exa-search

name	exa-search
description	Use when searching for code snippets, API syntax, SDK examples, library docs, config patterns, debugging help, OR academic papers, arXiv preprints, and scientific research. Covers both Exa code-context search and research-paper search.

Exa Search

Two modes over Exa MCP. Pick the right tool for the request:

• Code / API / docs → Code Context (get_code_context_exa)
• Papers / academic → Research Paper (web_search_advanced_exa with category: "research paper")

Token Isolation (Critical)

Never run Exa in main context. Always spawn a Task agent:

• Agent calls the Exa tool
• Agent deduplicates results (mirrors, forks, repeated answers/papers)
• Agent returns the minimum viable output (snippets or compact markdown/JSON)
• Main context stays clean regardless of search volume

Mode A — Code Context

Tool restriction: Use ONLY get_code_context_exa. No other Exa tools.

Use when: API usage/syntax, SDK/library examples, config and setup patterns, framework how-to, or debugging that needs authoritative snippets.

Inputs:

• query (string, required)
• tokensNum (number, optional; default ~5000, range 1000–50000)

Query patterns (high signal):

• Always include the programming language ("Go generics", not "generics")
• Include framework + version when relevant ("Next.js 14", "React 19")
• Include exact identifiers: function/class names, config keys, error messages

Token tuning: focused snippet 1000–3000 · most tasks 5000 · complex integration 10000–20000. Avoid going larger.

Output: (1) minimal copy/paste-ready snippet(s), (2) version/constraints/gotchas, (3) source URLs. Deduplicate first; keep one best representative per approach.

Mode B — Research Paper

Tool restriction: Use ONLY web_search_advanced_exa with category: "research paper". No other category or tool.

Use when: academic papers (arXiv, OpenReview, PubMed), scientific research on a topic, literature reviews with date filtering, or papers containing specific methods/terms.

Supported parameters:

• Core: query (required), numResults, type (auto/fast/deep/neural)
• Domain: includeDomains, excludeDomains
• Date (ISO 8601): startPublishedDate/endPublishedDate, startCrawlDate/endCrawlDate
• Text: includeText (all), excludeText (any) — single-item arrays only; 2+ items return 400. Use the query string or separate searches for multiple terms.
• Content: textMaxCharacters, contextMaxCharacters, enableSummary/summaryQuery, enableHighlights/highlightsNumSentences/highlightsPerUrl/highlightsQuery
• Other: userLocation, moderation, additionalQueries, maxAgeHours/livecrawlTimeout, subpages/subpageTarget

Output: (1) structured list (title, authors, date, abstract summary), (2) sources with venue, (3) notes on method differences or conflicting findings.

Quick Reference

Need	Tool	Key arg
Code snippet / API	get_code_context_exa	tokensNum
Academic paper	web_search_advanced_exa	category: "research paper"

Example

Code:

get_code_context_exa { "query": "Next.js 14 middleware auth redirect", "tokensNum": 5000 }

Paper:

web_search_advanced_exa {
  "query": "transformer attention efficiency",
  "category": "research paper",
  "startPublishedDate": "2024-01-01",
  "includeDomains": ["arxiv.org", "openreview.net"],
  "numResults": 15,
  "type": "auto"
}

Common Mistakes

• Running Exa in main context → blows up the window. Always spawn a Task agent.
• Omitting language in code queries → cross-language noise.
• Passing 2+ items in includeText/excludeText → 400 error.
• Dumping oversized tokensNum → wasted context.

MCP Configuration

{
  "servers": {
    "exa": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?tools=get_code_context_exa,web_search_advanced_exa"
    }
  }
}