# Exa People Research

> People research using Exa search. Finds LinkedIn profiles, professional backgrounds, experts, team members, and public bios. Use when searching for people, finding experts, or looking up professional profiles.

- Skill: `layneformalized225/exa-people-research` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add layneformalized225/exa-people-research`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/layneformalized225/exa-people-research/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: Layneformalized225 (https://skillmd.com/u/layneformalized225)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/layneformalized225/exa-people-research

---


# People Research (Exa)

## Tool

Use `exec` to call: `mcporter call exa-search.web_search_advanced_exa <params>`

## Critical Rules

- **Never run searches in main context.** Spawn subagents or run sequentially.
- **Query variation:** 2-3 phrasings, run in parallel, deduplicate.
- **Dynamic numResults:** "a few" → 10-20, "comprehensive" → 50-100.

## Categories

| Category | Use for |
|----------|---------|
| `people` | LinkedIn profiles, public bios (primary) |
| `personal site` | Blogs, portfolios, about pages |
| `news` | Press mentions, interviews, speaker bios |
| _(none)_ | General web, broader context |

### Restrictions with `category=people`

Do NOT use: `startPublishedDate`, `endPublishedDate`, `startCrawlDate`, `endCrawlDate`, `excludeDomains`, `includeText`, `excludeText`.
`includeDomains` → LinkedIn only: `["linkedin.com"]`.

## Call Syntax

```bash
# Find people by role
mcporter call exa-search.web_search_advanced_exa \
  query="VP Engineering AI infrastructure" \
  category=people \
  numResults=20 \
  type=auto

# Deep dive on specific person
mcporter call exa-search.web_search_advanced_exa \
  query="Dario Amodei Anthropic CEO background" \
  type=auto \
  livecrawl=fallback \
  numResults=15

# News mentions
mcporter call exa-search.web_search_advanced_exa \
  query="Dario Amodei interview 2024" \
  category=news \
  numResults=10 \
  startPublishedDate=2024-01-01

# LinkedIn only
mcporter call exa-search.web_search_advanced_exa \
  query="Machine learning engineer San Francisco" \
  category=people \
  includeDomains='["linkedin.com"]' \
  numResults=25
```

## Output Format

Return:
1. Results — name, title, company, location (if available)
2. Sources — profile URLs
3. Notes — profile completeness, verification status

## Browser Fallback

If content is auth-gated (private LinkedIn, etc.) → use `browser` tool with logged-in session.