exa-search

name

exa-search

description

Advanced Exa AI search with 5 specialized scripts for neural web search, content extraction, similar page discovery, quick research with citations, and async pro research with structured output. This skill should be used when performing web searches, extracting content from URLs, finding similar pages, or conducting AI-powered research. Provides full access to all Exa API endpoints including /search, /contents, /findSimilar, /answer, and /research/v1.

Exa Search Skill

5 specialized scripts for Exa AI search API—neural search, content extraction, similar pages, research with citations, and async pro research.

Prerequisite: EXA_API_KEY environment variable. Get key at https://dashboard.exa.ai

Token-Efficient Search

Inspired by Anthropic's dynamic filtering—always filter before reasoning. ~24% fewer tokens, ~11% better accuracy.

The Principle: Search Cheaply → Filter → Extract Selectively → Reason

DO:

# Step 1: Search with --no-text (titles/URLs only — cheapest)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_search.py "query" -n 20 --no-text

# Step 2: Evaluate titles, pick best 3-5 URLs

# Step 3: Extract only those URLs with bounded content
python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_contents.py URL1 URL2 --highlights --max-chars 3000

DON'T: Search with full text for 50 results, then reason over all of it.

Use API-Level Filters First (Free Filtering)

These reduce results at the API level before you ever see them:

• --must-include "term" — results must contain this string
• --must-exclude "term" — removes irrelevant results
• --domains site1.com site2.com — restrict to authoritative sources
• --category "research paper" — eliminate irrelevant content types
• --after 2025-01-01 / --before — temporal filtering

Use Summaries Over Full Text

When you need the gist, not raw content:

# AI-distilled summaries — much smaller than full text
python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_search.py "query" --summary "Key findings" -n 5

Use Bounded Context for RAG

# Capped context string — prevents unbounded token usage
python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_search.py "query" --context --context-chars 5000

Post-Process with filter_web_results.py

Pipe Exa JSON output through the Firecrawl filter script for additional reduction:

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_search.py "query" --json | \
  python3 ~/.claude/skills/firecrawl/scripts/filter_web_results.py \
  --fields "title,url,text" --max-chars 3000

Cost Tiers — Match to Task

Type	Latency	Cost	When
--instant	<150ms	Cheapest	Real-time lookups, autocomplete
--fast	~500ms	Low	Quick checks, confirmations
auto (default)	—	Medium	General search
--deep	Slowest	Highest	Comprehensive research

---

Available Scripts

1. exa_search.py — Neural Web Search

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_search.py "query" [options]

Quick Example	Purpose
... exa_search.py "AI frameworks"	Basic search
... exa_search.py "transformers" --category "research paper" -n 20	Academic papers
... exa_search.py "query" --deep --additional-queries "alt query"	Deep search
... exa_search.py "query" --domains docs.python.org	Domain-filtered
... exa_search.py "query" --after 2025-01-01 --category news	Recent news
... exa_search.py "query" --context --context-chars 10000	RAG context
... exa_search.py "query" --instant -n 5	Sub-150ms lookup

Categories: company, research paper, news, pdf, github, tweet, personal site, people, financial report

2. exa_contents.py — URL Content Extraction

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_contents.py URL [URL2...] [options]

Quick Example	Purpose
... exa_contents.py "https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.06435"	Extract paper
... exa_contents.py URL --summary "Key methods" --highlights	Summarized extraction
... exa_contents.py URL --livecrawl always	Fresh content
... exa_contents.py URL --max-chars 5000	Bounded extraction

3. exa_similar.py — Find Similar Pages

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_similar.py URL [options]

Quick Example	Purpose
... exa_similar.py "https://stripe.com" --category company --exclude-source	Find competitors
... exa_similar.py "https://arxiv.org/abs/..." -n 15	Related papers
... exa_similar.py URL --summary "How different?"	Comparison summaries

4. exa_research.py — AI-Powered Research

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_research.py "question" [options]

Quick Example	Purpose
... exa_research.py "React vs Vue differences?" --sources	Research with citations
... exa_research.py "query" --stream	Real-time streaming
... exa_research.py "query" --domains docs.python.org	Authoritative sources
... exa_research.py "query" --markdown	Markdown with citations
... exa_research.py "query" --answer-only	Pipe-friendly output

5. exa_research_async.py — Async Pro Research

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_research_async.py "question" [options]

Quick Example	Purpose
... exa_research_async.py "Compare AI frameworks" --pro --wait	Pro model
... exa_research_async.py "Quick overview" --fast	Fast model
... exa_research_async.py "query" --schema '{...}'	Structured output
... exa_research_async.py status r_abc123	Check job
... exa_research_async.py list	List jobs

---

Script Selection Guide

Task	Best Script
Web search with filters	exa_search.py
Research papers	exa_search.py --category "research paper"
Company/startup info	exa_search.py --category company
GitHub repos/code	exa_search.py --category github
Extract known URL content	exa_contents.py
Find competitors	exa_similar.py --exclude-source
Quick answers with citations	exa_research.py --sources
Complex structured research	exa_research_async.py --pro
Real-time search	exa_search.py --instant
RAG context building	exa_search.py --context

Exa vs Firecrawl vs Native Claude Tools

Need	Best Tool	Why
Semantic/neural search	Exa exa_search.py	AI-powered relevance
Find research papers	Exa --category "research paper"	Academic index
Quick research answer	Exa exa_research.py	Citations + synthesis
Find similar pages	Exa exa_similar.py	Semantic similarity
Single page → markdown	Firecrawl scrape --only-main-content	Cleanest output
Crawl entire site	Firecrawl crawl --wait --progress	Link following
Autonomous data finding	Firecrawl agent	No URLs needed
Search + scrape combined	Firecrawl search --scrape	One operation
Claude API agent building	Native web_search_20260209	Built-in dynamic filtering
Twitter/X content	jina URL	Only tool that works

---

Common Workflows

Research a Topic

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_research.py "How does RAG work?" --sources --markdown

Literature Review

# Find papers, then find similar to best hit
python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_search.py "transformer optimization" --category "research paper" -n 20 --summary "Key contributions"
python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_similar.py "https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762" --category "research paper" -n 15

Documentation Research

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_search.py "React useEffect cleanup" --domains react.dev developer.mozilla.org --context

Build RAG Context

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/exa_search.py "Python async patterns" --context --context-chars 15000 --domains docs.python.org

---

Reference Documentation

File	Contents
references/exa-scripts-reference.md	Full parameter reference for all 5 scripts, cost table, MCP comparison, test suite

Test Suite

python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/test_exa.py --quick       # Quick validation
python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/test_exa.py               # Full suite
python3 ~/.claude/skills/exa-search/scripts/test_exa.py --endpoint search  # Specific endpoint