304 lines
8.2 KiB
Markdown
304 lines
8.2 KiB
Markdown
# Exa MCP Server 🔍
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[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/exa-mcp-server)
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[](https://smithery.ai/server/exa)
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## 🆕 `exa-code`: fast, efficient web context for coding agents
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Vibe coding should never have a bad vibe. `exa-code` is a huge step towards coding agents that never hallucinate.
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When your coding agent makes a search query, `exa-code` searches over billions
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of Github repos, docs pages, Stackoverflow posts, and more, to find the perfect, token-efficient context that the agent needs to code correctly. It's powered by the Exa search engine.
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Examples of queries you can make with `exa-code`:
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* use Exa search in python and make sure content is always livecrawled
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* use correct syntax for vercel ai sdk to call gpt-5 nano asking it how are you
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* how to set up a reproducible Nix Rust development environment
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**✨ Works with Cursor and Claude Code!** Use the HTTP-based configuration format:
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```json
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{
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"mcpServers": {
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"exa": {
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"type": "http",
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"url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
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"headers": {
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"Remove-Me": "Disable web_search_exa tool if you're just coding. To 100% call exa-code, say 'use exa-code'."
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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You may include your exa api key in the url like this:
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```
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https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=YOUREXAKEY
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```
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You may whitelist specific tools in the url with the `enabledTools` parameter which expects a url encoded array strings like this:
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```
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https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp?exaApiKey=YOUREXAKEY&enabledTools=%5B%22crawling_exa%ss%5D
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```
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You can also use `exa-code` through [Smithery](https://smithery.ai/server/exa) without an Exa API key.
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---
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A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects AI assistants like Claude to Exa AI's search capabilities, including web search, research tools, and our new code search feature.
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## Remote Exa MCP 🌐
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Connect directly to Exa's hosted MCP server (instead of running it locally).
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### Remote Exa MCP URL
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```
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https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp
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```
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### Claude Desktop Configuration for Remote MCP
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Add this to your Claude Desktop configuration file:
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```json
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{
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"mcpServers": {
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"exa": {
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"command": "npx",
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"args": [
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"-y",
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"mcp-remote",
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"https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"
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]
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}
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}
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}
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```
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### Cursor and Claude Code Configuration for Remote MCP
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For Cursor and Claude Code, use this HTTP-based configuration format:
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```json
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{
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"mcpServers": {
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"exa": {
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"type": "http",
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"url": "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
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"headers": {}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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### Codex Configuration for Remote MCP
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Open your Codex configuration file:
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```bash
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code ~/.codex/config.toml
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```
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Add this configuration:
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```toml
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[mcp_servers.exa]
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command = "npx"
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args = ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"]
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env = { EXA_API_KEY = "your-api-key-here" }
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```
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Replace `your-api-key-here` with your actual Exa API key from [dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys](https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys).
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### Claude Code Plugin
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The easiest way to get started with Exa in Claude Code, using plugins:
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```bash
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# Add the Exa marketplace
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/plugin marketplace add exa-labs/exa-mcp-server
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# Install the plugin
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/plugin install exa-mcp-server
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```
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Then set your API key:
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```bash
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export EXA_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
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```
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Get your API key from [dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys](https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys).
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### NPM Installation
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```bash
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npm install -g exa-mcp-server
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```
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### Using Claude Code
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```bash
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claude mcp add exa -e EXA_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY -- npx -y exa-mcp-server
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```
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### Using Exa MCP through Smithery
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To install the Exa MCP server via [Smithery](https://smithery.ai/server/exa), head over to:
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[smithery.ai/server/exa](https://smithery.ai/server/exa)
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## Configuration ⚙️
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### 1. Configure Claude Desktop to recognize the Exa MCP server
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You can find claude_desktop_config.json inside the settings of Claude Desktop app:
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Open the Claude Desktop app and enable Developer Mode from the top-left menu bar.
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Once enabled, open Settings (also from the top-left menu bar) and navigate to the Developer Option, where you'll find the Edit Config button. Clicking it will open the claude_desktop_config.json file, allowing you to make the necessary edits.
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OR (if you want to open claude_desktop_config.json from terminal)
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#### For macOS:
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1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration:
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```bash
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code ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
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```
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#### For Windows:
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1. Open your Claude Desktop configuration:
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```powershell
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code %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
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```
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### 2. Add the Exa server configuration:
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```json
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{
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"mcpServers": {
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"exa": {
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"command": "npx",
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"args": ["-y", "exa-mcp-server"],
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"env": {
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"EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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Replace `your-api-key-here` with your actual Exa API key from [dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys](https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys).
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### 3. Available Tools & Tool Selection
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The Exa MCP server includes powerful tools for developers and researchers:
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#### 🔥 **Featured: Code Search Tool**
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- **get_code_context_exa**: 🆕 **NEW!** Search and get relevant code snippets, examples, and documentation from open source libraries, GitHub repositories, and programming frameworks. Perfect for finding up-to-date code documentation, implementation examples, API usage patterns, and best practices from real codebases.
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#### 🌐 **Other Available Tools**
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- **web_search_exa**: Performs real-time web searches with optimized results and content extraction.
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- **company_research**: Comprehensive company research tool that crawls company websites to gather detailed information about businesses.
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- **crawling**: Extracts content from specific URLs, useful for reading articles, PDFs, or any web page when you have the exact URL.
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- **linkedin_search**: Search LinkedIn for companies and people using Exa AI. Simply include company names, person names, or specific LinkedIn URLs in your query.
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- **deep_researcher_start**: Start a smart AI researcher for complex questions. The AI will search the web, read many sources, and think deeply about your question to create a detailed research report.
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- **deep_researcher_check**: Check if your research is ready and get the results. Use this after starting a research task to see if it's done and get your comprehensive report.
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You can choose which tools to enable by adding the `--tools` parameter to your Claude Desktop configuration:
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#### 💻 **Setup for Code Search Only** (Recommended for Developers)
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```json
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{
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"mcpServers": {
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"exa": {
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"command": "npx",
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"args": [
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"-y",
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"exa-mcp-server",
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"--tools=get_code_context_exa,web_search_exa"
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],
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"env": {
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"EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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#### Specify which tools to enable:
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```json
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{
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"mcpServers": {
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"exa": {
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"command": "npx",
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"args": [
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"-y",
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"exa-mcp-server",
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"--tools=get_code_context_exa,web_search_exa,company_research,crawling,linkedin_search,deep_researcher_start,deep_researcher_check"
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],
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"env": {
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"EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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For enabling multiple tools, use a comma-separated list:
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```json
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{
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"mcpServers": {
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"exa": {
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"command": "npx",
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"args": [
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"-y",
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"exa-mcp-server",
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"--tools=get_code_context_exa,web_search_exa,company_research,crawling,linkedin_search,deep_researcher_start,deep_researcher_check"
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],
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"env": {
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"EXA_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
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}
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}
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}
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}
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```
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If you don't specify any tools, all tools enabled by default will be used.
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### 4. Restart Claude Desktop
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For the changes to take effect:
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1. Completely quit Claude Desktop (not just close the window)
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2. Start Claude Desktop again
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3. Look for the icon to verify the Exa server is connected
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## Using via NPX
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If you prefer to run the server directly, you can use npx:
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```bash
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# Run with all tools enabled by default
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npx exa-mcp-server
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# Enable specific tools only
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npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search_exa
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# Enable multiple tools
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npx exa-mcp-server --tools=web_search_exa,get_code_context_exa
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# List all available tools
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npx exa-mcp-server --list-tools
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```
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---
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Built with ❤️ by team Exa
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