exa-web-search

name	exa-web-search
description	Look something up on the web with Exa MCP — quick, source-backed search and page-fetch. Use when the user asks to search the web, look something up, find current/latest information, get a fact with a citation, fetch a specific page/doc, or look up a person/company/package. For a deep, multi-source, fact-checked investigation or report, use the deep-research skill instead.

Exa Web Search

Use this skill for quick, source-backed lookups with the Exa MCP tools: a search, optionally a page fetch, and a concise sourced answer.

This is the single-query search skill. For a full multi-source investigation — fanning out many searches, cross-verifying claims across sources, and synthesizing a structured report — use the deep-research skill instead. If a request is clearly a deep investigation ("research X thoroughly", "compare A vs B across the field", "state-of-the-art survey of Y"), defer to deep-research.

When to Use

Use Exa search when the user asks to:

• search the web, look something up, or "google" something
• find latest/current/recent or time-sensitive information
• get a fact with a citation, or verify a claim beyond local files / model knowledge
• fetch the content of a specific page, doc, changelog, or release note
• look up a person, company, or package

Do not search automatically for tasks answerable from the local repository or already-provided context, unless the user asks for current/external information.

Preferred Tools

Prefer the discovered direct tools when available:

• mcp_exa_web_search_exa — search the web
• mcp_exa_web_fetch_exa — fetch full page content for selected URLs

If direct tools are unavailable, use mcp_list to inspect MCP servers and then mcp_call with the exa server.

Search Workflow

1. Clarify the target if it is ambiguous.
2. Search with mcp_exa_web_search_exa using a semantic query that describes the ideal source/page.
3. Review result titles, URLs, snippets/highlights, dates, and source quality.
4. Fetch the most relevant primary source(s) with mcp_exa_web_fetch_exa when snippets are insufficient or a citation needs verification.
5. Answer concisely with source URLs, separating confirmed facts from inference.

Keep it light: a single search (plus maybe one or two fetches) is the norm. If you find yourself needing many searches and cross-checking across numerous sources, that's deep-research territory — say so and switch.

Query Guidelines

Write natural-language queries describing the ideal page, not keyword soup.

Good:

• official Pi coding agent documentation MCP support directTools latest release notes
• npm package page <package> latest version published date README
• GitHub issues <org>/<repo> <topic>

Poor:

• Pi MCP
• directTools latest

For current information, include recency intent and likely source types: latest, current, 2026, release notes, changelog, documentation, npm package, GitHub issue, official docs.

For people/company searches, use Exa category prefixes:

• category:people Jane Doe machine learning engineer LinkedIn
• category:company Acme AI funding product leadership

Use a small result set first, usually numResults: 5 to 10. Increase only when coverage is poor.

Fetching Pages

Use mcp_exa_web_fetch_exa when:

• the answer depends on exact wording, dates, versions, or configuration details
• snippets conflict or are incomplete
• the user explicitly asks for sources/citations
• results point to docs, package registries, GitHub issues, or release pages worth quoting

Fetch 2–5 high-quality URLs rather than many low-quality pages. Prefer official/primary sources: official docs/vendor pages → package registries/release notes → GitHub repos/issues/PRs/changelogs → standards/spec pages → reputable technical blogs/news only when primary sources are absent.

Citation Rules

• Always cite URLs for web-derived claims.
• Do not invent citations or cite sources you did not inspect.
• If only search highlights were used, phrase carefully and include the result URL.
• For important claims, fetch the page before citing it as evidence.
• Mention dates or versions when relevant.
• If sources disagree, say so and explain which appears authoritative.

Answer Format

Keep answers tight — this is a lookup, not a report.

Summary sentence.

Sources:
- https://example.com/source-1
- https://example.com/source-2

Do not dump raw search results unless asked. If the answer is growing into a structured multi-section report, that's a sign the request was really deep-research.

Quality Checks

Before finalizing:

• Are the sources primary and recent enough?
• Did you fetch pages where snippets were insufficient?
• Are the non-obvious factual claims sourced?
• Did you avoid overclaiming beyond the evidence?
• Did you include exact versions/dates if the user asked for latest/current info?