Exa MCP connects AI assistants to Exa’s search capabilities, including web search, code search, Exa Agent, and Exa Connect. It is open-source and available on GitHub.

Installation

Exa’s Search MCP can be installed in any MCP client with the server URL: https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Install in Cursor

Exa MCP is available on Cursor.

Install in VS Code

Exa MCP is available on VSCode.

Run in terminal:

codex mcp add exa --url https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Install the Exa plugin — it includes the MCP server plus Exa’s skills. Run in terminal:

claude plugin install exa@claude-plugins-official

Or in Claude Code, type /plugin, search for Exa, and install it.To add just the MCP server:

claude mcp add --transport http exa https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Exa is available on the Grok Build marketplace.

In Grok Build, run /marketplace
Find exa in the list and press i to install it
Run /mcp, select exa, and press i to sign in to your Exa account in the browser

New accounts get free credits at signup.

Add to your opencode.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "exa": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Add to ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Exa MCP works with most other MCP clients — point them at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp. The config key for the URL varies by client:

Client	Where to add it	URL key
Windsurf	`~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json` (under `mcpServers`)	`serverUrl`
Google Antigravity	Agent panel → Manage MCP Servers → View Raw config (under `mcpServers`)	`serverUrl`
Zed	Zed `settings.json` (under `context_servers`)	`url`
Gemini CLI	`~/.gemini/settings.json` (under `mcpServers`)	`httpUrl`
Warp	Settings → MCP Servers → Add MCP Server (top-level `exa`)	`url`
v0 by Vercel	Prompt Tools → Add MCP	paste the URL directly

Most other clients use the standard mcpServers shape:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

If your client doesn’t support remote MCP servers directly, use the mcp-remote bridge:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Or run the local npm package with your Exa API key:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "exa-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

API Key

Get your Exa API key

Exa MCP’s free plan covers casual use. Add your own API key to lift the rate limits and use it in production:

{
  "exa": {
    "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
    "headers": {
      "x-api-key": "YOUR_EXA_API_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Enabled by default:

Tool	Description
`web_search_exa`	Search the web for any topic and get clean, ready-to-use content
`web_fetch_exa`	Read a webpage’s full content as clean markdown from one or more URLs

Additional tools (enable via the tools parameter):

Tool	Description
`agent_run`	Run an Exa Agent for multi-step research, list-building, enrichment, and structured output
`web_search_advanced_exa`	Advanced search with full control over category filters, domain restrictions, date ranges, highlights, summaries, and subpage crawling

Enable specific tools by only appending them to the MCP URL:

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_exa

Exa Agent

You can also run Exa Agent through Exa MCP for multi-step research, list building, enrichment, and structured outputs. Use it for anything that needs more than a single search call. Agent runs are usage-based, so the Agent tool requires authentication — connect with OAuth or pass your own Exa API key. Enable the Agent tool:

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=agent_run

Or alongside the default search tools:

{
  "exa": {
    "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_exa,web_fetch_exa,agent_run",
    "headers": {
      "x-api-key": "YOUR_EXA_API_KEY"
    }
  }
}

agent_run runs the entire agent loop in one call: it creates the run, streams updates until completion, and returns the final output.

Run the agent with agent_run, passing a natural-language query. Add an outputSchema when you need repeatable, structured results.
Read the output. When the run finishes, the response has outputReady: true with output.text, output.structured (when a schema was provided), and output.grounding citations, plus usage and cost.
Long runs. If a run outlives the call window (~750s), agent_run returns status: "running" with the run’s id instead of an error — the run keeps executing server-side. Call agent_run again with runId set to that id to keep waiting until it finishes.
Continue. Pass previousRunId (a completed run’s id) to agent_run to refine or extend earlier work; use input.exclusion to avoid resurfacing prior results.

agent_run takes a natural-language query. Pass runId to wait for a retained run that is still executing. Pass previousRunId to continue from a completed run. Optional fields include outputSchema, systemPrompt, input (data to enrich, exclusion to avoid), dataSources (Exa Connect providers, up to 5), and effort (minimal, low, medium, high, xhigh, or auto; defaults to low). See the Exa Agent guide for schema patterns, effort modes, Exa Connect data sources, and pricing.

Advanced Search

web_search_advanced_exa exposes the full Exa Search API as an MCP tool. Use web_search_exa for simple, fast lookups; use the advanced tool when you need precise control over results, including category and domain filters, date ranges, text constraints, geo-targeting, query expansion, summaries, highlights, freshness control, and subpage crawling. Use it for targeted retrieval, like “research papers about X on arxiv.org from the last year”, “news about Y excluding site Z”, or “crawl the docs subpages of this company’s site”. For everyday searches, stick with web_search_exa. Enable it via the tools parameter:

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_advanced_exa

Or alongside the default search tools:

{
  "exa": {
    "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=web_search_exa,web_fetch_exa,agent_run,web_search_advanced_exa",
    "headers": {
      "x-api-key": "YOUR_EXA_API_KEY"
    }
  }
}

The tool’s parameters mirror the Search API — see that reference for what each filter and content option does.

Resources

GitHub - View Exa MCP source code
npm - Install Exa MCP npm package

Usage Examples

Web Search

Search for recent developments in AI agents and summarize the key trends.

Code Search

Find Python examples for implementing OAuth 2.0 authentication.

Read a Page

Fetch the full content of https://exa.ai and summarize what the company does.

Troubleshooting

Rate limit error (429)You’ve hit the free plan rate limit. Add your own API key to continue:

{
  "exa": {
    "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
    "headers": {
      "x-api-key": "YOUR_EXA_API_KEY"
    }
  }
}

Get your API keyTools not appearingRestart your MCP client after updating the config file. Some clients require a full restart to detect new MCP servers.Claude Desktop not connectingUse the built-in Connector: click + (or Add connectors) → Connectors tab → search for Exa → click +.Config file not foundCommon config locations:

Cursor: ~/.cursor/mcp.json
VS Code: .vscode/mcp.json (in project root)
Claude Desktop (macOS): ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Claude Desktop (Windows): %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

API

Data

MCP

SDKs

Integrations

Agentic payments

Admin

Additional Resources

Web Search MCP

Installation

Install in Cursor

Install in VS Code

API Key

Get your Exa API key

Available Tools

Exa Agent

Advanced Search

Resources

​Installation

Install in Cursor

Install in VS Code

​API Key

Get your Exa API key

​Available Tools

​Exa Agent

​Advanced Search

​Resources

Installation

API Key

Available Tools

Exa Agent

Advanced Search

Resources