Exa Search

OrganizationPopular

K-Dense-AI

exa-search

Web toolkit powered by Exa, tuned for scientific and technical content. Use this skill when the user needs to search the web or fetch/extract URL content. Covers: web search (semantic lookups, research, current info — with optional research-paper category and academic domain filtering) and URL extraction (fetching pages, articles, academic PDFs in batch). Use this skill for web-related tasks when the user wants high-quality search or scholarly filtering via category=research paper. Triggers on requests to search, look up, fetch a page, or extract an article.

Overview

Publisher	K-Dense-AI
Repository	`scientific-agent-skills`
Skill name	`exa-search`
Stars	45.4K
Forks	4.1K
Bundled files	4
License	MIT
Links	Skill source Repository Homepage

Markdown instructions
A SKILL.md file the model loads on demand, so it only costs tokens when a request actually matches.
Works with any LLM
AI skills are plain Markdown, not provider-specific code, so this works with GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or a local model.
4 bundled files
Scripts, templates, and references the model can read while it works. Files are read-only and never executed.
Open source
Published by K-Dense-AI on GitHub. Read the source before you install it.

Installation

Install the Exa Search AI skill in TypingMind to use it with any LLM, or drop it into another agent that reads SKILL.md.

Install in TypingMind

TypingMind installs a skill straight from its GitHub folder — it reads SKILL.md, bundles the resource files, and stores the result locally.

Open the app and go to Plugins → Skills.
Choose "Install from GitHub".
Paste the skill folder URL below and confirm.
Enable the skill in any chat where you want it available.

Plugins → Skills → Add skill → From GitHub URL, then paste the folder URL and press Continue.

Install in another agent

Any agent that reads the Agent Skills format can use this skill — copy the folder into that agent's skills directory.

Claude Code — .claude/skills

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills.git /tmp/scientific-agent-skills
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/scientific-agent-skills/skills/exa-search .claude/skills/exa-search

Restart Claude Code after copying so it picks up the new skill.

Use it in TypingMind

Enable Exa Search in any TypingMind chat and the model takes it from there. Its name and description sit in the system prompt, and the moment a request matches, the model loads the full instructions itself — you never invoke it by hand, and it costs no tokens until it is actually used.

The model loads Exa Search on its own as soon as a request matches it.

Works with any AI model

AI skills are plain Markdown instructions rather than provider-specific code, so Exa Search is not tied to the model it was written for. Install it once in TypingMind and use it with GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Llama, or a local model you run yourself — all on your own API keys.

Loaded only when it is needed
The system prompt carries just the name and description. The instructions are fetched on the first matching request, so an idle skill costs nothing.
Switch models mid-chat
Because the skill is instructions rather than code, changing model does not break it — the next model reads the same SKILL.md.

Skill instructions

This is the SKILL.md content the model loads. Read it before installing — a skill is instructions your model will follow.

Exa Web Toolkit

A skill for web-powered research tasks backed by Exa: web search and URL extraction. Exa's index combines high-quality keyword and semantic retrieval, which makes it well-suited to scientific, technical, and conceptual queries.

Routing — pick the right capability

Read the user's request and match it to one of the capabilities below. Read the corresponding reference file for detailed instructions before running commands.

User wants to...	Capability	Where
Look something up, research a topic, find current info	Web Search	`references/web-search.md`
Fetch content from a specific URL (webpage, article, PDF)	Web Extract	`references/web-extract.md`
Install or authenticate	Setup	Below

Decision guide

Default to Web Search for topic lookups, research questions, or "what is X?" queries. When the topic is scientific or technical, pass --category "research paper" to bias toward scholarly sources, and/or an academic --include-domains allowlist. See references/web-search.md for the two-pass academic strategy.
Use Web Extract when the user provides a URL or asks you to read/fetch a specific page. Prefer this over the built-in WebFetch for batch extraction (multiple URLs in one call) and for academic PDFs.

