> ## 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.
# Contents Retrieval
***
When using the Exa API, you can request different types of content. On `/search`, content options are nested under `contents`; on `/contents`, the same options are top-level fields because the endpoint already retrieves known URLs.
## Text (text=True)
Returns the full text content of the result, formatted as markdown. It extracts the main content (like article body text) while filtering out navigation elements, pop-ups, and other peripheral text. This is extractive content taken directly from the page's source.
### Content Filtering Options
**Important**: Content filtering options (`verbosity`, `includeSections`, `excludeSections`) require live crawling to take effect. Use `maxAgeHours: 0` to force a fresh crawl for these filters.
You can control the level of detail and which page sections are included using these options:
1. **Verbosity** - Controls overall content detail level:
* `compact` (default): Most concise output, main content only
* `standard`: Balanced content with more detail
* `full`: Complete content including all sections
2. **Section Filtering** - Include or exclude specific semantic sections:
* `includeSections`: Only include content from specified sections
* `excludeSections`: Remove content from specified sections
Available section tags:
* `header` - Page header content
* `navigation` - Navigation menus
* `banner` - Banner/hero sections
* `body` - Main body content
* `sidebar` - Sidebar content
* `footer` - Page footer
* `metadata` - Page metadata
Example `/search` configuration:
```json theme={null}
{
"query": "latest product updates",
"contents": {
"text": {
"verbosity": "standard",
"includeSections": ["body", "header"]
},
"maxAgeHours": 0
}
}
```
Equivalent `/contents` configuration:
```json theme={null}
{
"ids": ["https://example.com"],
"text": {
"excludeSections": ["navigation", "footer", "sidebar"]
},
"maxAgeHours": 0
}
```
## Summary (summary=True)
Provides a concise summary generated from the text, tailored to a specific query you provide. This is abstractive content created by processing the source text using Gemini Flash.
### Structured Summaries
You can also request structured summaries by providing a JSON schema. This is `/contents` top-level form:
```json theme={null}
{
"ids": ["https://example.com"],
"summary": {
"query": "Provide company information",
"schema": {
"$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
"title": "Company Information",
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"name": { "type": "string", "description": "The name of the company" },
"industry": { "type": "string", "description": "The industry the company operates in" },
"foundedYear": { "type": "number", "description": "The year the company was founded" }
},
"required": ["name", "industry"]
}
}
}
```
The API will return the summary as a JSON string that matches your schema structure, which you can parse to access the structured data.
## Highlights
Delivers key excerpts from the text that are most relevant to your search query, emphasizing important information within the content. This is also extractive content from the source.
You can configure highlights in two ways:
1. **Simple boolean** (`highlights=True` in SDKs): Returns default highlights based on the search query
2. **Detailed configuration** (pass as an object): include `query` to guide selection and `maxCharacters` to cap highlight length
`/search` nested form:
```json theme={null}
{
"query": "What changed in the latest earnings report?",
"contents": {
"highlights": {
"query": "revenue growth and guidance",
"maxCharacters": 1000
}
}
}
```
`/contents` top-level form:
```json theme={null}
{
"ids": ["https://example.com/report"],
"highlights": {
"query": "revenue growth and guidance",
"maxCharacters": 1000
}
}
```
## Context String (Deprecated)
The `context` parameter is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Do not use it for new integrations. Use `highlights` for token-efficient excerpts or `text` with `maxCharacters` when you need fuller page content.
`context` joined all result contents into one text block. To migrate, request per-result content instead and combine it in your application only if needed.
## Images and favicons
You can get images from webpages by setting `imageLinks` (under `contents.extras.imageLinks`) to specify how many images you want per result. Each result also includes the website's `favicon` URL and a representative `image` URL when available.
## Crawl Errors
The contents endpoint provides detailed status information for each URL through the `statuses` field in the response. The endpoint only returns an error if there's an internal issue on Exa's end - all other cases are reported through individual URL statuses.
Each response includes a `statuses` array with status information for each requested URL:
```json theme={null}
{
"results": [...],
"statuses": [
{
"id": "https://example.com",
"status": "success" | "error",
"error": {
"tag": "CRAWL_NOT_FOUND" | "CRAWL_TIMEOUT" | "CRAWL_LIVECRAWL_TIMEOUT" | "SOURCE_NOT_AVAILABLE" | "CRAWL_UNKNOWN_ERROR",
"httpStatusCode": 404 | 504 | 403 | 500
}
}
]
}
```
The error tags correspond to different failure scenarios:
* `CRAWL_NOT_FOUND`: Content not found (HTTP 404)
* `CRAWL_TIMEOUT`: The crawl timed out while fetching content (HTTP 504)
* `CRAWL_LIVECRAWL_TIMEOUT`: Content could not be retrieved within your requested `livecrawlTimeout` (HTTP 504)
* `SOURCE_NOT_AVAILABLE`: Access forbidden or source unavailable (HTTP 403)
* `CRAWL_UNKNOWN_ERROR`: Other errors (HTTP 500+)
To handle errors, check the `statuses` field for each URL:
```python theme={null}
result = exa.get_contents(["https://example.com"])
for status in result.statuses:
if status.status == "error":
print(f"Error for {status.id}: {status.error.tag} ({status.error.httpStatusCode})")
```
This allows you to handle different failure scenarios appropriately for each URL in your request.