Exa Search

Exa Search

Requires API key: Get one at https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys Header: x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY

Use POST https://api.exa.ai/search for semantic web retrieval, ranked results, and optional result-level extraction in one raw HTTP call. Start with type: "auto" for general retrieval. Add contents only when the caller needs page text, highlights, summaries, freshness-controlled crawling, subpages, or extracted links.

Quick Start (cURL)

Basic search

curl -sS -X POST "https://api.exa.ai/search" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "query": "latest developments in LLMs",
    "type": "auto",
    "numResults": 10
  }'

Search with highlights

curl -sS -X POST "https://api.exa.ai/search" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "query": "latest developments in LLMs",
    "type": "auto",
    "numResults": 5,
    "contents": {
      "highlights": true
    }
  }'

With filters and freshness

curl -sS -X POST "https://api.exa.ai/search" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "query": "AI regulation policy updates",
    "type": "auto",
    "category": "news",
    "numResults": 10,
    "includeDomains": ["reuters.com", "bbc.com"],
    "startPublishedDate": "2025-01-01",
    "contents": {
      "text": {
        "maxCharacters": 2000
      },
      "maxAgeHours": 24,
      "livecrawlTimeout": 12000
    }
  }'

Deep search

curl -sS -X POST "https://api.exa.ai/search" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: $EXA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "query": "map the major technical and commercial tradeoffs in sodium-ion batteries for grid storage",
    "type": "deep",
    "numResults": 8
  }'

Endpoint

POST https://api.exa.ai/search

Authentication: x-api-key: <API_KEY> header. Exa also accepts Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>, but prefer x-api-key in cURL examples for consistency.

Use this endpoint when the agent needs search results. If the agent already has URLs and only needs extraction, use POST /contents instead.

Parameters

Core request parameters

Content parameters nested under contents

On /search, text, highlights, and summary must be nested under contents.

Text object options

Highlights object options

Prefer contents.highlights: true for the highest-quality default. Only use object form when the agent needs a custom focus or budget.

Summary object options

Search Types

Search type controls the retrieval and synthesis mode. Pick the mode for the workflow, not just the output format. outputSchema can be used with any search type; use deeper modes when the search process itself needs more planning, synthesis, or reasoning.