Academic source priority

For technical or scientific queries, prefer academic and scientific sources:

Peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings over blog posts or news
Preprints (arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv) when peer-reviewed versions aren't available
Institutional and government sources (NIH, WHO, NASA, NIST) over commercial sites
Primary research over secondary summaries

Two levers to steer Exa toward scholarly content:

--category "research paper" biases retrieval toward scholarly sources.
--include-domains with a scholarly allowlist (arxiv.org, nature.com, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, etc.) restricts the domain pool.

Combine both for strictly academic results. See references/web-search.md for the full pattern.

When citing academic sources, include author names and publication year where available (e.g., Smith et al., 2025) in addition to the standard citation format. If a DOI is present, prefer the DOI link.

Setup

This skill uses the exa-py Python SDK. The scripts in scripts/ declare their dependencies via PEP 723 inline metadata, so you can run them directly with uv run without a separate install step:

bash
uv run --with exa-py python "$SKILL_PATH/scripts/exa_search.py" --help

If you prefer a persistent install:

bash
uv pip install "exa-py>=1.14.0"

Authentication

All commands read the API key from the EXA_API_KEY environment variable. Get your Exa API key at dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys.

First, check if a .env file exists in the project root and contains EXA_API_KEY. If so, load it:

bash
dotenv -f .env run -- uv run --with exa-py python "$SKILL_PATH/scripts/exa_search.py" "your query"

If dotenv isn't available, install it: uv pip install python-dotenv[cli].

If there's no .env, export the key for the session:

bash
export EXA_API_KEY="your-key"

Verify by running any script with --help — it will exit cleanly if the key is set and auth-check runs only when a real query is made.

Tracking header

Every script in this skill sets the x-exa-integration request header to k-dense-ai--scientific-agent-skills so Exa can attribute usage from the K-Dense AI scientific-agent-skills repo to this integration. Do not remove or rename this header when adapting the scripts.

Files in this skill

SKILL.md — this file (routing and setup)
references/web-search.md — detailed web search reference with academic strategy
references/web-extract.md — URL content extraction reference
scripts/exa_search.py — CLI wrapper around client.search_and_contents
scripts/exa_extract.py — CLI wrapper around client.get_contents

Bundled files

The model reads these on demand while the skill is loaded. They are exposed as readable files and are never executed.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Exa Search AI skill do?

Why use Exa Search on TypingMind?

Because you install it once and use it with any model. Exa Search is plain Markdown rather than provider-specific code, so the same skill runs on GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, Grok, or a local model — and you can switch model mid-chat without it breaking. TypingMind runs on your own API keys, so you pay providers directly instead of a per-seat subscription, and your skills and chats stay in your own storage.

How do I install Exa Search in TypingMind?

Open Plugins → Skills → Install from GitHub in TypingMind and paste https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills/tree/main/skills/exa-search. TypingMind reads its SKILL.md and bundles its files and installs it as a skill you can enable per chat.

Which AI models can use Exa Search?

Any model you connect in TypingMind. AI skills are plain Markdown instructions rather than provider-specific code, so GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and local models can all load this skill when a request matches it.

How many AI models can I use with Exa Search?

As many as you like. As long as a model supports skills, you can use Exa Search with it — GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Llama and more — all on TypingMind with your own API keys.

Is the Exa Search AI skill free?

Yes. It is published on GitHub by K-Dense-AI under the MIT license. You only pay your own AI provider for the tokens you use.

What are AI skills?

An AI skill is a reusable instruction bundle that teaches an AI model how to do one specific task. It follows the open Agent Skills format: a SKILL.md file with a name and description, plus any scripts, templates or reference files the model may need. The model reads the instructions only when your request matches the skill, so an installed skill costs nothing until it is used.

How are AI skills different from plugins or MCP servers?

A plugin or MCP server gives a model new tools to call — code that runs somewhere and returns a result. An AI skill gives the model knowledge and process instead: how to approach a task, which steps to follow, what good output looks like. Skills are plain Markdown, so they need no server, no API key and no runtime, and they work with any model.

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Overview

Installation

Install in TypingMind

Install in another agent

Use it in TypingMind

Works with any AI model

Skill instructions

Exa Web Toolkit

Routing — pick the right capability

Decision guide

Academic source priority

Setup

Authentication

Tracking header

Files in this skill

Bundled files

Frequently asked questions

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