausted: 
{
  "requestId": "...",
  "error": "You have exceeded your credits limit. Please top up to keep using Exa at dashboard.exa.ai",
  "tag": "NO_MORE_CREDITS"
}
Mint a fresh x402 token with the same plan ID and Nevermined wallet/card details, then POST it again to the same /purchase-key endpoint. Exa adds another $7 of credits to the same API key.

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References