Exa

Q: Is Exa a remote or a local server?

Remote. Exa hosts it at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp, and it speaks Streamable HTTP. There's nothing to install.

Q: What can Exa do?

It has 2 tools: web_search_exa and web_fetch_exa. You can search the web and get clean text from top results, fetch full page content as markdown from known URLs and batch several URLs in one fetch call.

listing.by

Search the web and fetch pages as clean markdown through Exa's search API, with optional agent runs and advanced search.

state.opt.longStreamable HTTP

listing.connect

listing.explain.optional

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

listing.note.optional

act.add_to act.add_to act.add_to

listing.about

Connects an assistant to Exa's search index. It can run web searches that return clean, ready-to-use text, and fetch the full content of one or more URLs as markdown. Queries work best when they describe the ideal page, and category filters can search people or company profiles.

Runs as a hosted streamable HTTP endpoint at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp. It works anonymously with rate limits. For higher limits, sign in with OAuth (add ?login to the URL) or pass an Exa API key via the exaApiKey URL parameter, a Bearer header or an x-api-key header. Optional tools such as agent_run and web_search_advanced_exa are enabled with the tools URL parameter.

listing.can

Search the web and get clean text from top results
Fetch full page content as markdown from known URLs
Batch several URLs in one fetch call
Search LinkedIn-style people and company profiles by category
Optionally enable advanced search with filters and domains
Optionally run Exa Agent for multi-step research (requires sign-in)

listing.tools 2

web_search_exalisting.hint.ro
Search the web and return clean, ready-to-use content from top results.
web_fetch_exalisting.hint.ro
Read the full content of one or more webpages as clean markdown.

listing.prov.live_on listing.prov.hints

listing.prompts

Find a blog post comparing React and Vue performance
Search for recent news about solid-state battery startups
Read https://exa.ai/docs and summarize the get started guide
Find companies building AI note-taking tools

listing.setup.h

listing.setup.remote

Claude Code

Run this in a terminal, in your project folder:

claude mcp add --transport http exa https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Start Claude Code and type /mcp. exa should show as connected. To sign in for more access, pick it and choose Authenticate.

Add --scope user to make it available in every project, not just this one.

Claude Desktop

Open Settings → Connectors and click Add custom connector.
Name it Exa and paste this URL:

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Click Add, then Connect. Signing in to Exa is optional.

Claude Desktop's JSON config file only starts local servers. Remote servers go through Connectors, and connectors you add on claude.ai show up here too.

claude.ai

Open the connector form on claude.ai. This button fills in the name and URL for you:

Add to claude.ai a11y.new_tab

Check that the URL reads https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp and click Add.
Click Connect. Signing in to Exa is optional.

Free plans allow one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it under Organization settings → Connectors.

ChatGPT

On chatgpt.com, open Settings → Security and login and turn on Developer mode.
Go to chatgpt.com/plugins and click + to create an app for a remote MCP server.
Paste https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp as the server URL and choose No authentication, or OAuth to sign in to Exa for more access.

Developer mode is available on the web for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts.

Cursor

Add to Cursor a11y.new_tab

Or add it by hand to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (all projects) or .cursor/mcp.json (this project):

mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Install in VS Code a11y.new_tab

Or from a terminal:

code --add-mcp '{"name":"exa","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"}'

Or commit it to the repo in .vscode/mcp.json:

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "exa": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Devin Desktop

Add it to ~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json (macOS and Linux) or %APPDATA%\devin\mcp_config.json (Windows):

mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Refresh the MCP server list in Cascade.

Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf. It reads serverUrl (or url) for remote servers.

Codex

codex mcp add exa --url https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Or edit ~/.codex/config.toml directly:

config.toml

[mcp_servers.exa]
url = "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"

Gemini CLI

gemini mcp add --transport http exa https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

Then, inside Gemini CLI, run /mcp auth exa to sign in (optional).

This adds it to the current project. Add -s user to use it everywhere.

Any client

Most clients accept this shape. Some name the URL field differently: serverUrl in Devin Desktop, httpUrl in Gemini CLI's settings file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Zed puts servers under context_servers in its settings. Cline needs "type": "streamableHttp", or it assumes SSE.

Client only starts local servers? Bridge it with npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp.

listing.faq

Can I paste mcp.tc/i/exa into my MCP client?

No. mcp.tc links are pages, not server addresses. Connect with https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp, so your client talks to Exa directly. The quick link is for sharing: it opens this page, with setup steps for every client.

Does Exa need an API key or a sign-in?

Not to start. Exa works without signing in and offers sign-in for more access.

Is Exa a remote or a local server?

Remote. Exa hosts it at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp, and it speaks Streamable HTTP. There's nothing to install.

What can Exa do?

It has 2 tools: web_search_exa and web_fetch_exa. You can search the web and get clean text from top results, fetch full page content as markdown from known URLs and batch several URLs in one fetch call.

Which clients can use it?

Any client that supports remote MCP servers: Claude Code, Claude Desktop, claude.ai, ChatGPT in developer mode, Cursor, VS Code, Devin Desktop, Codex, Gemini CLI, Zed and others. The setup steps cover each one.

Who wrote this page?

mcp.tc's robot read Exa's own metadata (its MCP handshake, tool list and public pages), and an AI model drafted the text from it. A person reviews anything the checks can't confirm. The text can still be wrong, so if you spot a mistake, use Report this listing on this page.

listing.em.h

listing.em.lead listing.em.how

listing.em.badge

Markdown

[![Exa on mcp.tc](https://mcp.tc/i/exa/badge.svg)](https://mcp.tc/i/exa)

HTML

<a href="https://mcp.tc/i/exa"><img src="https://mcp.tc/i/exa/badge.svg" alt="Exa on mcp.tc" height="20"></a>

listing.em.badge_note

listing.em.widget

HTML

<script src="https://mcp.tc/w/exa.js" async></script>

listing.em.widget_note

iframe

HTML

<iframe src="https://mcp.tc/embed/exa" title="Exa on mcp.tc" width="420" height="200" loading="lazy" allow="clipboard-write" style="border:0;border-radius:8px;max-width:100%"></iframe>

listing.em.iframe_note