Web & SearchMCP Registryremote2 toolsA · 93

exa MCP server

ai.exa · Updated 1mo ago

Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research.

At a glance

exa is an MCP server in the Web & Search category. It is hosted remotely and connects over HTTP, and declares no required credentials. It exposes 2 tools, including web_search_exa and web_fetch_exa. It scores A (93/100) on the MCP Skills Hub health score as of Oct 28, 2026.

Source 5.2k

One-click install

VS Code VS Code Insiders Cursor

Opens your editor and pre-fills the config. Your editor will ask before adding it.

How to install exa in your AI client

Setup for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, Windsurf, Cline and VS Code — copy-paste ready.

How to install exa in Claude CodeAnthropic's agentic CLI

Add the server

bash

claude mcp add --transport http exa https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

2
Verify it's connected
bash
```
claude mcp list
```
Sharing it with your team?
Add `--scope project` to write it to .mcp.json in the repository root, which you can commit (with the secrets left as environment variables).
Use it in a session
Ask Claude to use the tools this server exposes (e.g. web_search_exa, web_fetch_exa). It discovers them automatically.

How to install exa in Claude DesktopDesktop app (MCP config)

Open your MCP config
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add this server

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Why the wrapper?
This is a remote (HTTP) server and Claude Desktop only launches local processes, so mcp-remote proxies the connection. It will open a browser window if the server needs OAuth.
Restart Claude Desktop
The tools appear under the 🔌 menu once the app reloads.

How to install exa in CursorAI-first code editor

Create / edit .cursor/mcp.json in your project

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Enable it
Cursor Settings → MCP → toggle the server on. Tools become available to the Composer/Agent.

How to install exa in Codex CLIOpenAI coding agent

Add to ~/.codex/config.toml

toml

[mcp_servers.exa]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"]

Why the wrapper?
Codex runs MCP servers as local processes, so mcp-remote bridges this HTTP endpoint to stdio.
Run Codex
Codex loads MCP servers from config.toml on startup and exposes their tools to the agent.

How to install exa in WindsurfCodeium's agentic IDE

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Reload
Windsurf → Cascade → refresh MCP servers. Cascade can now call the tools.

How to install exa in ClineVS Code autonomous agent

Open Cline → MCP Servers → Configure
Adds to cline_mcp_settings.json.

Add the server

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

How to install exa in VS CodeCopilot / MCP support

Create .vscode/mcp.json

json

{
  "servers": {
    "exa": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Start it
VS Code shows a ▶ Start action above the server entry. Agent mode (Copilot Chat) can then use the tools.

What tools does exa expose? (2)

Read from the live server. Click any tool for its input schema.

web_search_exaSearch the web for any topic and get clean, ready-to-use content. Best for: Finding current information, news, facts, people, companies, or answering questions about any topic. Returns: Clean text content from top search results. Query tips: describe the ideal page, not keywords. "blog post comparing React and Vue performance" not "React vs Vue". Use category:people / category:company to search th
web_fetch_exaRead a webpage's full content as clean markdown. Use after web_search_exa when highlights are insufficient or to read any URL. Best for: Extracting full content from known URLs. Batch multiple URLs in one call. Returns: Clean text content and metadata from the page(s).

What the code can do

This is a remote server — nothing is installed or run on your machine, so there is no local code to analyze. What it can reach is described above: your requests go to the provider's host.

Before you install

Signals gathered from the source repo and package registry — not a safety verdict.

What it can reach

Third-party hosted service — Your requests and any data in them are sent to mcp.exa.ai.
No local execution — Nothing is installed or run on your machine.

Last commit today — Actively maintained.
5.2k GitHub stars — Community adoption signal.

Client compatibility

Claude Code: NativeClaude Desktop: Via mcp-remoteCursor: NativeCodex CLI: Via mcp-remoteWindsurf: NativeCline: NativeVS Code: Native

Health score

A · 93

Maintenance, adoption, transparency and packaging — not a safety audit. How this is calculated

Maintenance30%100%
Last commit 0 days ago.
Adoption20%100%
5200 stars.
Transparency20%100%
4/4: ✓ public source repo, ✓ declared license, ✓ documentation, ✓ discoverable tool list.
Provenance15%75%
Links to its own repository; package linkage unverified.
Packaging15%75%
Remote endpoint; authentication requirements not declared.

Documentation

Full README

Exa MCP Server

Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research.

Documentation  ·  NPM Package  ·  Get your API key

Installation

Connect to Exa's hosted MCP server:

text

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Or use a plugin when your client supports one.

Agent Plugin

This repository is an Agent Plugin. Install it with any compatible client.

Claude

Install from the Claude Plugin Marketplace, or run:

bash

claude plugin install exa@claude-plugins-official

Codex / ChatGPT

Install via Plugins in ChatGPT, or run:

Alternatives to exa

Maintain exa? Add a badge to your README

Shows its health grade, and links readers to install steps for every client.

markdown

[![exa on MCP Skills Hub](https://mcp-skills-hub.vercel.app/badge/ai-exa-exa)](https://mcp-skills-hub.vercel.app/mcps/ai-exa-exa)

Catalog data refreshed Oct 28, 2026. Something wrong? Report it.