Exa MCP Tool

This skill provides access to Exa's powerful search and research capabilities through the Exa MCP server.

Available Tools

General Purpose

• exa-search \x3Ctool> '{"json":"args"}' - Generic wrapper for any Exa MCP tool

Specialized Wrappers

• exa-web-search '{"query":"...", "count":10, "freshness":"pw", ...}' - Web search with optional filters

Full Tool List (via exa-search)

All tools from the Exa MCP server are available:

Setup

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

2. Set the environment variable:

   export EXA_API_KEY="your_exa_api_key_here"
   

   Or add to your shell profile (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc):

   export EXA_API_KEY="your_exa_api_key_here"
   

   Or create a .env file in your workspace:

   echo "EXA_API_KEY=your_exa_api_key_here" > ~/.openclaw/workspace/.env
   source ~/.openclaw/workspace/.env
   

3. Restart OpenClaw to load the skill:

   openclaw gateway restart
   

Usage Examples

Basic Web Search

exa-web-search '{"query":"Step-3.5 Flash benchmarks"}'

Advanced Search with Filters

exa-search web_search_advanced_exa '{
  "query": "OpenClaw AI",
  "count": 10,
  "freshness": "pw",
  "includeDomains": ["github.com", "docs.openclaw.ai"]
}'

Code Search

exa-search get_code_context_exa '{
  "query": "OpenClaw agent implementation",
  "count": 5
}'

Crawl Specific URL

exa-search crawling_exa '{
  "url": "https://docs.openclaw.ai/",
  "maxPages": 10
}'

Company Research

exa-search company_research_exa '{
  "company": "OpenClaw",
  "includeNews": true,
  "newsDays": 30
}'

People Search

exa-search people_search_exa '{
  "query": "Phil openclaw creator",
  "count": 10
}'

Deep Research (Two-Step)

# Start research
TASK_ID=$(exa-search deep_researcher_start '{
  "query": "Current state of AI agents in 2026",
  "maxSources": 20
}' | jq -r '.taskId')

# Check status (poll until complete)
while true; do
  exa-search deep_researcher_check '{"taskId":"'"$TASK_ID"'"}'
  sleep 5
done

Output Format

All tools return JSON with the Exa MCP response structure. The actual content is in the result field, which varies by tool but typically includes:

• content: Array of result items with title, url, text (snippet)
• Sometimes additional metadata like cost, duration, sources

Example web search output:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "title": "Step 3.5 Flash - MathArena",
      "url": "https://matharena.ai/models/stepfun_3_5_flash",
      "text": "Step 3.5 Flash benchmarks and performance metrics..."
    }
  ]
}

Using in OpenClaw Agents

Agents can use these tools directly:

// In an agent session
/exec exa-search web_search_exa '{"query":"latest news"}'

// Or via API
{
  "sessionTarget": "isolated",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "agentTurn",
    "message": "Search for recent AI developments using exa-search"
  }
}

Notes

• Rate limits apply based on your Exa plan
• The MCP server uses Server-Sent Events (SSE) streaming; the wrapper handles this
• All tools accept various optional parameters; see Exa docs for full schema
• Errors are returned with proper exit codes and messages to stderr

Troubleshooting

"EXA_API_KEY not set"

• Ensure the environment variable is exported in the same session where OpenClaw runs
• If using systemd/systemctl, set the key in the service file or /etc/environment

"406 Not Acceptable"

• The tool already sets the correct Accept header; this shouldn't occur in the wrapper

Empty or no results

• Verify your API key has credits/quota
• Check the Exa dashboard: https://dashboard.exa.ai

References

• Exa MCP Docs: https://exa.ai/docs/reference/exa-mcp
• MCP Server: https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp
• API Keys: https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys