📦

exa

Name: exa
Author: Dwsy

Content revision r1 High Risk 🔑 Env variables🌐 Network access⚙️ External commands📁 Filesystem access

Search the Web with Exa.ai

AI agents often need current web results with clear search intent. This skill lets Claude, Codex, and Claude Code query Exa.ai through a simple Node.js wrapper.

Supports: Claude Codex Code(CC)

⚠️ 38 Poor

Stop for confirmation before installing.

Review the plan and obtain explicit user consent before changing files.

Install with my Agent

Copy this request to your Agent. It includes the canonical Skill page and manifest.

Agent request

Review the Skillstore skill "exa" from https://skillstore.io/skills/dwsy-exa.md and its manifest at https://skillstore.io/api/skills/dwsy-exa/manifest. Verify the artifact. Stop and obtain explicit user consent before installing or changing files.

Your Agent should still show its plan and request any confirmation required by the security policy.

Agent-readable resources

Use these links when an AI agent, crawler, or script needs clean context instead of reading the full page.

Markdown detail GET /skills/dwsy-exa.md Signed manifest GET /api/skills/dwsy-exa/manifest Signed lockfile GET /api/skills/dwsy-exa/lockfile

Test it

Using "exa". Search for recent work on AI agent memory systems.

Expected outcome:

A short list of relevant web results with titles, source links, and brief notes for follow-up reading.

Using "exa". Find public information about Exa.ai search use cases.

Expected outcome:

A summarized set of pages that describe Exa.ai capabilities, developer examples, and product positioning.

Using "exa". Research alternatives to traditional keyword search APIs.

Expected outcome:

A comparison-oriented result summary covering neural search providers, API features, and evaluation points.

Security Audit

High Risk

v9 • 7/9/2026 Open versioned report

The skill is a small Exa.ai search wrapper with legitimate but real environment-secret and network access. Most static findings in SKILL.md are Markdown documentation false positives, while the main residual risks are EXA_API_KEY handling, external query sharing, and untrusted search result output.

Files scanned

184

Lines analyzed

Review items

False positives ignored

Confirmed security concerns (3)

High

exa.js:5

Environment file access

const apiKey = process.env.EXA_API_KEY;

Line 5 reads EXA_API_KEY, and the dotenv import on line 2 can populate it from a local environment file. No broader file access is shown, but sensitive local secret access is real.

Medium

exa.js:23 exa.js:12-16

User Query Forwarded to External Search API

The script collects the command-line query and sends it to Exa.ai through the Exa client. Users should treat search queries as data shared with an external provider.

exa.js builds the query from process.argv on line 23 and calls exa.search with that query on lines 12-16. This directly supports the external data-sharing assessment.

Medium

exa.js:12-16

Untrusted Search Results Emitted to Agent Output

Search results from the web are printed directly to stdout without labeling or filtering them as untrusted content. An agent that consumes the output could be exposed to prompt injection text from result content.

The code prints Exa search results directly after receiving them from the external API. The exact result fields depend on the provider, so confidence is high for untrusted output exposure but lower for exploitability.

Capability review items (8)

These are real local capabilities that may be expected for this skill, so they require review but are not counted as confirmed malicious behavior.

High

exa.js:5

Generic API/secret keys

const apiKey = process.env.EXA_API_KEY;

Line 5 reads EXA_API_KEY and line 10 uses it to instantiate the Exa client. The key is required, but direct API secret use is a real sensitive operation.

Medium

exa.js:5

Environment variable access (dot notation)

const apiKey = process.env.EXA_API_KEY;

Line 5 directly reads process.env.EXA_API_KEY, giving the skill access to an API credential. The access is expected for Exa, but it is still real secret handling.

Medium

exa.js:5

Environment variable object

const apiKey = process.env.EXA_API_KEY;

The process.env access on line 5 reads the EXA_API_KEY value at runtime. This is legitimate configuration, but it exposes an environment secret to the script.

Low

exa.js:2

dotenv library

import 'dotenv/config';

Line 2 imports dotenv/config, which loads environment variables from local dotenv files. This is common for API clients, but it broadens local secret access.

Low

pnpm-lock.yaml:34

HTTP client library

node-fetch@2.7.0:

node-fetch appears in the dependency tree, supporting outbound HTTP behavior for the Exa client stack. Network access is expected for web search but remains a real capability.

Low

pnpm-lock.yaml:76

HTTP client library

node-fetch: 2.7.0

The snapshot shows cross-fetch depending on node-fetch. This confirms the installed dependencies can perform external HTTP requests for the search workflow.

