MCP Think Tank

Instructions

Input Schema

Input Schema (JSON Schema)

Implementation Reference

• src/research/search.ts:34-71 (handler)

  The execute handler for the 'exa_search' tool. Performs web search using Exa JS SDK, transforms parameters, checks for API key, handles errors, and returns JSON results.
  execute: async (params, context) => { const log = context && context.log ? context.log : { info() {}, error() {}, warn() {}, debug() {} }; try { // Only check for API key when actually executing the search // This allows tool listing without requiring the API key if (!process.env.EXA_API_KEY) { return JSON.stringify({ error: 'EXA_API_KEY environment variable is not set. Please set it in your configuration before using this tool.' }); } const exa = new Exa(process.env.EXA_API_KEY); // Transform parameters to match Exa API const searchParams = { numResults: params.num_results, type: params.type, // This should match the Exa API's expected values startPublishedDate: params.start_published_date, endPublishedDate: params.end_published_date, includeDomains: params.include_domains, excludeDomains: params.exclude_domains, category: params.category !== 'general' ? params.category : undefined // Only set category if not 'general' }; const results = await exa.search(params.query, searchParams); return JSON.stringify(results); } catch (error) { const errorMessage = `Error executing Exa search: ${error}`; log.error(errorMessage); return JSON.stringify({ error: errorMessage }); } } });
• src/research/search.ts:12-33 (schema)

  Zod input schema defining parameters for the exa_search tool: query, num_results, type, date filters, domain filters, category, and live_crawl options.
  parameters: z.object({ query: z.string().describe("The search query to execute"), num_results: z.number().min(1).max(100).default(5).describe("Number of results to return (1-100)"), type: z.enum(['auto', 'keyword', 'neural']).default('auto').describe("Search type: auto (default), keyword (exact matching), or neural (semantic search)"), start_published_date: z.string().optional().describe("Filter results published after this date (ISO format)"), end_published_date: z.string().optional().describe("Filter results published before this date (ISO format)"), include_domains: z.array(z.string()).optional().describe("Only include results from these domains"), exclude_domains: z.array(z.string()).optional().describe("Exclude results from these domains"), category: z.enum([ 'general', 'company', 'research paper', 'news', 'pdf', 'github', 'tweet', 'personal site', 'linkedin profile', 'financial report' ]).default('general').describe("Filter results by content category"), live_crawl: z.enum(['always', 'fallback']).default('always').describe("When to use live crawling: 'always' or 'fallback' (when cached not available)") }),
• src/research/search.ts:8-72 (registration)

  Registers the 'exa_search' tool on the FastMCP server, defining name, description, schema, and handler.
  export function registerExaSearchTool(server: FastMCP): void { server.addTool({ name: 'exa_search', description: 'Search the web using Exa API', parameters: z.object({ query: z.string().describe("The search query to execute"), num_results: z.number().min(1).max(100).default(5).describe("Number of results to return (1-100)"), type: z.enum(['auto', 'keyword', 'neural']).default('auto').describe("Search type: auto (default), keyword (exact matching), or neural (semantic search)"), start_published_date: z.string().optional().describe("Filter results published after this date (ISO format)"), end_published_date: z.string().optional().describe("Filter results published before this date (ISO format)"), include_domains: z.array(z.string()).optional().describe("Only include results from these domains"), exclude_domains: z.array(z.string()).optional().describe("Exclude results from these domains"), category: z.enum([ 'general', 'company', 'research paper', 'news', 'pdf', 'github', 'tweet', 'personal site', 'linkedin profile', 'financial report' ]).default('general').describe("Filter results by content category"), live_crawl: z.enum(['always', 'fallback']).default('always').describe("When to use live crawling: 'always' or 'fallback' (when cached not available)") }), execute: async (params, context) => { const log = context && context.log ? context.log : { info() {}, error() {}, warn() {}, debug() {} }; try { // Only check for API key when actually executing the search // This allows tool listing without requiring the API key if (!process.env.EXA_API_KEY) { return JSON.stringify({ error: 'EXA_API_KEY environment variable is not set. Please set it in your configuration before using this tool.' }); } const exa = new Exa(process.env.EXA_API_KEY); // Transform parameters to match Exa API const searchParams = { numResults: params.num_results, type: params.type, // This should match the Exa API's expected values startPublishedDate: params.start_published_date, endPublishedDate: params.end_published_date, includeDomains: params.include_domains, excludeDomains: params.exclude_domains, category: params.category !== 'general' ? params.category : undefined // Only set category if not 'general' }; const results = await exa.search(params.query, searchParams); return JSON.stringify(results); } catch (error) { const errorMessage = `Error executing Exa search: ${error}`; log.error(errorMessage); return JSON.stringify({ error: errorMessage }); } } }); }
• src/research/index.ts:8-15 (registration)

  Higher-level registration function that calls registerExaSearchTool to add the tool to the server.
  export function registerResearchTools(server: FastMCP): void { // Register Exa search tool registerExaSearchTool(server); // Register Exa answer tool registerExaAnswerTool(server); // No logging needed }
• src/tools/FastMCPAdapter.ts:229-258 (helper)

  Helper wrapper function for exa_search execution that suppresses console output during tool call and formats errors properly.
  async function callExaSearch( originalExecute: (params: any, context: any) => Promise<any>, params: any, context: any ): Promise<any> { // Store original console functions const originalLog = console.log; const originalError = console.error; try { // Temporarily disable console output to prevent it from mixing with JSON console.log = () => {}; console.error = () => {}; // Execute the tool with suppressed logging const result = await originalExecute(params, { ...context, direct: true }); return result; } catch (error: any) { // Return properly formatted error JSON instead of throwing return JSON.stringify({ status: 'ERROR', message: `Error executing Exa search: ${error.message}`, query: params.query }); } finally { // Always restore original console functions console.log = originalLog; console.error = originalError; } }