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What Are Monitors?

Monitors run Exa searches on a recurring schedule and deliver results to a webhook endpoint. Each run finds and synthesizes results, with automatic deduplication so you only see new content across runs. Use them to track competitor announcements, new funding rounds, regulatory changes, research publications, or any topic you want to follow over time.

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Key Capabilities

FeatureWhat It Does
Scheduled searchRuns your query on a recurring interval anchored to when the monitor was created
Automatic deduplicationDate filtering and semantic dedup ensure each run surfaces only new content
Structured outputUse outputSchema to get results as plain text summaries or structured JSON objects
Contents optionsRequest text, highlights, or summaries alongside search results
Webhook deliveryGet notified in real time when runs complete. The URL must be the final destination — redirects are not followed.
Manual triggerRun on demand without waiting for the next scheduled time

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Common Use Cases

Get notified when new companies raise funding in a specific sector.
monitor = exa.monitors.create(params={
    "name": "Series A Tracker",
    "search": {
        "query": "AI startups that raised Series A funding",
        "numResults": 10
    },
    "trigger": {
        "type": "interval",
        "period": "7d"
    },
    "webhook": {
        "url": "https://example.com/webhook"
    }
})

const monitor = await exa.monitors.create({
  name: "Series A Tracker",
  search: {
    query: "AI startups that raised Series A funding",
    numResults: 10
  },
  trigger: {
    type: "interval",
    period: "7d"
  },
  webhook: {
    url: "https://example.com/webhook"
  }
});
Extract structured data from competitor coverage using an output schema.
monitor = exa.monitors.create(params={
    "name": "Competitor News",
    "search": {
        "query": "Acme Corp product launches and partnerships",
        "numResults": 5
    },
    "outputSchema": {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {
            "headline": {"type": "string"},
            "category": {
                "type": "string",
                "enum": ["product_launch", "partnership", "hiring", "other"]
            },
            "summary": {"type": "string"}
        },
        "required": ["headline", "category", "summary"]
    },
    "trigger": {
        "type": "interval",
        "period": "1d"
    },
    "webhook": {
        "url": "https://example.com/webhook"
    }
})

const monitor = await exa.monitors.create({
  name: "Competitor News",
  search: {
    query: "Acme Corp product launches and partnerships",
    numResults: 5
  },
  outputSchema: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      headline: { type: "string" },
      category: {
        type: "string",
        enum: ["product_launch", "partnership", "hiring", "other"]
      },
      summary: { type: "string" }
    },
    required: ["headline", "category", "summary"]
  },
  trigger: {
    type: "interval",
    period: "1d"
  },
  webhook: {
    url: "https://example.com/webhook"
  }
});
Follow new publications in a field, with token-efficient highlights included.
monitor = exa.monitors.create(params={
    "name": "LLM Research Tracker",
    "search": {
        "query": "new large language model training techniques and architectures",
        "numResults": 10,
        "contents": {
            "highlights": True
        }
    },
    "trigger": {
        "type": "interval",
        "period": "7d"
    },
    "webhook": {
        "url": "https://example.com/webhook"
    }
})

const monitor = await exa.monitors.create({
  name: "LLM Research Tracker",
  search: {
    query: "new large language model training techniques and architectures",
    numResults: 10,
    contents: {
      highlights: true
    }
  },
  trigger: {
    type: "interval",
    period: "7d"
  },
  webhook: {
    url: "https://example.com/webhook"
  }
});

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Human Quickstart

Get your API key from the Exa Dashboard. Install the SDK: 
pip install exa-py

npm install exa-js
Then make your first request: 
from exa_py import Exa
import os

exa = Exa(api_key=os.getenv("EXA_API_KEY"))

# Create a monitor that runs daily anchored at creation time
monitor = exa.monitors.create(params={
    "name": "AI Funding Tracker",
    "search": {
        "query": "AI startups that raised Series A funding",
        "numResults": 10
    },
    "trigger": {
      "type": "interval",
      "period": "1d"
    },
    "webhook": {
        "url": "https://example.com/webhook"
    }
})

print(f"Monitor ID: {monitor.id}")

# Store the webhook secret securely — only returned on creation
print(f"Webhook secret: {monitor.webhook_secret}")

# Trigger a run manually
exa.monitors.trigger(monitor.id)

# Poll for results
import time
while True:
    runs = exa.monitors.runs.list(monitor.id)
    latest = runs.data[0]
    if latest.status in ("completed", "failed"):
        break
    time.sleep(2)

# Print results
if latest.status == "completed" and latest.output:
    run = exa.monitors.runs.get(monitor.id, latest.id)
    for result in run.output.results:
        print(f"- {result['title']}: {result['url']}")

import Exa from "exa-js";

const exa = new Exa(process.env.EXA_API_KEY);

// Create a monitor that runs daily anchored at creation time
const monitor = await exa.monitors.create({
  name: "AI Funding Tracker",
  search: {
    query: "AI startups that raised Series A funding",
    numResults: 10
  },
  trigger: {
    type: "interval",
    period: "1d"
  },
  webhook: {
    url: "https://example.com/webhook"
  }
});

console.log(`Monitor ID: ${monitor.id}`);

// Store the webhook secret securely — only returned on creation
console.log(`Webhook secret: ${monitor.webhookSecret}`);

// Trigger a run manually
await exa.monitors.trigger(monitor.id);

// Poll for results
let latest;
while (true) {
  const runs = await exa.monitors.runs.list(monitor.id);
  latest = runs.data[0];
  if (latest.status === "completed" || latest.status === "failed") break;
  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 2000));
}

// Print results
if (latest.status === "completed" && latest.output) {
  const run = await exa.monitors.runs.get(monitor.id, latest.id);
  for (const result of run.output.results) {
    console.log(`- ${result.title}: ${result.url}`);
  }
}

# Create a monitor that runs daily anchored at creation time
curl -X POST "https://api.exa.ai/monitors" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "name": "AI Funding Tracker",
    "search": {
      "query": "AI startups that raised Series A funding",
      "numResults": 10
    },
    "trigger": {
      "type": "interval",
      "period": "1d"
    },
    "webhook": {
      "url": "https://example.com/webhook"
    }
  }'

# Trigger a run
curl -X POST "https://api.exa.ai/monitors/{MONITOR_ID}/trigger" \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY"

# List runs
curl "https://api.exa.ai/monitors/{MONITOR_ID}/runs" \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY"

# Get a specific run
curl "https://api.exa.ai/monitors/{MONITOR_ID}/runs/{RUN_ID}" \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY"

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Slack Routing Pattern

Monitor metadata can be echoed in webhook deliveries and used to route updates back into the right channel or thread. 
{
  "name": "Competitor Launches",
  "search": {
    "query": "New product launches by Acme competitors"
  },
  "metadata": {
    "slack_channel_id": "C123ABC",
    "slack_thread_id": "1745444400.123456",
    "user_id": "U123ABC"
  },
  "webhook": {
    "url": "https://example.com/exa-monitor-webhook",
    "events": ["monitor.run.completed"]
  }
}
When the run webhook fires, Exa echoes that metadata back in the payload, including the Slack routing fields.

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Last modified on June 26, 2026