---
title: Exa Web Research
description: Live web search and URL fetching grounded in current sources
---

# Exa Web Research

Connect [Exa](https://exa.ai) to give Sasha live web search and URL fetching. Useful when Claude needs information beyond its training cutoff or wants to ground answers in current sources.

## What You Can Do

- **Live web search** — current news, prices, events, anything time-sensitive
- **Company research** — funding, executives, product launches, competitor positioning
- **People research** — LinkedIn-style profiles for sales prep and candidate research
- **URL content fetch** — pull clean markdown from any public page
- **Fact-checking** — verify claims against live sources before publishing
- **Deep research** — iterate searches and URL fetches to synthesise multi-source reports

## Prerequisites

- Exa account with API access ([sign up](https://exa.ai))
- API key from [dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys](https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys)

## Setup

1. Navigate to **Settings → Tools → Exa Web Research**
2. Paste your Exa API key
3. Click **Save Configuration**
4. Click **Test Connection** (free — does not consume search credits)
5. Click **Register Server** to enable Claude access

## Example Uses

> "Use Exa to research Acme Corp — recent funding, executive team, product launches."

> "Find LinkedIn profiles for the CTO and Head of Engineering at Acme Corp."

> "What's the latest on the OpenAI–Anthropic deal? Cite sources."

> "Search for recent reviews comparing our top three competitors and summarise the consensus."

> "Pull the latest pricing pages from competitor X, Y, and Z."

> "Verify the claim that <statement> using Exa, and cite the URLs."

## Available Tools

| Tool | What It Does |
|------|--------------|
| `web_search_exa` | Natural-language web search. Use `category:company <query>` to bias toward company pages, `category:people <query>` for LinkedIn-style profiles. |
| `web_fetch_exa` | Read one or more specific URLs as clean markdown. Batch multiple URLs in a single call. |

Both tools are exposed by Exa's hosted MCP at `https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp`. Sasha registers the server on your behalf when you configure your API key.

## Query-Writing Tips

- **Describe the ideal page** in natural language, not just keywords. Bad: `"React vs Vue"`. Good: `"blog post comparing React and Vue performance for large enterprise apps"`.
- For company queries, lead with `category:company`. For people, `category:people`.
- If search results don't have enough detail, follow up with a URL fetch on the most promising results.

## Cost and Limits

Exa is metered per call. The free tier includes a small monthly allowance; production usage requires a paid plan. See [exa.ai/pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing) for details. The Test Connection button uses a free metadata endpoint — it does not consume search credits.

## Security Notes

- The API key is encrypted at rest and only sent to Exa over HTTPS as the `x-api-key` header.
- Exa logs queries against your account — avoid passing customer PII or proprietary text in the search query.
- Updates to the API key take effect for new sessions only. Restart any active Claude session after changing the key.
- Revoke the key in the Exa dashboard to disconnect.

## Troubleshooting

| Issue | Solution |
|-------|----------|
| "Test failed: HTTP 401" | Verify the key in [dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys](https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys) |
| "Test failed: timed out" | Check network connectivity to `mcp.exa.ai`; the test has a 15-second limit |
| Tool not appearing in Claude session | Click **Register Server** in Settings, then start a new session |
| Rate limited | Free tier has limits — upgrade your Exa plan for higher quotas |

## Learn More

- [Exa documentation](https://exa.ai/docs)
- [Exa MCP reference](https://exa.ai/docs/reference/exa-mcp)
- [Exa dashboard](https://dashboard.exa.ai)