Exa Search MCP server

This MCP server allows you to integrate the Exa Search API with applications supporting the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling powerful web search capabilities in your AI applications.

Installation and Setup

To use the exa-mcp server, you'll need to obtain an API key from Exa first.

Getting an API Key

Get your Exa API key from the Exa Dashboard.

Running the Server

You can run the server using npx without installing it permanently:

# Standard server (stdio mode)
npx -y exa-mcp

Or use the SSE (Server-Sent Events) mode:

# SSE server mode
npx -y exa-mcp --sse

Setting Your API Key

The server requires your Exa API key to authenticate with the service. You can provide it as an environment variable:

# Set API key and run the server
EXA_API_KEY=your-api-key-here npx -y exa-mcp

Integration Methods

Manual Configuration

Run the server directly with your API key set as an environment variable:

# Using environment variable
export EXA_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
npx -y exa-mcp

JSON Configuration

For applications that support MCP configuration files, you can add exa-mcp to your setup:

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

Replace your-api-key-here with your actual Exa API key.

Compatibility

This MCP server works with any application supporting the Model Context Protocol, allowing them to access Exa's search capabilities.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "exa" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","exa-mcp"],"env":{"EXA_API_KEY":"<your-api-key>"}}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "exa": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "exa-mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "EXA_API_KEY": "<your-api-key>"
            }
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "exa": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "exa-mcp"
            ],
            "env": {
                "EXA_API_KEY": "<your-api-key>"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect