Exa Deep Search

---
name: exa-deep-search
description: Search, extract, and compare high-quality public sources with Exa through SandBase. Use when asked for deep web research, source discovery, current evidence, topic investigation, company research, or citation-ready findings.
---

# Exa Deep Search

Turn Exa search into a focused, source-backed research brief. This Skill calls the named Exa capabilities in [the SandBase API map](references/sandbase-api-map.md) through the SandBase MCP gateway. In a SandBase Agent, run the capabilities directly. In another compatible agent, require an authorized SandBase connection before starting; never request, print, or store an API key in the research output.

Read [example workflows](references/example-workflows.md) when the user needs a starting prompt or wants to understand the output.

## Operating principles

- Start from the user's research question and decision context, not a generic search.
- Treat Exa results as evidence; treat model-generated synthesis, comparisons, and recommendations as judgment clearly separated from sources.
- Select search depth, time window, domains, and geography deliberately. State any assumption rather than silently defaulting.
- Optimize for source quality, recency, and relevance — not quantity.
- Cite every externally verifiable claim with a result URL and publication date (when available).
- Keep user research goals, company context, and strategy confidential unless sharing is explicitly requested.

## Workflow

### 1. Frame the research question

Collect or infer: the topic or entity, time window, geography, trusted or excluded domains, audience for the deliverable, and how findings will be used. Classify the request as one or more of: landscape scan, deep evidence gathering, competitive intelligence, current news monitoring, or specific-source extraction.

When the research question is broad, propose 2–3 focused sub-queries and confirm scope before spending API calls.

### 2. Select and call SandBase capabilities

Read [the SandBase API map](references/sandbase-api-map.md) before selecting tools. Use the listed `tool_name` through the SandBase gateway:

1. Call `sandbase_describe_tool` for the selected `tool_name` and read its current input schema.
2. Call `sandbase_call_tool` with that exact `tool_name` and only schema-defined arguments.
3. Keep the tool name, query, search parameters, and result metadata with the returned data.

### 3. Search with Exa

Use `exa_search` with parameters matched to the research need:

| Research need | Recommended parameters |
|---|---|
| Current landscape | `topic: "news"`, bounded `start_published_date`/`end_published_date`, `include_highlights: true` |
| Deep evidence | `search_depth: "advanced"`, `include_summary: true`, request full text only for selected sources |
| Trusted sources only | `include_domains` for first-party, academic, or approved publishers |
| Competitive research | `exclude_domains` for the target's own site; separate queries per competitor |
| Validation or quick check | `search_depth: "basic"`, `num_results: 3–5` |

Tips:
- Write queries as natural-language statements of what a good result page would say, not short keyword strings. Exa responds best to semantic queries.
- Use `category` when available (e.g., `"research paper"`, `"company"`, `"news"`) to narrow result types.
- Iterate: refine by entity, product, problem, event, or time period until evidence is sufficient.
- Request `include_highlights: true` to get relevant snippets without extracting full text for every result.

### 4. Extract selected sources

When deeper analysis of specific pages is needed, send selected URLs to `exa_contents`:

- Choose `include_text: true` for full page content when analyzing structure or extracting data.
- Choose `include_highlights: true` with a `highlights_query` to focus extraction on specific aspects.
- Choose `include_summary: true` for concise overviews when reviewing many pages.
- Use `subpages` only for explicit documentation, pricing, or API crawl tasks.
- Use `max_age_hours: 0` only when freshness requires a live crawl; avoid for routine research.

If `exa_contents` is not yet available in the current Gateway, return the Search results and explicitly state that extraction is awaiting capability publication.

### 5. Synthesize findings

- Separate direct observations from interpretation.
- Group findings by theme, entity, or chronology as appropriate for the research question.
- Note disagreements between sources and evidence gaps.
- Propose follow-up queries for unresolved questions.

## Query crafting tips

Good Exa queries describe the content of the ideal result page:

| Poor query | Better query |
|---|---|
| `AI agents` | `How enterprises evaluate AI agent platforms for production deployment` |
| `observability tools` | `Comparison of AI agent observability and tracing solutions 2025` |
| `competitor pricing` | `Pricing page for enterprise AI agent orchestration platform` |

- Add temporal context: "in 2025", "since January", "latest announcement".
- Add specificity: mention the industry, company size, technology stack, or use case.
- Use `exclude_domains` to avoid results you already know about.

## Output

Return a structured research brief:

### Source map

| # | Title | URL | Published | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ... | ... | ... | ... |

### Key findings

Numbered findings, each citing source(s) by number.

### Disagreements and evidence gaps

What sources disagree on, and what questions remain unanswered.

### Suggested next queries

Follow-up Exa queries or alternative research paths.

## Evidence rules

- Cite a result URL for every externally verifiable claim.
- Label a result's publication date as "unavailable" when Exa does not return one.
- Do not treat an Exa summary as a source quote; use it as an aid to select evidence, then cite the original URL.
- Do not call Exa Answer or Exa Agent endpoints. The user's Agent/LLM synthesizes the evidence.
- Do not copy long source passages; paraphrase and cite.
- Mark clearly when a finding is inferred from multiple sources vs. directly stated in one.

## Failure handling

- If SandBase is unavailable or unauthorized, report the failed capability and ask the user to connect or authorize SandBase; do not silently substitute a direct provider API.
- If `exa_search` returns few or no results, try: broader query, different `search_depth`, removed domain filters, or a wider date range. Report if the topic genuinely lacks public coverage.
- If `exa_contents` is unavailable, deliver search results with highlights and explicitly note the extraction gap.
- If results are low-quality or off-topic, refine the query before reporting; explain what was tried.

## Example tasks

- "Find the last 30 days of reliable sources about AI agent observability. Give me a five-source brief with gaps."
- "Research how enterprise teams evaluate AI agents. Prefer company and academic sources; exclude vendor blogs."
- "Compare the public arguments for and against a retrieval architecture. Use advanced search and cite each source."
- "Find recent funding announcements in the AI developer tools space. Only include sources from the last 7 days."
- "Extract the pricing and feature comparison from these three competitor pages: [URLs]."

## Quality gate

Before delivering, verify that:

- Every finding cites at least one source URL.
- Observations are separated from model-generated interpretations.
- The search parameters (depth, dates, domains) match the stated research need.
- Evidence gaps and low-confidence findings are explicitly labeled.
- The deliverable format matches what the user requested.