Exa MCP Server

What is Exa MCP Server about?

The server acts as a bridge that lets AI models (e.g., Claude) perform live web searches, company research, LinkedIn look‑ups, and content crawling through Exa's AI Search API. It delivers results in a structured format that the model can consume directly.

How to use Exa MCP Server?

1. Install globally: npm install -g exa-mcp-server or run on‑the‑fly with npx exa-mcp-server.
2. Configure your AI assistant (e.g., Claude Desktop) to reference the MCP server:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "exa": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "exa-mcp-server"],
         "env": { "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" }
       }
     }
   }
   

3. Start the server (default enables all tools): npx exa-mcp-server.
4. Optional: Restrict tools with --tools=web_search_exa,company_research,....
5. Restart your AI client to pick up the new configuration.

Key Features of Exa MCP Server

• Web Search: Real‑time search with optimized results and content extraction.
• Company Research: Crawl company sites for detailed business information.
• Crawling: Pull content from any URL (articles, PDFs, etc.).
• LinkedIn Search: Find companies or people on LinkedIn via Exa AI.
• Deep Researcher: Start and poll long‑running research jobs that aggregate multiple sources.
• Tool Selection: Enable a subset of tools via the --tools flag.
• Remote Hosting: Option to connect to the hosted MCP endpoint at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=YOUR_KEY.

Use Cases of Exa MCP Server

• AI Assistants: Equip conversational agents with up‑to‑date web information.
• Research Automation: Generate comprehensive reports without manual browsing.
• Business Intelligence: Pull current company data for market analysis.
• Content Enrichment: Automatically fetch and embed web excerpts into generated text.
• LinkedIn Prospecting: Retrieve professional profiles and company details during sales outreach.

FAQ from the Exa MCP Server

• Do I need to install the package locally? No, you can run it directly with npx.
• What if I don’t specify any tools? All available tools are enabled by default.
• How do I list all tools? Use npx exa-mcp-server --list-tools.
• Can I use a remote server instead of running locally? Yes, point your client to https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=YOUR_KEY.
• What environment variable holds the API key? EXA_API_KEY.
• What should I do if the server isn’t found? Verify the npm link, check JSON syntax in the client config, and restart the AI application.
• How to troubleshoot API key errors? Ensure the key is correct, has no surrounding quotes or spaces, and is set in the env section of the configuration.

Exa MCP Server 🔍

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets AI assistants like Claude use the Exa AI Search API for web searches. This setup allows AI models to get real-time web information in a safe and controlled way.

Remote Exa MCP 🌐

Connect directly to Exa's hosted MCP server (instead of running it locally).

Remote Exa MCP URL

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=your-exa-api-key

Replace your-api-key-here with your actual Exa API key from dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys.

Claude Desktop Configuration for Remote MCP

Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=your-exa-api-key"
      ]
    }
  }
}

NPM Installation

npm install -g exa-mcp-server

Using Claude Code

claude mcp add exa -e EXA_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY -- npx -y exa-mcp-server

Using Smithery

To install the Exa MCP server for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install exa --client claude

Configuration ⚙️

1. Configure Claude Desktop to recognize the Exa MCP server

You can find claude_desktop_config.json inside the settings of Claude Desktop app:

Open the Claude Desktop app and enable Developer Mode from the top-left menu bar.

Once enabled, open Settings (also from the top-left menu bar) and navigate to the Developer Option, where you'll find the Edit Config button. Clicking it will open the claude_desktop_config.json file, allowing you to make the necessary edits.

OR (if you want to open claude_desktop_config.json from terminal)

For macOS:

1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration:

code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

For Windows:

1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration:

code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the Exa server configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "exa-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace your-api-key-here with your actual Exa API key from dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys.

3. Available Tools & Tool Selection

The Exa MCP server includes the following tools, which can be enabled by adding the --tools:

• web_search_exa: Performs real-time web searches with optimized results and content extraction.
• company_research: Comprehensive company research tool that crawls company websites to gather detailed information about businesses.
• crawling: Extracts content from specific URLs, useful for reading articles, PDFs, or any web page when you have the exact URL.
• linkedin_search: Search LinkedIn for companies and people using Exa AI. Simply include company names, person names, or specific LinkedIn URLs in your query.
• deep_researcher_start: Start a smart AI researcher for complex questions. The AI will search the web, read many sources, and think deeply about your question to create a detailed research report.
• deep_researcher_check: Check if your research is ready and get the results. Use this after starting a research task to see if it's done and get your comprehensive report.

You can choose which tools to enable by adding the --tools parameter to your Claude Desktop configuration:

Specify which tools to enable:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "exa-mcp-server",
        "--tools=web_search_exa,company_research,crawling,linkedin_search,deep_researcher_start,deep_researcher_check"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

For enabling multiple tools, use a comma-separated list:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "exa-mcp-server",
        "--tools=web_search_exa,company_research,crawling,linkedin_search,deep_researcher_start,deep_researcher_check"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If you don't specify any tools, all tools enabled by default will be used.

4. Restart Claude Desktop

For the changes to take effect:

1. Completely quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window)
2. Start Claude Desktop again
3. Look for the icon to verify the Exa server is connected

Using via NPX

If you prefer to run the server directly, you can use npx:

# Run with all tools enabled by default
npx exa-mcp-server

# Enable specific tools only
npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search_exa

# Enable multiple tools
npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search_exa,company_research

# List all available tools
npx exa-mcp-server --list-tools

Troubleshooting 🔧

Common Issues

1. Server Not Found

   • Verify the npm link is correctly set up
   • Check Claude Desktop configuration syntax (json file)

2. API Key Issues

   • Confirm your EXA_API_KEY is valid
   • Check the EXA_API_KEY is correctly set in the Claude Desktop config
   • Verify no spaces or quotes around the API key

3. Connection Issues

   • Restart Claude Desktop completely
   • Check Claude Desktop logs:

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Built with ❤️ by team Exa