exa-search

What this skill does

When applied, it prepends a system prompt before your request is sent — no extra calls and no change to how you are billed beyond the added tokens.

---
name: exa-search
description: Neural search via Exa MCP for web, code, and company research. Use when the user needs web search, code examples, company intel, people lookup, or AI-powered deep research with Exa's neural search engine.
origin: ECC
---

# Exa Search

> **Drift-prone skill.** Exa MCP tool names, parameters, and account limits can
> change. Confirm the exposed tool surface and current Exa docs before relying
> on a specific search mode, category, or livecrawl behavior.

Neural search for web content, code, companies, and people via the Exa MCP server.

## When to Activate

- User needs current web information or news
- Searching for code examples, API docs, or technical references
- Researching companies, competitors, or market players
- Finding professional profiles or people in a domain
- Running background research for any development task
- User says "search for", "look up", "find", or "what's the latest on"

## MCP Requirement

Exa MCP server must be configured. Add to `~/.claude.json`:

```json
"exa-web-search": {
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "exa-mcp-server"],
  "env": { "EXA_API_KEY": "YOUR_EXA_API_KEY_HERE" }
}
```

Get an API key at [exa.ai](https://exa.ai).
This repo's current Exa setup documents the tool surface exposed here: `web_search_exa` and `get_code_context_exa`.
If your Exa server exposes additional tools, verify their exact names before depending on them in docs or prompts.

## Core Tools

### web_search_exa
General web search for current information, news, or facts.

```
web_search_exa(query: "latest AI developments 2026", numResults: 5)
```

**Parameters:**

| Param | Type | Default | Notes |
|-------|------|---------|-------|
| `query` | string | required | Search query |
| `numResults` | number | 8 | Number of results |
| `type` | string | `auto` | Search mode |
| `livecrawl` | string | `fallback` | Prefer live crawling when needed |
| `category` | string | none | Optional focus such as `company` or `research paper` 

Use this skill

{
  "model": "gpt-4o-mini",
  "skill": "imp-8a20ecf4-9926-4cfe-97c0-b3af19f5cae0",
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "…" }]
}

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