exa-tool

What This Skill Does

The exa-tool is a powerful integration for OpenClaw that connects directly to Exa's advanced search and research infrastructure. Unlike standard web search tools, this skill provides structured access to semantic, developer-focused, and deep research search engines. It allows agents to perform specialized queries for code, company data, individual profiles, and even initiate long-running deep research tasks that generate comprehensive reports. By leveraging the Exa MCP server, this tool bridges the gap between raw web data and actionable intelligence, making it an essential utility for research-heavy workflows.

Installation

To install this skill, run the command: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/claireaicodes/exa-tool. Once installed, you must obtain an API key from the Exa dashboard (https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys). Set this as an environment variable EXA_API_KEY in your shell configuration or within your project's .env file. After setting the variable, ensure your environment is sourced correctly and restart the OpenClaw gateway using openclaw gateway restart to register the new capabilities.

Use Cases

This skill is designed for scenarios requiring data-driven precision. It is ideal for:

• Developers searching for specific documentation or code snippets using get_code_context_exa.
• Business analysts performing deep-dive company research including news sentiment.
• Researchers conducting time-intensive investigations using the deep_researcher agent, which synthesizes information from multiple sources into a coherent report.
• Web crawlers needing clean, parsed content from specific domains for local processing.

Example Prompts

1. "Use the exa-tool to research the latest trends in autonomous agent frameworks for 2026 and summarize the top three projects."
2. "Find documentation on how to implement authentication in OpenClaw, ensuring the results are filtered for github.com domains."
3. "Search for the latest funding news regarding OpenClaw and provide a 30-day summary of developments."

Tips & Limitations

• The deep research tool runs asynchronously; ensure your workflow accounts for polling deep_researcher_check until completion.
• Use includeDomains and date filters to improve relevance and reduce noise in broad searches.
• Be mindful of your Exa API quota when running large-scale crawls or repeated deep research tasks as these consume more tokens than standard searches.