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Official · by exa-labs

Exa MCP server

The Exa MCP server lets AI assistants search the web, read webpage content, and carry out multi-step research.

  • Hosted (remote)
  • MIT licence
  • ★ 5,138 on GitHub
  • Verified against its source 19 Oct 2026
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What the Exa MCP server does

Connects AI agents to Exa for searching the web, fetching page content, and conducting research across several steps. Its search tool returns tidy, immediately usable content, and its fetch tool pulls complete page text in markdown from given URLs. An advanced search option adds filters, domain and date limits, highlights, summaries, and crawling of subpages. The Exa Agent handles extended research, compiling lists, enriching data, and producing structured results, but it requires OAuth or an API key. The hosted remote server sits at https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp, supports OAuth or no auth, works with Claude, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, and Zed, and applies lower rate limits to anonymous use, which OAuth or an API key raises.

Tools it gives your assistant

4 tools or toolsets, as its documentation lists them.

  • web_search_exa Searches the web and returns clean, ready-to-use content
  • web_fetch_exa Reads full webpage content as markdown from URLs
  • agent_run
  • web_search_advanced_exa

How to install it

Hosted server

Add this address to your assistant's MCP settings:

https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp

What you need

In the exa-labs documentation's own words:

  • “OAuth is preferred: most clients prompt you to sign in to Exa”
  • “The hosted MCP server works anonymously with rate limits”
  • “Exa Agent requires authentication (OAuth or an API key”
  • “The hosted MCP server works anonymously with rate limits. For higher limits and access to Exa Agent, use either OAuth or an API key”

Commands and settings change between versions. Check the official instructions before you install.