# Exa answer with citations

Performs a search based on the query and generates either a direct answer or a detailed summary with citations, depending on the query type. Needs query.

Exa answer with citations, by Exa. Performs a search based on the query and generates either a direct answer or a detailed summary with citations, depending on the query type. Price: $0.005 per request (model exa, exa-fast); exa-pro and exa-research reserved at $0.01 and $0.05; +$0.02 reserved when full text is requested. Billed at the cost Exa reports for the call (costDollars.total); the quote is the upper bound.

- Tool ID: `exa/answer`
- Provider: [Exa](/providers/exa.md)
- Capability: [Deep research & cited answers](/tools/web-search/deep-research.md)
- Price: usage based, the maximum is shown before a run
- Authentication: an authorised Agentik workspace is required for execution, including zero-price tools.

## Pricing contract

Billed at the cost the provider reports for the call, never above $1. Your agent sees the maximum before running.


```json
{
  "model": "reported",
  "costPath": "costDollars.total",
  "maxUsdDefault": 0.005,
  "maxUsdCap": 1,
  "multipliers": [
    {
      "when": {
        "field": "model",
        "equals": "exa-pro"
      },
      "setUsd": 0.01
    },
    {
      "when": {
        "field": "model",
        "equals": "exa-research"
      },
      "setUsd": 0.05
    },
    {
      "when": {
        "field": "text",
        "truthy": true
      },
      "addUsd": 0.02
    },
    {
      "when": {
        "field": "outputSchema",
        "truthy": true
      },
      "addUsd": 0.001
    }
  ]
}
```

Pricing source: [https://exa.ai/pricing](https://exa.ai/pricing). $0.005 per request (model exa, exa-fast); exa-pro and exa-research reserved at $0.01 and $0.05; +$0.02 reserved when full text is requested..

Price verification date: 2026-10-08.

## Complete input schema


```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "query": {
      "type": "string",
      "minLength": 1,
      "description": "Natural-language question or instructions for the request."
    },
    "text": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "title": "Simple text retrieval",
      "description": "If true, returns full page text with default settings. If false, disables text return.",
      "default": false
    },
    "model": {
      "description": "The model used to generate the answer.",
      "default": "exa",
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "exa",
        "exa-pro",
        "exa-research",
        "exa-fast"
      ]
    },
    "systemPrompt": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Additional instructions that guide generated output or agent behavior. Use this for source preferences, novelty constraints, duplication constraints, or other behavior guidance."
    },
    "userLocation": {
      "anyOf": [
        {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "The two-letter ISO country code of the user, e.g. US."
        },
        {
          "type": "null"
        }
      ]
    },
    "outputSchema": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "type": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "The root schema type (typically \"object\")."
        },
        "properties": {
          "type": "object",
          "propertyNames": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "additionalProperties": {
            "description": "Any JSON value.",
            "oneOf": [
              {
                "type": "null"
              },
              {
                "type": "boolean"
              },
              {
                "type": "number"
              },
              {
                "type": "string"
              },
              {
                "type": "array",
                "items": {}
              },
              {
                "type": "object",
                "propertyNames": {
                  "type": "string"
                },
                "additionalProperties": {}
              }
            ]
          },
          "description": "An object where each key is a property name and each value is a JSON Schema describing that property (with `type`, `description`, etc)."
        },
        "required": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "description": "List of required property names."
        },
        "description": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "A description of the schema."
        },
        "additionalProperties": {
          "type": "boolean",
          "description": "Whether to allow properties not listed in `properties`.",
          "default": false
        }
      },
      "additionalProperties": {
        "description": "Any JSON value.",
        "oneOf": [
          {
            "type": "null"
          },
          {
            "type": "boolean"
          },
          {
            "type": "number"
          },
          {
            "type": "string"
          },
          {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {}
          },
          {
            "type": "object",
            "propertyNames": {
              "type": "string"
            },
            "additionalProperties": {}
          }
        ]
      },
      "description": "A [JSON Schema Draft 7](https://json-schema.org/draft-07) specification for the desired answer structure. When provided, the answer is returned as a structured object matching the schema instead of a plain string."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "query"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## Published example

This is the provider tool’s published example. Replace example values with the user’s requested inputs, respecting the schema; do not execute an example merely to test a connection.


```json
{
  "tool_id": "exa/answer",
  "input": {
    "query": "What is the capital of Portugal? Answer in one sentence."
  }
}
```

## Execute and retrieve

Inspect again before execution, explain the price and obtain the required authority. Use MCP run_tool or POST /v1/run with this tool ID, valid input and an idempotency key. Save the returned run ID and follow the actual state. If Agentik answers that the tool is temporarily unavailable, do not retry it blindly; use discovery to propose an alternative.

A partial or uncertain result can still have consumed provider resources. Consult [billing](/docs/billing.md), [idempotency](/docs/idempotency.md) and [asynchronous results](/docs/async.md).

[Provider documentation](https://exa.ai/docs/reference/answer)

[REST inspection](https://api.agentik.cc/v1/tools/exa/answer) · [OpenAPI](/openapi.json) · [Connection guide](/connect.md)

---

[HTML page](/providers/exa/answer) · [Agent index](/llms.txt)