# exa-search

Searches the open web through Exa and returns blogs, docs, news and company pages. Each hit comes back with highlights, full text or a summary.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 440 installs · ★ 18090
- Author: wanshuiyin
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep/tree/HEAD/skills/exa-search/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/wanshuiyin-exa-search

## What it does

The skill turns a plain request into Exa parameters: result count, category (research paper, news, company, financial report), content mode (highlights, text, summary, none), domain and date filters. It also runs in reverse. Give it a URL and it looks for pages built like it; give it a list of addresses and it pulls the body of each one.

The work is done by a Python helper, `exa_search.py`, with three subcommands: `search`, `find-similar` and `get-contents`. The skill walks a fixed path chain to find it — `.aris/tools/`, `tools/`, then `$ARIS_REPO/tools/` or `~/.aris/repo`. If the file is missing, the run stops with an error and a pointer to rerun the installer. There is no quiet switch to a built-in search: output comes from Exa only.

Two things must exist before the first call. Install `exa-py` with `pip install exa-py`, and put an Exa key in `EXA_API_KEY`; a shell profile is the sane place for it. Worth knowing: when the project has a `research-wiki/` folder and the query returned papers, those hits get filed into the wiki. Blog posts and news stay out.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill exa-search -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/exa-search/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/exa-search/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill exa-search -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/exa-search/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill exa-search -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/exa-search/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep exa-search
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/exa-search/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill exa-search -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --path skills/exa-search
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/exa-search/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill exa-search -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep/tree/HEAD/skills/exa-search/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- pull fresh docs and articles on a topic in one call
- surface pages similar to a given URL
- grab page text or a summary along with search hits
- limit results to chosen domains and dates
- collect recent items within a news category

## Example prompts
- Search with exa-search for RAG pipeline write-ups, top 5 only
- \`/exa-search` "diffusion models" — category: research paper
- Find pages similar to `https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.07041`

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 3b0bdb953e985789.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 3b0bdb953e985789
````text
---
name: exa-search
description: AI-powered web search via Exa with content extraction. Use when user says "exa search", "web search with content", "find similar pages", or needs broad web results beyond academic databases (arXiv, Semantic Scholar).
argument-hint: "[search-query-or-url]"
allowed-tools: Bash(*), Read, Write
---

# Exa AI-Powered Web Search

Search query: $ARGUMENTS

## Role & Positioning

Exa is the **broad web search** source with built-in content extraction:

| Skill | Best for |
|------|----------|
| `/arxiv` | Direct preprint search and PDF download |
| `/semantic-scholar` | Published venue papers (IEEE, ACM, Springer), citation counts |
| `/deepxiv` | Layered reading: search, brief, section map, section reads |
| `/exa-search` | Broad web search: blogs, docs, news, companies, research papers — with content extraction |

Use Exa when you need results beyond academic databases, or when you want content (highlights, full text, summaries) extracted alongside search results.

## Constants

- **EXA_FETCHER** — canonical name `exa_search.py`, resolved per
  [`shared-references/integration-contract.md`](../shared-references/integration-contract.md) §2
  (Policy D1 — standalone `/exa-search` has no documented fallback,
  so unresolved helper terminates with an explicit error).
- **MAX_RESULTS = 10** — Default number of results to return.

> Overrides (append to arguments):
> - `/exa-search "RAG pipelines" — max: 5` — top 5 results
> - `/exa-search "diffusion models" — category: research paper` — research papers only
> - `/exa-search "startup funding" — category: news, start date: 2025-01-01` — recent news
> - `/exa-search "transformer" — content: text, max chars: 8000` — full text mode
> - `/exa-search "transformer" — content: summary` — LLM-generated summaries
> - `/exa-search "transformer" — domains: arxiv.org,huggingface.co` — domain filter
> - `/exa-search "https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.07041" — similar` — find similar pages

## Setup

Exa requires the `exa-py` SDK and an API key:

```bash
pip install exa-py
```

Set your API key:
```bash
export EXA_API_KEY=your-key-here
```

Get a key from [exa.ai](https://exa.ai).

## Workflow

### Step 1: Parse Arguments

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for:
- **query**: The search query (required) or a URL (for `find-similar` mode)
- **similar**: If present, use `find-similar` mode instead of search
- **max**: Override MAX_RESULTS
- **category**: `research paper`, `news`, `company`, `personal site`, `financial report`, `people`
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 3b0bdb953e985789

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