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 server implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling AI models to access up-to-date web information in a controlled environment.

Installation Options

Option 1: Connect to Remote Exa MCP Server

The simplest way to use Exa's capabilities is to connect to their hosted MCP server:

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

Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

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

Option 2: Install Locally via NPM

npm install -g exa-mcp-server

Option 3: Install with Claude Code

claude mcp add exa -e EXA_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY -- npx -y exa-mcp-server

Option 4: Install via Smithery

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

Configuration

Configuring Claude Desktop

1. Enable Developer Mode in Claude Desktop via the top-left menu
2. Open Settings and navigate to Developer Options
3. Click Edit Config to open the claude_desktop_config.json file

Alternatively, open the configuration file directly:

For macOS:

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

For Windows:

code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add Exa Server Configuration

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json:

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

Replace "your-api-key-here" with your actual Exa API key from dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys.

Available Tools

The Exa MCP server provides several specialized tools:

• web_search_exa: Performs web searches with optimized results
• company_research: Gathers detailed information about businesses
• crawling: Extracts content from specific URLs
• linkedin_search: Search LinkedIn for companies and people
• deep_researcher_start: Initiates comprehensive research on complex questions
• deep_researcher_check: Retrieves results from research tasks

Enabling 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,company_research,crawling"
      ],
      "env": {
        "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If no tools are specified, all tools are enabled by default.

Applying Configuration

After editing the configuration:

1. Completely quit Claude Desktop
2. Restart the application
3. Look for the icon indicating the Exa server is connected

Running Directly with NPX

You can also run the server directly from the command line:

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

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

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

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

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Server Not Found

   • Verify the npm link is correctly set up
   • Check Claude Desktop configuration syntax

2. API Key Issues

   • Confirm your EXA_API_KEY is valid
   • Ensure the key is correctly set in the configuration
   • Check for spaces or quotes around the API key

3. Connection Issues

   • Restart Claude Desktop completely
   • Check Claude Desktop logs

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-server"],"env":{"EXA_API_KEY":"your-api-key-here"}}'

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-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
            }
        }
    }
}

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-server"
            ],
            "env": {
                "EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect