Exa Web Search MCP server

The Exa MCP Server allows AI assistants like Claude to perform real-time web searches using the Exa AI Search API. This integration enables AI models to access up-to-date web information in a controlled and secure manner.

Installation Options

Using Remote Exa MCP

Connect directly to Exa's hosted MCP server without running it locally:

1. Get your API key from dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys

2. Use the following MCP URL format:

   https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=your-exa-api-key
   

3. Configure Claude Desktop by adding:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "exa": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": [
           "-y",
           "mcp-remote",
           "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=your-exa-api-key"
         ]
       }
     }
   }
   

Local Installation

Using NPM:

npm install -g exa-mcp-server

Using Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install exa --client claude

Configuration

Setting Up Claude Desktop

1. Enable Developer Mode:

   • Open Claude Desktop
   • Enable Developer Mode from the top-left menu bar
   • Access Settings → Developer Option → Edit Config

2. Manually Edit Configuration File:

   For macOS:

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

   For Windows:

   code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
   

3. Add Exa Server Configuration:

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

Available Tools

The Exa MCP server includes these specialized search tools:

• web_search_exa: General web search with optimized results
• research_paper_search: Academic paper and research search
• company_research: Comprehensive company information search
• crawling: Content extraction from specific URLs
• competitor_finder: Identifies similar businesses
• linkedin_search: Search for companies and people on LinkedIn
• wikipedia_search_exa: Retrieve information from Wikipedia
• github_search: Search GitHub repositories, issues, and accounts

Selecting Specific Tools

Configure which tools to enable by adding the --tools parameter:

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

Apply Changes

After configuration:

1. Completely quit Claude Desktop
2. Restart Claude Desktop
3. Check for the Exa connection icon

Direct Usage with NPX

Run the server directly using npx:

# Run with all default tools
npx exa-mcp-server

# Enable specific tools
npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search_exa

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

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

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

• Server Not Found

  • Verify npm link is correct
  • Check JSON syntax in configuration file

• API Key Issues

  • Confirm your API key is valid
  • Ensure API key is correctly entered without spaces or quotes

• Connection Problems

  • Restart Claude Desktop completely
  • Check Claude Desktop logs

How to add this MCP server to 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 > MCP and click "Add new global MCP server".

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

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cursor-rules-mcp": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "cursor-rules-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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 explictly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.