Search the web with Exa AI-native search and insert results directly into your notes.
- Overview
- Scorecard
- Updates3
Search the web with Exa directly from Obsidian and insert results into your notes.
Exa is an AI-native search engine that returns clean, relevant results with highlights and content extraction. It powers search for Cursor, Claude, Codex, and many AI agent frameworks.
Features
- Search the web from a command palette modal
- Search selected text with a single hotkey
- Results inserted as formatted markdown with links, dates, and highlights
- Configurable result count, highlights, full text extraction, and search type
- Works on desktop and mobile (uses Obsidian's built-in HTTP client)
- No external dependencies or servers required
Setup
- Install the plugin (see below)
- Go to Settings > Exa Search
- Enter your Exa API key (get one free at dashboard.exa.ai)
Usage
Open the command palette (Ctrl/Cmd + P) and run:
- Exa Search: Search the web to open the search modal and type a query
- Exa Search: Search selected text to search whatever text you have selected in the editor
Results are inserted at your cursor position as markdown. If no editor is open, results are copied to the clipboard.
Settings
| Setting | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| API key | (none) | Your Exa API key |
| Number of results | 5 | How many results to return (1-20) |
| Include highlights | On | Show relevant text snippets from each result |
| Include full text | Off | Include the full page content (can be long) |
| Search type | Auto | How Exa interprets the query (auto or keyword) |
Installation
From community plugins (pending review)
- Open Settings > Community plugins > Browse
- Search for "Exa Search"
- Select Install, then Enable
Manual
- Download
main.js,manifest.json, andstyles.css(if present) from the latest release - Create a folder
<your-vault>/.obsidian/plugins/exa-search/ - Copy the downloaded files into that folder
- Restart Obsidian and enable the plugin in Settings > Community plugins
Privacy
- Your Exa API key is stored locally in your vault's plugin data. It is only sent to
api.exa.aiwhen you run a search. - No telemetry, analytics, or tracking of any kind.
- Search queries are sent to the Exa API to return results. No vault contents are sent unless you explicitly search selected text.
License
MIT
HealthExcellent
ReviewPassed
About
Search the web from Obsidian with Exa and insert results as formatted Markdown, including links, dates, and highlighted snippets. Trigger searches from the command palette or a hotkey; results insert at the cursor or copy to clipboard and work on desktop and mobile.Details
Current version
1.1.1
Last updated
Last month
Created
Last month
Updates
3 releases
Downloads
107
Compatible with
Obsidian 1.12.7+
Platforms
Desktop, Mobile
License
MIT