Exa Mcp Server 🔍

Overview

What is Exa MCP Server?

Exa MCP Server is a powerful web search API designed to facilitate the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It serves as a bridge between various applications and the vast resources available on the web, allowing developers to integrate search functionalities seamlessly into their projects. The Exa MCP Server is open-source and publicly available, making it an excellent choice for developers looking to enhance their applications with robust search capabilities.

Features of Exa MCP Server

Web Search API: Provides a comprehensive API for web search, enabling applications to retrieve relevant information quickly and efficiently.
Model Context Protocol: Implements the Model Context Protocol, allowing for structured data retrieval and interaction.
Open Source: Being open-source, developers can contribute to its development, customize it according to their needs, and benefit from community support.
Scalability: Designed to handle a large number of requests, making it suitable for both small and large-scale applications.
User-Friendly Documentation: Comes with extensive documentation to help developers understand and implement the API effectively.

How to Use Exa MCP Server

Installation: Clone the repository from GitHub and follow the installation instructions provided in the documentation.
Configuration: Set up the necessary configurations, including API keys and endpoint settings, to tailor the server to your specific needs.
Integration: Use the API endpoints to integrate search functionalities into your application. This may involve making HTTP requests to retrieve search results based on user queries.
Testing: Test the integration thoroughly to ensure that the search functionalities work as expected and provide accurate results.
Deployment: Once tested, deploy your application with the integrated Exa MCP Server to make it available to users.

Frequently Asked Questions

What programming languages can I use with Exa MCP Server?

Exa MCP Server can be integrated with any programming language that supports HTTP requests, including but not limited to JavaScript, Python, Java, and Ruby.

Is there a cost associated with using Exa MCP Server?

No, Exa MCP Server is open-source and free to use. However, you may incur costs if you deploy it on cloud services or require additional resources.

How can I contribute to Exa MCP Server?

You can contribute by forking the repository, making improvements, and submitting pull requests. Additionally, reporting issues and suggesting features are great ways to help the community.

Where can I find the documentation for Exa MCP Server?

The documentation is available in the repository on GitHub. It includes installation instructions, API usage examples, and configuration details.

Can I use Exa MCP Server for commercial projects?

Yes, since it is open-source and licensed under the MIT license, you can use Exa MCP Server in commercial projects without any restrictions.

Details

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 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:

Open your Claude Desktop configuration:

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

For Windows:

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.
research_paper_search: Specialized search focused on academic papers and research content.
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.
competitor_finder: Identifies competitors of a company by searching for businesses offering similar products or services.
linkedin_search: Search LinkedIn for companies and people using Exa AI. Simply include company names, person names, or specific LinkedIn URLs in your query.
wikipedia_search_exa: Search and retrieve information from Wikipedia articles on specific topics, giving you accurate, structured knowledge from the world's largest encyclopedia.
github_search: Search GitHub repositories using Exa AI - performs real-time searches on GitHub.com to find relevant repositories, issues, and GitHub accounts.

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,research_paper_search,company_research,crawling,competitor_finder,linkedin_search,wikipedia_search_exa,github_search"
      ],
      "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,research_paper_search,company_research,crawling,competitor_finder,linkedin_search,wikipedia_search_exa,github_search"
      ],
      "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:

Completely quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window)
Start Claude Desktop again
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,research_paper_search

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

Troubleshooting 🔧

Common Issues

Server Not Found
- Verify the npm link is correctly set up
- Check Claude Desktop configuration syntax (json file)
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
Connection Issues
- Restart Claude Desktop completely
- Check Claude Desktop logs:

<br>

Built with ❤️ by team Exa

{ "mcpServers": { "exa-mcp-server": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "-i", "--rm", "ghcr.io/metorial/mcp-container--exa-labs--exa-mcp-server--exa-mcp-server", "node ./.smithery/index.cjs" ], "env": { "EXA_API_KEY": "exa-api-key" } } } }