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
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "exa",
      },
    },
  },
}

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

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