MCP server, by Exa Labs
Exa MCP Server
Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research.
Quick facts
What it does
Exa MCP Server connects AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research, per the README. Installation is primarily via Exa hosted MCP server at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp, with plugin options for compatible clients, Claude, and Codex or ChatGPT, and manual mcpServers configuration for other clients.
Default tools are web_search_exa and web_fetch_exa. Optional tools agent_run and web_search_advanced_exa are enabled via the tools URL parameter, which replaces the defaults so all wanted tools must be included. The hosted server works anonymously with rate limits, with OAuth preferred or an API key for higher limits and Exa Agent access.
Configuration
Connect to https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp. For other MCP clients, use type streamable-http with that URL in mcpServers config. Codex: codex mcp add exa --url https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp. Claude plugin: claude plugin install exa@claude-plugins-official, per README.
{"mcpServers":{"exa":{"type":"streamable-http","url":"https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"}}}Source: https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server. Placeholders only. Replace them in your own environment, and never commit real keys to a repository.
No environment variables are required per the official documentation.
Verified tools and features
web_search_exa Config checked
Search the web for any topic and get clean, ready-to-use content. Default tool, per README Available Tools.
web_fetch_exa Config checked
Read a webpage full content as clean markdown from one or more URLs. Default tool, per README Available Tools.
agent_run Config checked
Run an Exa Agent for multi-step research, list-building, enrichment, and structured output. Optional tool enabled via the tools parameter, per README.
web_search_advanced_exa Config checked
Advanced search with filters, domains, dates, highlights, summaries, and subpage crawling. Optional tool enabled via the tools parameter, per README.
Security notes
- Hosted MCP works anonymously with rate limits. For higher limits and Exa Agent, use OAuth or an API key, per README Authentication. Exa Agent requires authentication (OAuth or an API key).
- API key can be passed on the URL as ?exaApiKey= or sent as Authorization Bearer header or x-api-key header, per README. Prefer header or OAuth where supported to avoid exposing keys in URLs.
- No env var name is stated in the fetched README Authentication section, so none is listed. The repo contains env.example but its contents were not fetched in this run.
An MCP server runs with the permissions of the process you start it from. Scope credentials to the narrowest access the job needs, and review what the client will send before connecting anything sensitive.
Sources and freshness
- Official source: https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server
- Repository: https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server
Last checked 2026-10-07. Verification label: config checked, which means the configuration and feature list trace to the official source above. It does not mean AgentsUse ran the server. Spotted an error? Send a correction. Back to the MCP server index.