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

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Install plugin

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/exa-plugin
openclaw gateway restart

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Get an API key

1

Create an account

Sign up at exa.ai and generate an API key from your dashboard.
2

Store the key

Set EXA_API_KEY in the Gateway environment, or configure via:
openclaw configure --section web

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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. See Env vars.

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Base URL override

Set plugins.entries.exa.config.webSearch.baseUrl to route Exa search requests through a compatible proxy or alternate endpoint. OpenClaw normalizes bare hosts by prepending https:// and appends /search unless the path already ends there. The resolved endpoint is part of the search cache key, so results from different endpoints are never shared.

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Tool parameters

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query
string
required
Search query.
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count
number
default:"5"
Results to return (1-100, subject to Exa search-type limits).
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type
'auto' | 'neural' | 'fast' | 'deep' | 'deep-reasoning' | 'instant'
Search mode.
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freshness
'day' | 'week' | 'month' | 'year'
Time filter. Cannot be combined with date_after/date_before.
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date_after
string
Results after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
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date_before
string
Results before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
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contents
object
Content extraction options (see below).

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Content extraction

Pass a contents object to control extracted content in results: 
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 optionTypeDescription
textboolean | { maxCharacters }Extract full page text
highlightsboolean | { maxCharacters, query, numSentences, highlightsPerUrl }Extract key sentences
summaryboolean | { query }AI-generated summary
If contents is omitted, Exa defaults to { highlights: true } so results include key-sentence excerpts. Result descriptions resolve from highlights first, then summary, then full text — whichever is available first. Results also preserve the raw highlightScores and summary fields from the Exa API response when available.

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Search modes

ModeDescription
autoExa picks the best mode (default)
neuralSemantic/meaning-based search
fastQuick keyword search
deepThorough deep search
deep-reasoningDeep search with reasoning
instantFastest results

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Notes

  • count accepts up to 100, subject to Exa search-type limits.
  • Results are cached for 15 minutes by default. Configure the shared tools.web.search.cacheTtlMinutes (minutes) and tools.web.search.timeoutSeconds (default 30s) to change caching and request timeout for all web_search providers, including Exa.