Exa MCP Server enables AI assistants like Claude to perform real-time web searches through the Exa Search API, allowing them to access up-to-date information from the internet in a safe and controlled way.

  • Real-time web searches with optimized results
  • Structured search responses (titles, URLs, content snippets)
  • Support for specialized search types (web, academic, social media, etc.)

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Available Tools

Exa MCP includes several specialized search tools:

ToolDescription
web_searchGeneral web search with optimized results and content extraction
research_paper_searchSpecialized search focused on academic papers and research content
twitter_searchFinds tweets, profiles, and conversations on Twitter/X
company_researchGathers detailed information about businesses by crawling company websites
crawlingExtracts content from specific URLs (articles, PDFs, web pages)
competitor_finderIdentifies competitors of a company by finding businesses with similar offerings

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Installation

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Prerequisites

  • Node.js v18 or higher.
  • Claude Desktop installed (optional). Exa MCP also works with other MCP-compatible clients like Cursor, Windsurf, and more).
  • An Exa API key.

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Using NPX

The simplest way to install and run Exa MCP is via NPX:

# Install globally
npm install -g exa-mcp-server

# Or run directly with npx
npx exa-mcp-server

To specify which tools to enable:

# Enable only web search
npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search

# Enable multiple tools
npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search,research_paper_search,twitter_search

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

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Configuring Claude Desktop

To configure Claude Desktop to use Exa MCP:

  1. Enable Developer Mode in Claude Desktop

    • Open Claude Desktop
    • Click on the top-left menu
    • Enable Developer Mode

  2. Open the Configuration File

    • After enabling Developer Mode, go to Settings
    • Navigate to the Developer Option
    • Click “Edit Config” to open the configuration file

    Alternatively, you can open it directly:

    macOS:

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

    Windows:

    code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

  3. Add Exa MCP Configuration

    Add the following to your configuration:

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

    Replace your-api-key-here with your actual Exa API key. You can get your (Exa API here)[https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys].

  4. Enabling Specific Tools

    To enable only specific tools:

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

  5. Restart Claude Desktop

    • Completely quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window)
    • Start Claude Desktop again
    • Look for the 🔌 icon to verify the Exa server is connected

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Usage Examples

Once configured, you can ask Claude to perform searches:

  • “Search for recent developments in quantum computing”
  • “Find and analyze recent research papers about climate change solutions”
  • “Search Twitter for posts from @elonmusk about SpaceX”
  • “Research the company exa.ai and find information about their pricing”
  • “Extract the content from this research paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1706.03762”
  • “Find competitors for a company that provides web search API services”

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Troubleshooting

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Common Issues

  1. Server Not Found

    • Ensure the npm package is correctly installed

  2. API Key Issues

    • Confirm your EXA_API_KEY is valid
    • Make sure there are no spaces or quotes around the API key

  3. Connection Problems

    • Restart Claude Desktop completely

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Additional Resources

For more information, visit the Exa MCP Server GitHub repository.