When searching websites, you often need to explore beyond the main page to find relevant information. Exa’s subpage crawling feature allows you to automatically discover and search through linked pages within a website.
Using Subpage Crawling
Here’s how to use Exa’s subpage crawling feature:Copy
Ask AI
curl -X POST 'https://api.exa.ai/contents' \
-H 'x-api-key: YOUR-EXA-API-KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"ids": ["https://example.com"],
"subpages": 5,
"subpageTarget": ["about", "products"]
}'
Parameters
subpages
: Maximum number of subpages to crawl (integer)subpage_target
: List of query keywords to target (e.g., [“about”, “products”, “news”])
Best Practices
- Limit Depth: Start with a smaller
subpages
value (5-10) and increase if needed - Consider Caching: Use
livecrawl='always'
only when you need the most recent content - Target Specific Sections: Use
subpage_target
to focus on relevant sections rather than crawling the entire site
Combining with LiveCrawl
For the most up-to-date and comprehensive results, combine subpage crawling with livecrawl:Copy
Ask AI
curl -X POST 'https://api.exa.ai/contents' \
-H 'x-api-key: YOUR-EXA-API-KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"ids": ["https://www.apple.com/"],
"livecrawl": "always",
"subpageTarget": ["news", "product"],
"subpages": 10
}'
Examples
Product Documentation
Search through documentation pages:Copy
Ask AI
curl -X POST 'https://api.exa.ai/contents' \
-H 'x-api-key: YOUR-EXA-API-KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"ids": ["https://exa.ai"],
"subpages": 9,
"subpageTarget": ["docs", "tutorial"]
}'
Shell
Copy
Ask AI
{
"results": [
{
"id": "https://exa.ai",
"url": "https://exa.ai/",
"title": "Exa API",
"author": "exa",
"text": "AIs need powerful access to knowledge. But search engines haven't improved since 1998...",
"image": "https://exa.imgix.net/og-image.png",
"subpages": [
{
"id": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/getting-started",
"url": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/getting-started",
"title": "Getting Started",
"author": "",
"text": "Exa provides search for AI. Exa is a knowledge API for LLMs..."
},
{
"id": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/recent-news-summarizer",
"url": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/recent-news-summarizer",
"title": "Recent News Summarizer",
"author": null,
"publishedDate": "2024-03-02T11:36:31.000Z",
"text": "In this example, we will build a LLM-based news summarizer app..."
},
{
"id": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/company-analyst",
"url": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/company-analyst",
"title": "Company Analyst",
"author": null,
"publishedDate": "2024-03-02T11:36:42.000Z",
"text": "n this example, we'll build a company analyst tool that..."
},
{
"id": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/exa-researcher",
"url": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/exa-researcher",
"title": "Exa Researcher",
"author": null,
"publishedDate": "2024-03-02T11:36:30.000Z",
"text": "In this example, we will build Exa Researcher, a Javascript..."
},
{
"id": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/exa-rag",
"url": "https://docs.exa.ai/reference/exa-rag",
"title": "Exa RAG",
"author": null,
"publishedDate": "2024-03-02T11:36:43.000Z",
"text": "LLMs are powerful because they compress large amounts of data..."
},
{
"id": "https://docs.exa.ai/",
"url": "https://docs.exa.ai/",
"title": "Introduction",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2023-03-03T23:47:48.000Z",
"text": "Exa is a search engine made for AIs. \n Exa has three core..."
},
{
"id": "https://exa.ai/blog/announcing-exa",
"url": "https://exa.ai/blog/announcing-exa",
"title": "Exa API",
"author": "exa",
"text": "Steps toward the mission Today, we're excited to announce...",
"image": "https://exa.imgix.net/og-image.png"
},
{
"id": "https://dashboard.exa.ai/",
"url": "https://dashboard.exa.ai/",
"title": "Exa API Dashboard",
"author": "Exa",
"publishedDate": "2012-01-06T00:00:00.000Z",
"text": "Get started with Exa No credit card required. If you are..."
