EExaHelp Center

Guide

Basic Search

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Overview

Exa is a live web data search API that enables developers and companies to integrate current web information into AI applications. The Exa dashboard provides an interactive interface for exploring search capabilities before implementing them in code. This workflow walks you through a foundational search operation: composing a query, controlling result volume, applying category filters to focus on specific business domains, and toggling structured output mode to receive results in a format optimized for programmatic processing. Understanding these core search parameters is essential for both testing queries and configuring API calls in production.

Before you begin

  • You have an active Exa account and are signed in to dashboard.exa.ai
  • You are viewing the Exa dashboard home page or search interface
  • You have a search query in mind (or are prepared to use an example from the dashboard)

Step by step

1
ClickSearch

Navigate to the search interface by clicking the Search link in the top navigation of the Exa dashboard.

Step 1
2
ClickEnter a query, or try an example

Click on the query input field labeled 'Enter a query, or try an example' to activate it and prepare to enter your search terms.

Tip. If you are new to Exa, click on one of the suggested examples displayed in the input field to see how search results are formatted and what data is available.
Step 2
3
TypeEnter a query, or try an example

Type your search query into the active text field. This can be a keyword, phrase, or natural language question relevant to your research or application.

Tip. Use specific, descriptive terms to narrow results. For example, instead of 'software,' try 'AI startup funding 2024' for more targeted results.
4
Clickgeneric

Click elsewhere on the page or press Enter to submit your query and retrieve initial results.

Step 4
5
ClickDefault: 10

Click on the results count field (labeled 'Default: 10') to open the input for customizing how many search results to display.

Tip. The default is 10 results. You can increase this to retrieve more comprehensive data, but be aware that larger result sets may take longer to process.
Step 5
6
TypeDefault: 10

Enter the desired number of results (for example, 20, 50, or another value) and confirm your entry.

Tip. If you need detailed analysis, start with 10–20 results to keep response times reasonable. Increase the limit only if initial results are insufficient.
7
Click—

Click the collapse or expand button (represented by '—') to reveal additional filter options.

Step 7
8
ClickCompany

Click the 'Company' filter button to restrict search results to entries categorized as company-related content. This narrows results to business-focused sources and profiles.

Tip. Exa supports multiple category filters. If you need results from other categories (e.g., News, Research), you can toggle additional filters after Company is selected.
Step 8
9
ClickStructured outputsReturn structured outputs in addition to search results.

Enable the 'Structured outputs' toggle switch to activate structured data formatting. This returns results in a machine-readable format (such as JSON) in addition to human-readable summaries.

Tip. Structured outputs are especially valuable if you plan to integrate these search results into an AI application or automated workflow—the formatted data is easier to parse and process programmatically.
Step 9

Confirm it worked

  1. 1Search results appear on the page after entering your query and adjusting filters
  2. 2The results panel displays the number of results you specified (e.g., 10, 20, etc.)
  3. 3Results are filtered to show only entries from the 'Company' category
  4. 4Structured outputs are enabled—results display in a formatted, machine-readable layout (JSON or similar format)

Common issues

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