Exa MCP Server for Windsurf 3 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
Windsurf brings agentic AI coding to a purpose-built IDE. Connect Exa through Vinkius and Cascade will auto-discover every tool. ask questions, generate code, and act on live data without leaving your editor.
ASK AI ABOUT THIS MCP SERVER
Vinkius supports streamable HTTP and SSE.
Vinkius Desktop App
The modern way to manage MCP Servers — no config files, no terminal commands. Install Exa and 2,500+ MCP Servers from a single visual interface.
{
"mcpServers": {
"exa": {
"url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
}
}
}
* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure
About Exa MCP Server
Connect your AI agent to Exa — the semantic search engine built from the ground up for AI applications.
Windsurf's Cascade agent chains multiple Exa tool calls autonomously. query data, analyze results, and generate code in a single agentic session. Paste Vinkius Edge URL, reload, and all 3 tools are immediately available. Real-time tool feedback appears inline, so you see API responses directly in your editor.
What you can do
- Semantic Search — Search the web using natural language. Unlike Google, Exa understands concepts and meaning, returning results that are semantically relevant even without exact keyword matches
- Find Similar — Provide any URL and discover web pages with similar content. Perfect for competitive analysis, research expansion, and content discovery
- Extract Contents — Get clean text, highlights, and summaries from any list of URLs. Ideal for building knowledge bases from curated sources
The Exa MCP Server exposes 3 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Windsurf in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.
How to Connect Exa to Windsurf via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the Exa MCP Server with Windsurf.
Open MCP Settings
Go to Settings → MCP Configuration or press Cmd+Shift+P and search "MCP"
Add the server
Paste the JSON configuration above into mcp_config.json
Save and reload
Windsurf will detect the new server automatically
Start using Exa
Open Cascade and ask: "Using Exa, help me...". 3 tools available
Why Use Windsurf with the Exa MCP Server
Windsurf provides unique advantages when paired with Exa through the Model Context Protocol.
Windsurf's Cascade agent autonomously chains multiple tool calls in sequence, solving complex multi-step tasks without manual intervention
Purpose-built for agentic workflows. Cascade understands context across your entire codebase and integrates MCP tools natively
JSON-based configuration means zero code changes: paste a URL, reload, and all 3 tools are immediately available
Real-time tool feedback is displayed inline, so you see API responses directly in your editor without switching contexts
Exa + Windsurf Use Cases
Practical scenarios where Windsurf combined with the Exa MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Automated code generation: ask Cascade to fetch data from Exa and generate models, types, or handlers based on real API responses
Live debugging: query Exa tools mid-session to inspect production data while debugging without leaving the editor
Documentation generation: pull schema information from Exa and have Cascade generate comprehensive API docs automatically
Rapid prototyping: combine Exa data with Cascade's code generation to scaffold entire features in minutes
Exa MCP Tools for Windsurf (3)
These 3 tools become available when you connect Exa to Windsurf via MCP:
exa_find_similar
Useful for finding competitors, related articles, or alternative sources on the same subject. Find web pages semantically similar to a given URL. Perfect for competitive analysis and content discovery
exa_get_contents
Useful when you already know which pages you want to read and need their content in a structured format. Extract clean text content from specific URLs. Provide comma-separated URLs to retrieve their content
exa_search
Returns page text, highlights, and relevance scores. Supports search types: auto (default), instant (fastest), fast, deep (most thorough). Search the web using Exa semantic search engine. Finds conceptually relevant results, not just keyword matches
Example Prompts for Exa in Windsurf
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Windsurf agent to start working with Exa immediately.
"Search for companies building memory infrastructure for AI agents."
"Find pages similar to https://docs.langchain.com/docs/get_started/introduction"
"Extract the content from these 3 URLs: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.00001, https://openai.com/blog, https://anthropic.com/research"
Troubleshooting Exa MCP Server with Windsurf
Common issues when connecting Exa to Windsurf through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
Server not connecting
Exa + Windsurf FAQ
Common questions about integrating Exa MCP Server with Windsurf.
How does Windsurf discover MCP tools?
mcp_config.json file on startup and connects to each configured server via Streamable HTTP. Tools are listed in the MCP panel and available to Cascade automatically.Can Cascade chain multiple MCP tool calls?
Does Windsurf support multiple MCP servers?
mcp_config.json. Each server's tools appear in the MCP panel and Cascade can use tools from different servers in a single flow.Connect Exa with your favorite client
Step-by-step setup guides for every MCP-compatible client and framework:
Anthropic's native desktop app for Claude with built-in MCP support.
AI-first code editor with integrated LLM-powered coding assistance.
GitHub Copilot in VS Code with Agent mode and MCP support.
Purpose-built IDE for agentic AI coding workflows.
Autonomous AI coding agent that runs inside VS Code.
Anthropic's agentic CLI for terminal-first development.
Python SDK for building production-grade OpenAI agent workflows.
Google's framework for building production AI agents.
Type-safe agent development for Python with first-class MCP support.
TypeScript toolkit for building AI-powered web applications.
TypeScript-native agent framework for modern web stacks.
Python framework for orchestrating collaborative AI agent crews.
Leading Python framework for composable LLM applications.
Data-aware AI agent framework for structured and unstructured sources.
Microsoft's framework for multi-agent collaborative conversations.
Connect Exa to Windsurf
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 3 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.