Exa MCP Server connects AI agents to the Exa search engine for web search, page fetching, and multi-step research through the Model Context Protocol. The hosted endpoint at mcp.exa.ai/mcp works with any MCP client using the standard mcpServers configuration, and the repository doubles as an Agent Plugin, installable from the Claude Plugin Marketplace, through ChatGPT plugins, or with codex mcp add.
Two tools are on by default; two more are enabled by listing them in a tools query parameter on the MCP URL, which replaces the default set. Plugin installs also load two agent skills that add orchestration on top of the raw tools: search for deep research, lead generation, and competitive analysis, and exa-agent for Exa Agent runs, enrichment, and structured output.
Anonymous use is rate-limited. OAuth sign-in (forced with ?login or /oauth) or an API key passed as ?exaApiKey=, an Authorization: Bearer header, or an x-api-key header raises the limits and unlocks Exa Agent.
Features
- websearchexa: web search for any topic returning ready-to-use content (default)
- webfetchexa: full page content from one or more URLs as markdown (default)
- websearchadvanced_exa: filters by domain and date, highlights, summaries, and subpage crawling (optional)
- agent_run: runs an Exa Agent for multi-step research, list-building, enrichment, and structured output (optional, requires authentication)
- Agent skills: search and exa-agent skills load with Agent Plugin and Claude plugin installs
- Client coverage: Cursor, VS Code, Claude, Codex/ChatGPT, Kiro, LM Studio, Replit, Grok Build, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Windsurf, Google Antigravity, Zed, Warp, and v0
- Authentication: OAuth or API key via URL parameter or header
