How do I install the CLI Anything Exa skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add hkuds/cli-anything-exa in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the CLI Anything Exa skill do?

Agent-native CLI for Exa web search and content retrieval workflows. It is listed under AI & ML on SkillMD.

Is CLI Anything Exa safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: CAUTION, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: makes network calls, reads secrets. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with CLI Anything Exa?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is CLI Anything Exa free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published CLI Anything Exa?

HKUDS (@hkuds) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

CLI Anything Exa by hkuds — Agent Skill

Name: CLI Anything Exa
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: HKUDS

File contents

Exa CLI Skill

Identity

Name: cli-anything-exa
Version: 1.0.0
Category: search
Entry Point: cli-anything-exa

What This CLI Does

Provides an agent-native command-line interface to the Exa API — a neural search engine optimised for AI agent workflows. Supports web search across multiple modes (fast, deep, deep-reasoning) and fetching full-text or highlighted page contents.

Prerequisites

Python >= 3.10
pip install cli-anything-exa
export EXA_API_KEY="your-api-key" (get one at https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys)

Installation

pip install git+https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything.git#subdirectory=exa/agent-harness

Command Reference

search — Web search

cli-anything-exa search "<query>" [OPTIONS]

Options:
  --type       auto|fast|instant|deep|deep-reasoning  (default: auto)
  --num-results / -n   1–100  (default: 10)
  --category   company|people|research-paper|news|personal-site|financial-report
  --content    highlights|text|summary|none  (default: highlights)
  --freshness  smart|always|never  (default: smart)
  --include-domains DOMAIN   (repeatable)
  --exclude-domains DOMAIN   (repeatable)
  --from DATE   ISO 8601 start published date
  --to   DATE   ISO 8601 end published date
  --location CC  Two-letter country code for geo-bias

contents — Fetch page contents

cli-anything-exa contents <url> [url ...] [--content text|highlights|summary] [--freshness smart|always|never]

server status — Verify API key and connectivity

cli-anything-exa server status

JSON Output

All commands support --json at the root level for machine-readable output:

cli-anything-exa --json search "latest LLM papers" --num-results 5

Common Agent Patterns

Fast keyword lookup

cli-anything-exa --json search "site:arxiv.org transformer architectures" --type fast --content highlights

Deep research on a topic

cli-anything-exa --json search "EU AI Act compliance requirements 2024" --type deep --content text

Academic paper discovery

cli-anything-exa --json search "retrieval augmented generation" --category research-paper --num-results 20

Company intelligence

cli-anything-exa --json search "Anthropic funding history" --category company

News monitoring

cli-anything-exa --json search "AI regulation news" --category news --from 2024-01-01

Fetch full content for summarisation

cli-anything-exa --json contents https://example.com/article --content text

Interactive REPL

cli-anything-exa   # No subcommand → enters REPL

Type commands without the cli-anything-exa prefix. Type exit or quit to leave.

Notes

highlights content mode is 10× more token-efficient than text — prefer it for agent pipelines
--type deep triggers multi-step reasoning; slower but synthesises across many sources
--category company and --category people do not support date or domain-exclude filters
Cost per query is included in JSON output under cost_dollars

--- name: "cli-anything-exa" description: >- Agent-native CLI for Exa web search and content retrieval workflows. --- # Exa CLI Skill ## Identity - **Name**: cli-anything-exa - **Version**: 1.0.0 - **Category**: search - **Entry Point**: `cli-anything-exa` ## What This CLI Does Provides an agent-native command-line interface to the Exa API — a neural search engine optimised for AI agent workflows. Supports web search across multiple modes (fast, deep, deep-reasoning) and fetching full-text or highlighted page contents. ## Prerequisites - Python >= 3.10 - `pip install cli-anything-exa` - `export EXA_API_KEY="your-api-key"` (get one at https://dashboard.exa.ai/api-keys) ## Installation ```bash pip install git+https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything.git#subdirectory=exa/agent-harness ``` ## Command Reference ### search — Web search ```bash cli-anything-exa search "<query>" [OPTIONS] Options: --type auto|fast|instant|deep|deep-reasoning (default: auto) --num-results / -n 1–100 (default: 10) --category company|people|research-paper|news|personal-site|financial-report --content highlights|text|summary|none (default: highlights) --freshness smart|always|never (default: smart) --include-domains DOMAIN (repeatable) --exclude-domains DOMAIN (repeatable) --from DATE ISO 8601 start published date --to DATE ISO 8601 end published date --location CC Two-letter country code for geo-bias ``` ### contents — Fetch page contents ```bash cli-anything-exa contents <url> [url ...] [--content text|highlights|summary] [--freshness smart|always|never] ``` ### server status — Verify API key and connectivity ```bash cli-anything-exa server status ``` ## JSON Output All commands support `--json` at the root level for machine-readable output: ```bash cli-anything-exa --json search "latest LLM papers" --num-results 5 ``` ## Common Agent Patterns ### Fast keyword lookup ```bash cli-anything-exa --json search "site:arxiv.org transformer architectures" --type fast --content highlights ``` ### Deep research on a topic ```bash cli-anything-exa --json search "EU AI Act compliance requirements 2024" --type deep --content text ``` ### Academic paper discovery ```bash cli-anything-exa --json search "retrieval augmented generation" --category research-paper --num-results 20 ``` ### Company intelligence ```bash cli-anything-exa --json search "Anthropic funding history" --category company ``` ### News monitoring ```bash cli-anything-exa --json search "AI regulation news" --category news --from 2024-01-01 ``` ### Fetch full content for summarisation ```bash cli-anything-exa --json contents https://example.com/article --content text ``` ## Interactive REPL ```bash cli-anything-exa # No subcommand → enters REPL ``` Type commands without the `cli-anything-exa` prefix. Type `exit` or `quit` to leave. ## Notes - `highlights` content mode is 10× more token-efficient than `text` — prefer it for agent pipelines - `--type deep` triggers multi-step reasoning; slower but synthesises across many sources - `--category company` and `--category people` do not support date or domain-exclude filters - Cost per query is included in JSON output under `cost_dollars`

Frequently asked questions

CLI Anything Exa