Exa Research Demo

A small, shareable web-research agent built with React, OpenComputer, and Exa. Ask a question in the browser and the agent searches the live web with Exa, reads relevant results, and returns a concise answer with source links.

What the demo shows

• Natural-language web research with Exa
• Current results instead of model memory alone
• Semantic search with optional date, domain, and category filtering
• Relevant page highlights or full-text retrieval
• Streaming answers with clickable source URLs
• Follow-up questions in the same research session

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22 or newer
• An OpenComputer account
• An Exa API key

Never put the Exa key in .env, React source code, or a browser request. The key is stored by OpenComputer as a managed, write-only secret and is injected only into requests sent to https://api.exa.ai.

Install

Clone the repository, enter its directory, and install the dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/diggerhq/opencomputer-example-exa.git
cd opencomputer-example-exa
npm install

Log in to OpenComputer:

npm run opencomputer -- login

Configure the Exa API key

Set the development secret from the project directory:

npm run opencomputer -- secrets set EXA_API_KEY

Paste the key when prompted. Input is hidden. Confirm that the secret name is registered without printing its value:

npm run opencomputer -- secrets list --environment development

Only EXA_API_KEY is required.

Run locally

The agent sync and React development server run separately.

Terminal 1: sync the agent

npm run dev

The first run asks you to create an OpenComputer cloud project or select an existing one. Keep this process running while using the demo.

Terminal 2: start React

npm run dev:web

Open http://localhost:5173 in a browser.

Use the demo

1. Enter a research question or select one of the example prompts.
2. The OpenComputer agent receives the question and calls exa_search.
3. Exa searches the live web and returns ranked sources with page content.
4. The agent compares the evidence and streams an answer with source URLs.
5. Ask follow-up questions to continue in the same session.

Good questions to try:

What are the latest developments in AI coding agents?
Find recent companies hiring their first DevOps engineer.
Compare the newest open-source browser automation tools.

Build and deploy

Verify the production React build:

npm run build

Production uses a separate secret from development. Set it before deploying:

npm run opencomputer -- secrets set EXA_API_KEY \
  --environment production

Deploy the agent and application:

npm run deploy

Project structure

opencomputer/
  agents/hello-world/
    agent.ts                 Agent instructions and tool registration
    tools/exa.ts             Exa connection and exa_search tool
  project.ts                 OpenComputer project definition
opencomputer/agents/hello-world/skills/exa-search/
  SKILL.md                   Agent-specific research workflow guidance
src/
  App.tsx                    Exa demo interface
  use-agent.ts               Streaming OpenComputer client
  styles.css                 Responsive presentation styles

Commands

Command	Purpose
npm install	Install project dependencies
npm run dev	Sync the development agent to OpenComputer
npm run dev:web	Start the local React application
npm run build	Type-check and build the React application
npm run session	Open an agent session from the terminal
npm run deploy	Create a production deployment
npm run opencomputer -- <command>	Run the project-local OpenComputer CLI
npm run opencomputer -- secrets set EXA_API_KEY	Set the Exa secret
npm run opencomputer -- secrets list	List configured secret names and scopes

Troubleshooting

“OpenComputer is not running”

Start npm run dev first and leave it running before starting npm run dev:web.

Exa returns an authentication error

Set the key again in the environment you are using:

# Local development
npm run opencomputer -- secrets set EXA_API_KEY \
  --environment development

# Production deployment
npm run opencomputer -- secrets set EXA_API_KEY \
  --environment production

The first development run asks for a project

Choose an existing OpenComputer project or create a new one. The local binding is stored under .opencomputer/, which is intentionally excluded from Git.

The browser opens but research requests fail

Check that:

1. npm run dev is still running.
2. EXA_API_KEY appears in the development secrets list.
3. The Exa account has available API usage.
4. The terminal running the agent shows no connection or deployment errors.

Security notes

• Do not commit API keys, .env files, or .opencomputer/ state.
• React never receives the plaintext Exa key.
• The managed connection permits only HTTPS requests to the declared Exa API origin and methods.
• Rotate the Exa key immediately if it is pasted into source code, logs, chat, or another public location.