Exa: MCP server, CLI and agent surfaces
Yes: Exa runs a public MCP server at mcp.exa.ai that listed 2 tools to a client with no credentials on 4 November 2026. Examples: web_search_exa, web_fetch_exa. It speaks streamable-http, protocol 2025-11-25. Ora's cached score for exa.ai is 91, grade A, read on 5 November 2026.
Fact sheet
| Company | Exa |
|---|---|
| Domain | exa.ai |
| Category | Agent Tools (Ora leaderboard category) |
| MCP server | Verified (No authentication) |
| Ora score | 91, grade A; Ora scanned the domain on 5 November 2026 and the cached score was read on 5 November 2026 from its score API (Ora's score page for exa.ai, a vendor-published score) |
| Company found through | the awesome-remote-mcp-servers list; the official MCP Registry; Ora's public leaderboard |
| Last verified | 4 November 2026 |
MCP server
| Endpoint | https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp |
|---|---|
| How it was found | listed in the awesome-remote-mcp-servers list; the official MCP Registry; Ora's public leaderboard |
| Transport | streamable-http |
| HTTP status | 200 |
| Protocol version | 2025-11-25 |
| Server | exa-search-server 3.5.0 |
| Capabilities | tools, prompts, resources |
| Tools | 2 |
| Resources | 1 |
| Prompts | 1 |
| Connected | 4 November 2026, 20:02 UTC |
| Handshake time | 1,211 ms over 1 attempt |
Tools listed
2 tools
- web_search_exa
- web_fetch_exa
Connector log
2 connections on 4 November 2026, read-only methods only
- 19:57:24Z https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp sent initialize, notifications/initialized, tools/list, resources/list, prompts/list result verified (HTTP 200) 1141 ms
- 20:02:52Z https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp sent initialize, notifications/initialized, tools/list, resources/list, prompts/list result verified (HTTP 200) 1211 ms
Authentication
| Auth type | No authentication |
|---|---|
| Auth as listed by a registry | Open (a claim, not checked by connecting) |
The sign-in route, step by step
- Send the handshake to
https://mcp.exa.ai/mcpover streamable-http. Servers on the 2026-07-28 revision answerserver/discover; older servers answerinitialize. - Send
tools/list, thenresources/listandprompts/listif the capabilities name them. - Send no token. The connector sent none and the server answered, so any MCP client can read this list.
- Calling a tool is a separate step this directory never takes.
See OAuth for MCP: client ID metadata documents and dynamic registration for how each route works.
CLI
No CLI is on record for Exa. The directory checks a package only where a source names one, so this is a floor: a company can ship a command line that no source read for this edition mentions. See shipping a CLI agents can use.
Other agent surfaces
| Surface | Result |
|---|---|
| OpenAPI file | No OpenAPI file at the root paths checked. |
| WebMCP in the initial HTML | Not detected on the home page by the shared crawl. |
| MCP discovery file | Not found (the crawl got a non-200 answer). |
| A2A agent card | Not found (the crawl got a non-200 answer). |
| A2A agent card (older path) | Not found (the crawl got a non-200 answer). |
| agents.json | Not found (the crawl got a non-200 answer). |
| OAuth authorization server metadata | Found: exa.ai/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server answered with a valid document in the shared crawl. |
| NLWeb endpoint | Not checked in this edition. |
Registry listings
| Registry | Listed |
|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | Yes: ai.exa/exa |
| GitHub MCP Registry | No |
| awesome-remote-mcp-servers | Yes |
| Smithery | Yes: exa |
| Glama | Not checked: Glama's API needs a key and attribution terms. |