Bring Semantic Search
to VS Code Copilot
Create your Vinkius account to connect Exa to VS Code Copilot and start using all 3 AI tools in minutes. Fully managed, enterprise secure, and ready to use without writing a single line of code. No hosting, no server setup — just connect and start using.
GDPR Free for SubscribersCompatible with every major AI agent and IDE
Gemini
What is the Exa MCP Server?
Connect your AI agent to Exa — the semantic search engine built from the ground up for AI applications.
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
How it works
- Subscribe to this server
- Enter your Exa API key (1,000 free searches/month)
- Your agent can now search the web with semantic understanding
Who is this for?
- AI Agent Developers — give agents web search that truly understands context and meaning
- Research Teams — find related papers, articles, and resources that keyword search would miss
- Content Teams — discover competitors, alternatives, and related content at scale
Built-in capabilities (3)
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
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
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
Why VS Code Copilot?
GitHub Copilot Agent mode brings Exa data directly into your VS Code workflow. With a project-scoped config, the entire team shares access to 3 tools. Copilot queries live data, generates typed code, and writes tests from actual API responses, all without leaving the editor.
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VS Code is used by over 70% of developers. adding MCP tools to Copilot means your team can leverage external data without leaving their primary editor
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Project-scoped MCP configs (
.vscode/mcp.json) let you commit server configurations to your repository, ensuring the entire team shares the same tool access - —
Copilot's Agent mode integrates MCP tools seamlessly with file editing, terminal commands, and workspace search in a single agentic loop
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GitHub's enterprise compliance and audit features extend to MCP tool usage, providing visibility into how AI interacts with external services
Exa in VS Code Copilot
Why run Exa with Vinkius?
The Exa connection runs on our fully managed, secure cloud infrastructure. We handle the hosting, maintenance, and security so you don't have to deal with servers or code. All 3 tools are ready to work instantly without any complex setup.
You stay in complete control of your data. Your AI only accesses the information you approve, keeping your sensitive passwords and private details completely safe. Plus, with automatic optimizations, your AI works faster and more efficiently.
* Every connection is hosted and maintained by Vinkius. We handle the security, updates, and infrastructure so you don't have to write code or manage servers. See our infrastructure
Over 4,000 integrations ready for AI agents
Explore a vast library of pre-built integrations, optimized and ready to deploy.
Connect securely in under 30 seconds
Generate tokens to authenticate and link external services in a single step.
Complete visibility into every agent action
Audit live requests, latency, success rates, and active security compliance policies.
Optimize spending and track token ROI
Analyze real-time token consumption and cost metrics detailed by connection.
Explore our live AI Agents Analytics dashboard to see it all working
This dashboard is included when you connect Exa using Vinkius. You will never be left in the dark about what your AI agents are doing with your tools.
Exa and 4,000+ other AI tools. No hosting, no code, ready to use.
Professionals who connect Exa to VS Code Copilot through Vinkius don't need to write code, manage servers, or worry about security. Everything is pre-configured, secure, and runs automatically in the background.
Raw MCP | Vinkius | |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-to-use MCPs | Find and configure each manually | 4,000+ MCPs ready to use |
| Connection Setup | Manual coding & server setup | 1-click instant connection |
| Server Hosting | You host it yourself (needs 24/7 uptime) | 100% hosted & managed by Vinkius |
| Security & Privacy | Stored in plaintext config files | Bank-grade encrypted vault |
| Activity Visibility | Blind execution (no logs or tracking) | Live dashboard with real-time logs |
| Cost Control | Runaway AI token spend risk | Automatic budget limits |
| Revoking Access | Must delete files or code to stop | 1-click disconnect button |
How Vinkius secures
Exa for VS Code Copilot
Every request between VS Code Copilot and Exa is protected by our secure gateway. We automatically keep your sensitive data private, prevent unauthorized access, and let you disconnect instantly at any time.
Frequently asked questions
How is Exa different from Google Search?
Exa uses neural embedding models to understand the meaning of your query, not just keywords. When you search 'startups building AI infrastructure', Google returns pages containing those exact words. Exa returns companies that match that concept — even if their pages use completely different terminology. It also provides specialized search indexes for people, companies, code, and academic papers.
What does the free tier include?
Exa's free tier includes 1,000 searches per month with content extraction included for up to 10 results per search at no additional cost. No credit card required. For higher volumes, paid plans offer increased quotas and priority support.
Can I filter results by domain, date, or category?
Yes! Exa supports powerful filtering options: include/exclude specific domains, filter by publication date range, search within specific categories (news, blog, academic, etc.), and even use domain path filtering to search within specific sections of a website.
Which VS Code version supports MCP?
MCP support requires VS Code 1.99 or later with the GitHub Copilot extension. Ensure both are updated to the latest version. Older versions of Copilot may not expose the Agent mode toggle.
How do I switch to Agent mode?
Open the Copilot Chat panel and look for two mode options: "Ask" and "Agent". Click "Agent" to enable autonomous tool calling. In Ask mode, Copilot provides conversational answers but cannot invoke MCP tools.
Can I restrict which MCP tools Copilot can access?
Yes. VS Code shows a tool consent dialog before any MCP tool is invoked for the first time. You can also configure tool access policies at the organization level through GitHub Copilot settings.
Does MCP work in VS Code Remote or Codespaces?
Yes. MCP servers configured via .vscode/mcp.json work in Remote SSH, WSL, and GitHub Codespaces environments. The MCP connection is established from the remote host, so ensure the server URL is accessible from that environment.
MCP tools not available
Ensure you are in Agent mode in Copilot Chat. MCP tools only appear in Agent mode.
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