MCP server · Research · official
Exa MCP server
by exa-labs · official
Let your AI search the live web and read full webpages for you.
This is a helper from Exa that lets your AI search the internet and read webpages while you chat. It is handy if you use ChatGPT, Claude or a similar assistant and want answers based on what is online right now, not just what the AI learned long ago. You do not need to be technical to use it once someone sets it up for you.
What is an MCP server? The 30-second version
On its own, your AI can only chat with you using what it already knows. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI a new skill or a connection to an outside service. This one connects your AI to Exa, a web search service, so it can look things up on the live web and read pages for you. When you ask a question, your AI quietly asks this helper, and the helper brings back real results from the internet.
What this MCP server does
You ask your AI a question that needs fresh information, like what a company announced this week. Your AI sends that request to the Exa helper. The helper searches the web and finds matching pages. It can also open a page and read its full content. Then your AI turns what it found into a normal answer for you in the chat.
Click to zoomWhat you can do with it
- Search the web for any topic and get clean, ready-to-use content
- Read a full webpage and turn it into clean text your AI can use
- Run multi-step research and build lists of companies or people
- Search with filters like specific websites, dates or topics
- Get highlights and short summaries from pages instead of the whole text
- Follow links inside a page to gather more detail
Try asking your AI
- “Search the web for the latest news about electric car sales in Europe and summarize it”
- “Read this page and give me the main points: https://example.com/article”
- “Find five small companies in Germany that make solar panels and list their websites”
- “What did this company announce in the last two weeks? Search the web and tell me”
What it gives back to you
You get answers in your normal chat, written in plain language. Behind the scenes it brings back lists of matching pages with titles and links, clean text from pages you asked it to read, and short summaries or highlights. If you ask for research, it can give you a structured list, like companies with their websites and a short note about each.
Before you start
What you need
- An AI app that supports MCP servers, like Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor
- Nothing else to start: the hosted server works without an account, with some limits
- For higher limits and the research agent: sign in to Exa or get a free API key from the Exa dashboard (an API key is a kind of password for apps)
Good to know
The server works without an account but with lower limits, and the research agent needs sign-in or an API key, so keep an eye on your usage if you have a paid plan.
Install it with your AI
Add Exa MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed
You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.
Sign in to get the install prompt
Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check Exa MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,066 MCP servers here for you.
Who it's for
Anyone who uses an AI assistant for research, writing or market checks and wants answers based on the live web, especially analysts, marketers, recruiters and writers.
