Exa Install & Auth
Overview
Install the official Exa SDK and configure API key authentication. Exa is a neural search API at api.exa.ai that retrieves web content using semantic similarity. Authentication uses the x-api-key header. The SDK is exa-js on npm or exa-py on PyPI.
Prerequisites
- Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+
- Package manager (npm, pnpm, yarn, or pip)
- Exa account at dashboard.exa.ai
- API key from the Exa dashboard
Instructions
Step 1: Install the SDK
Node.js (exa-js)
set -euo pipefail
npm install exa-js
pnpm add exa-js
Python (exa-py)
pip install exa-py
Step 2: Configure the API Key
export EXA_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
echo 'EXA_API_KEY=your-api-key-here' >> .env
Add to .gitignore:
.env
.env.local
.env.*.local
Step 3: Initialize the Client
TypeScript
import Exa from "exa-js";
const exa = new Exa(process.env.EXA_API_KEY);
Python
from exa_py import Exa
import os
exa = Exa(api_key=os.environ["EXA_API_KEY"])
Step 4: Verify Connection
import Exa from "exa-js";
const exa = new Exa(process.env.EXA_API_KEY);
async function verifyConnection() {
try {
const result = await exa.search("test connectivity", { numResults: 1 });
console.log("Connected. Results:", result.results.length);
console.log("First result:", result.results[0]?.title);
} catch (err: any) {
if (err.status === 401) {
console.error("Invalid API key. Check EXA_API_KEY.");
} else if (err.status === 402) {
console.error("No credits remaining. Top up at dashboard.exa.ai.");
} else {
console.error("Connection failed:", err.message);
}
}
}
();
Output
exa-js or exa-py installed in project dependenciesEXA_API_KEY environment variable configured.env added to .gitignore- Successful search result confirming connectivity
Error Handling
| Error | HTTP Code | Cause | Solution |
|---|
INVALID_API_KEY | 401 | Missing or invalid API key | Verify key at dashboard.exa.ai |
NO_MORE_CREDITS | 402 | Account balance exhausted | Top up credits in dashboard |
MODULE_NOT_FOUND | N/A | SDK not installed | Run npm install exa-js |
ENOTFOUND | N/A | Network unreachable | Check internet connectivity |
API_KEY_BUDGET_EXCEEDED | 402 | Spending limit reached | Increase budget in dashboard |
Examples
With dotenv (Node.js)
import "dotenv/config";
import Exa from "exa-js";
const exa = new Exa(process.env.EXA_API_KEY);
With Validation
function createExaClient(): Exa {
const apiKey = process.env.EXA_API_KEY;
if (!apiKey) {
throw new Error(
"EXA_API_KEY not set. Get one at https://dashboard.exa.ai"
);
}
return new Exa(apiKey);
}
Resources
Next Steps
After successful auth, proceed to exa-hello-world for your first search.
