crewAI/docs/en/tools/search-research/exasearchtool.mdx

---
title: "Exa Search Tool"
description: "Search the web with Exa, the fastest and most accurate web search API. Get token-efficient highlights and full page content."
icon: "magnifying-glass"
mode: "wide"
---

The `ExaSearchTool` lets CrewAI agents search the web using [Exa](https://exa.ai/), the fastest and most accurate web search API. It returns the most relevant results for any query, with options for token-efficient highlights and full page content.

## Installation

Install the CrewAI tools package:

```shell
pip install 'crewai[tools]'
```

## Environment Variables

Set your Exa API key as an environment variable:

```bash
export EXA_API_KEY='your_exa_api_key'
```

Get an API key from the [Exa dashboard](https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys).

## Example Usage

Here's how to use the `ExaSearchTool` within a CrewAI agent:

```python
import os
from crewai import Agent, Task, Crew
from crewai_tools import ExaSearchTool

# Initialize the tool
exa_tool = ExaSearchTool()

# Create an agent that uses the tool
researcher = Agent(
    role='Research Analyst',
    goal='Find the latest information on any topic',
    backstory='An expert researcher who finds the most relevant and up-to-date information.',
    tools=[exa_tool],
    verbose=True
)

# Create a task for the agent
research_task = Task(
    description='Find the top 3 recent breakthroughs in quantum computing.',
    expected_output='A summary of the top 3 breakthroughs with source URLs.',
    agent=researcher
)

# Form the crew and kick it off
crew = Crew(
    agents=[researcher],
    tasks=[research_task],
    verbose=True
)

result = crew.kickoff()
print(result)
```

## Configuration Options

The `ExaSearchTool` accepts the following parameters during initialization:

- `type` (str, optional): The search type to use. Defaults to `"auto"`. Options: `"auto"`, `"instant"`, `"fast"`, `"deep"`.
- `highlights` (bool or dict, optional): Return token-efficient excerpts most relevant to the query instead of the full page. Defaults to `True`. Pass a dict like `{"max_characters": 4000}` to configure, or `False` to disable.
- `content` (bool, optional): Whether to include full page content in results. Defaults to `False`.
- `api_key` (str, optional): Your Exa API key. Falls back to the `EXA_API_KEY` environment variable if not provided.
- `base_url` (str, optional): Custom API server URL. Falls back to the `EXA_BASE_URL` environment variable if not provided.

When calling the tool (or when an agent invokes it), the following search parameters are available:

- `search_query` (str): **Required**. The search query string.
- `start_published_date` (str, optional): Filter results published after this date (ISO 8601 format, e.g. `"2024-01-01"`).
- `end_published_date` (str, optional): Filter results published before this date (ISO 8601 format).
- `include_domains` (list[str], optional): A list of domains to restrict the search to.

## Advanced Usage

For most agent workflows we recommend `highlights` — it returns the most relevant excerpts from each result and uses far fewer tokens than full page content:

```python
# Get token-efficient excerpts most relevant to the query
exa_tool = ExaSearchTool(
    highlights=True,
    type="auto",
)

# Use it in an agent
agent = Agent(
    role="Researcher",
    goal="Answer questions with current web data",
    tools=[exa_tool]
)
```

For thorough, multi-step searches, use `type="deep"`:

```python
exa_tool = ExaSearchTool(
    highlights=True,
    type="deep",
)
```

For more on choosing between highlights and full content, see the [Exa search best practices](https://exa.ai/docs/reference/search-best-practices).

## Using Exa via MCP

You can also connect your agent to Exa's hosted MCP server. Pass your API key with the `x-api-key` header:

```python
from crewai import Agent
from crewai.mcp import MCPServerHTTP

agent = Agent(
    role="Research Analyst",
    goal="Find and analyze information on the web",
    backstory="Expert researcher with access to Exa's tools",
    mcps=[
        MCPServerHTTP(
            url="https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp",
            headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_EXA_API_KEY"},
        ),
    ],
)
```

Get your API key from the [Exa dashboard](https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys). For more on MCP in CrewAI, see the [MCP overview](/en/mcp/overview).

## Features

- **Token-Efficient Highlights**: Get the most relevant excerpts from each result, ~10x fewer tokens than full text
- **Semantic Search**: Find results based on meaning, not just keywords
- **Full Content Retrieval**: Get the full text of web pages alongside search results
- **Date Filtering**: Limit results to specific time periods with published date filters
- **Domain Filtering**: Restrict searches to specific domains

<Note>
`EXASearchTool` is a deprecated alias for `ExaSearchTool`. Existing imports continue to work but will emit a deprecation warning; please migrate to `ExaSearchTool`.
</Note>

## Resources

- [Exa documentation](https://exa.ai/docs)
- [Exa dashboard — manage API keys and usage](https://dashboard.exa.ai)