}
]
}
]
}
News Archives
Crawl through a company’s news section:Copy
Ask AI
curl -X POST 'https://api.exa.ai/contents' \
-H 'x-api-key: YOUR-EXA-API-KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"ids": ["https://www.apple.com/"],
"livecrawl": "always",
"subpageTarget": ["news", "product"],
"subpages": 10
}'
Shell
Copy
Ask AI
{
"results": [
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/",
"title": "Apple",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-10-30T16:54:13.000Z",
"text": "Apple Intelligence is here.\nExperience it now on the latest iPhone...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/ac/structured-data/images/open_graph_logo.png?202110180743",
"subpages": [
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/apple-news/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/apple-news/",
"title": "Apple News+",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-05-07T20:24:00.000Z",
"text": "Get 3 months of Apple News+ free with a new iPhone, iPad, or...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/v/apple-news/l/images/shared/apple-news__6xg2yiktruqy_og.png?202401091100"
},
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/us/shop/goto/store",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/us/shop/goto/store",
"title": "Apple Store Online",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-06-18T09:56:09.000Z",
"text": "Apple Intelligence is available in beta on all iPhone 16 models...",
"image": "https://as-images.apple.com/is/og-default?wid=1200&hei=630&fmt=jpeg&qlt=95&.v=1525370171638"
},
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/mac/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/mac/",
"title": "Mac",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-05-07T20:24:00.000Z",
"text": "Answer calls or messages from your iPhone directly on your Mac...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/v/mac/home/cb/images/meta/mac__c3zv0c86zu0y_og.png?202410291046"
},
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/ipad/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/ipad/",
"title": "iPad",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-05-07T20:24:00.000Z",
"text": "Get 3% Daily Cash back with Apple Card. And pay for your new iPad...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/v/ipad/home/cm/images/meta/ipad__f350v51yy3am_og.png?202410241440"
},
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/iphone/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/iphone/",
"title": "iPhone",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-05-07T20:24:00.000Z",
"text": "Get credit toward iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro when you trade...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/v/iphone/home/bx/images/meta/iphone__kqge21l9n26q_og.png?202410241440"
},
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/watch/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/watch/",
"title": "Apple Watch",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-05-07T20:24:00.000Z",
"text": "Combining Apple Watch and iPhone opens up a world of features...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/v/watch/bo/images/meta/apple-watch__f6h72tjlgx26_og.png?202410031527"
},
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/",
"title": "Apple Vision Pro",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-05-07T20:24:00.000Z",
"text": "Apple Vision Pro seamlessly blends digital content with your...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/v/apple-vision-pro/e/images/meta/apple-vision-pro-us__f28gp8ey4vam_og.png?202409261242"
},
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/airpods/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/airpods/",
"title": "AirPods",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-09-27T17:22:17.000Z",
"text": "AirPods Pro 2 now feature a scientifically validated Hearing...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/v/airpods/x/images/meta/airpods__dh7xkbort402_og.png?202410241631"
},
{
"id": "https://www.apple.com/tv-home/",
"url": "https://www.apple.com/tv-home/",
"title": "TV & Home",
"author": "",
"publishedDate": "2024-05-07T20:24:00.000Z",
"text": "The future hits home.\nSimply connect your favorite devices...",
"image": "https://www.apple.com/v/tv-home/n/images/meta/tv-home__fedwm0ly3mqi_og.png?202409151638"
}
]
}
],
"requestId": "17e8a79ff11bcb73115ef3efcb8e0457"
}
Blog Content
Gather recent blog posts:Copy
Ask AI
curl -X POST 'https://api.exa.ai/contents' \
-H 'x-api-key: YOUR-EXA-API-KEY' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
"ids": ["https://medium.com"],
"subpages": 5,
"subpageTarget": ["blog", "articles"],
"livecrawl": "always"
}'
Shell
Copy
Ask AI
{
"results": [
{
"id": "https://medium.com",
"title": "Medium: Read and write stories.",
"url": "https://medium.com",
"publishedDate": "2025-08-12T20:25:00.000Z",
"author": "",
"text": "[Sitemap](https://medium.com/sitemap/sitemap.xml)\n\n[Medium Logo](https://medium.com/)...",
"image": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/da:true/167cff2a3d17ac1e64d0762539978f2d54c0058886e8b3c8a03a725a83012ec0",
"favicon": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/5d8de952517e8160e40ef9841c781cdc14a5db313057fa3c3de41c6f5b494b19",
"subpages": [
{
"id": "https://blog.medium.com",
"title": "The Medium Blog",
"url": "https://blog.medium.com",
"publishedDate": "2025-08-12T20:25:00.000Z",
"author": "",
"text": "[Sitemap](https://blog.medium.com/sitemap/sitemap.xml)...",
"image": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1024/1*7eq6Xl7nRYU77U7IPYvoDg.jpeg",
"favicon": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/5d8de952517e8160e40ef9841c781cdc14a5db313057fa3c3de41c6f5b494b19"
},
{
"id": "https://medium.com/",
"title": "Medium: Read and write stories.",
"url": "https://medium.com/",
"publishedDate": "2025-08-12T20:25:00.000Z",
"author": "",
"text": "[Sitemap](https://medium.com/sitemap/sitemap.xml)...",
"image": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/da:true/167cff2a3d17ac1e64d0762539978f2d54c0058886e8b3c8a03a725a83012ec0",
"favicon": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/5d8de952517e8160e40ef9841c781cdc14a5db313057fa3c3de41c6f5b494b19"
},
{
"id": "https://medium.com/about?autoplay=1",
"title": "About Medium",
"url": "https://medium.com/about?autoplay=1",
"publishedDate": "2025-08-12T20:25:00.000Z",
"author": "",
"text": "[Sitemap](https://medium.com/sitemap/sitemap.xml)...",
"image": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/da:true/167cff2a3d17ac1e64d0762539978f2d54c0058886e8b3c8a03a725a83012ec0",
"favicon": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/5d8de952517e8160e40ef9841c781cdc14a5db313057fa3c3de41c6f5b494b19"
},
{
"id": "https://medium.com/membership",
"title": "Medium Membership",
"url": "https://medium.com/membership",
"publishedDate": "2025-08-12T20:25:00.000Z",
"author": "",
"text": "[Sitemap](https://medium.com/sitemap/sitemap.xml)...",
"image": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/da:true/167cff2a3d17ac1e64d0762539978f2d54c0058886e8b3c8a03a725a83012ec0",
"favicon": "https://miro.medium.com/v2/5d8de952517e8160e40ef9841c781cdc14a5db313057fa3c3de41c6f5b494b19"
}
]
}
],
"requestId": "20163fc78142a5ff69c6959167417f1f"
}