openclaw/docs/tools/exa-search.md

summary, read_when, title

summary	read_when	title
Exa AI search -- neural and keyword search with content extraction	You want to use Exa for web_search You need an EXA_API_KEY You want neural search or content extraction	Exa search

OpenClaw supports Exa AI as a web_search provider. Exa offers neural, keyword, and hybrid search modes with built-in content extraction (highlights, text, summaries).

Get an API key

Sign up at [exa.ai](https://exa.ai/) and generate an API key from your dashboard. Set `EXA_API_KEY` in the Gateway environment, or configure via:

```bash
openclaw configure --section web
```

Config

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      exa: {
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "exa-...", // optional if EXA_API_KEY is set
            baseUrl: "https://api.exa.ai", // optional; OpenClaw appends /search
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "exa",
      },
    },
  },
}

Environment alternative: set EXA_API_KEY in the Gateway environment. For a gateway install, put it in ~/.openclaw/.env.

Base URL override

Set plugins.entries.exa.config.webSearch.baseUrl when Exa search requests should go through a compatible proxy or alternate Exa endpoint. OpenClaw normalizes bare hosts by prepending https:// and appends /search unless the path already ends there. The resolved endpoint is included in the search cache key, so results from different Exa endpoints are not shared.

Tool parameters

Search query. Results to return (1–100). Search mode. Time filter. Results after this date (`YYYY-MM-DD`). Results before this date (`YYYY-MM-DD`). Content extraction options (see below).

Content extraction

Exa can return extracted content alongside search results. Pass a contents object to enable:

await web_search({
  query: "transformer architecture explained",
  type: "neural",
  contents: {
    text: true, // full page text
    highlights: { numSentences: 3 }, // key sentences
    summary: true, // AI summary
  },
});

Contents option	Type	Description
text	boolean | { maxCharacters }	Extract full page text
highlights	boolean | { maxCharacters, query, numSentences, highlightsPerUrl }	Extract key sentences
summary	boolean | { query }	AI-generated summary

Search modes

Mode	Description
auto	Exa picks the best mode (default)
neural	Semantic/meaning-based search
fast	Quick keyword search
deep	Thorough deep search
deep-reasoning	Deep search with reasoning
instant	Fastest results

Notes

• If no contents option is provided, Exa defaults to { highlights: true } so results include key sentence excerpts
• Results preserve highlightScores and summary fields from the Exa API response when available
• Result descriptions are resolved from highlights first, then summary, then full text — whichever is available
• freshness and date_after/date_before cannot be combined — use one time-filter mode
• Up to 100 results can be returned per query (subject to Exa search-type limits)
• Results are cached for 15 minutes by default (configurable via cacheTtlMinutes)
• Exa is an official API integration with structured JSON responses

Related

• Web Search overview -- all providers and auto-detection
• Brave Search -- structured results with country/language filters
• Perplexity Search -- structured results with domain filtering