Low

pnpm-lock.yaml:95

HTTP client library

node-fetch@2.7.0:

The node-fetch snapshot confirms an HTTP client is installed. This is normal for Exa.ai access, but it is still network capability in the skill.

Low

pnpm-lock.yaml:11

dotenv library

dotenv:

The importer declares dotenv as a direct dependency. Combined with exa.js line 2, this supports runtime loading of environment secrets.

Risk Factors

🔑 Env variables (14)

exa.js:5 exa.js:5 exa.js:2 exa.js:5 exa.js:7 pnpm-lock.yaml:11 pnpm-lock.yaml:23 pnpm-lock.yaml:27 pnpm-lock.yaml:80 pnpm-lock.yaml:82 pnpm-lock.yaml:87 SKILL.md:3 SKILL.md:26 SKILL.md:36

🌐 Network access (3)

pnpm-lock.yaml:34 pnpm-lock.yaml:76 pnpm-lock.yaml:95

⚙️ External commands (7)

SKILL.md:14 SKILL.md:15 SKILL.md:19-22 SKILL.md:22-26 SKILL.md:26-30 SKILL.md:30-35 SKILL.md:35-36

📁 Filesystem access (6)

SKILL.md:14 SKILL.md:20 SKILL.md:35 SKILL.md:14 SKILL.md:20 SKILL.md:35

Audited by: codex View Audit History →

Share & cite this report

Share the versioned assessment report, neutral badge, embed card, and citations. Skillstore reports evidence without deciding whether this Skill is safe.

Open versioned report

Copy report link

https://skillstore.io/skills/dwsy-exa/audits/9?utm_source=security_passport&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=versioned_report

Markdown badge

[![Skillstore security assessment](https://skillstore.io/badges/skills/dwsy-exa/security.svg)](https://skillstore.io/skills/dwsy-exa?utm_source=security_passport_badge)

HTML badge

<a href="https://skillstore.io/skills/dwsy-exa?utm_source=security_passport_badge"><img src="https://skillstore.io/badges/skills/dwsy-exa/security.svg" alt="Skillstore security assessment" loading="lazy"></a>

Embed card

<iframe src="https://skillstore.io/embed/skills/dwsy-exa.html" title="Skillstore Security Assessment" sandbox="allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer" width="420" height="180"></iframe>

Academic citations (APA · BibTeX · CFF)

APA citation

Dwsy. (2026). exa security audit report (audit version 9) [Author version unspecified]. Skillstore. https://skillstore.io/skills/dwsy-exa/audits/9

BibTeX citation

@techreport{dwsy-dwsy-exa-2026,
  author = {Dwsy},
  title = {exa security audit report (audit version 9)},
  institution = {Skillstore},
  year = {2026},
  number = {9},
  url = {https://skillstore.io/skills/dwsy-exa/audits/9},
  note = {Author version unspecified}
}

CITATION.cff

cff-version: 1.2.0
message: "If you use this Skill, cite its author and this versioned security audit report."
title: "exa security audit report (audit version 9)"
version: "unspecified"
type: report
authors:
  - name: "Dwsy"
date-released: "2026-07-09"
url: "https://skillstore.io/skills/dwsy-exa/audits/9"
identifiers:
  - type: other
    value: "skillstore:dwsy-exa:audit:9"
    description: "Skillstore immutable audit report identifier"

Skillstore Score

Why this score Evidence Confidence: Medium

Architecture

Maintainability

Content

Community

Spec Compliance

What You Can Build

Research a Current Topic

Find recent web sources for a topic before drafting a summary or brief.

Add Web Search to Agent Workflows

Let an AI coding assistant gather public context while working in a local project.

Collect Competitive Signals

Search for public pages about products, companies, or market changes.

Try These Prompts

Basic Topic Search

Search Exa for recent background on [topic]. Summarize the most relevant results and include source titles.

Find Authoritative Sources

Use Exa to find authoritative sources about [subject]. Prefer official documentation, primary sources, and recent analysis.

Compare Market Options

Search Exa for public information about [company or product]. Compare the main claims, pricing signals, and target users.

Build a Research Brief

Run focused Exa searches for [research question]. Group results by theme, flag weak evidence, and produce a concise research brief.

Best Practices

Use specific search terms that include the topic, entity, and time range.
Keep secrets and private customer data out of search queries.
Verify important claims against primary sources before using them.

Avoid

Do not send credentials, private code, or confidential plans as search terms.
Do not treat search results as verified facts without review.
Do not expect this skill to crawl full websites or bypass access controls.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this skill require an API key?

Yes. It requires EXA_API_KEY in the environment before running searches.

Which AI tools can use it?

The report marks support for Claude, Codex, and Claude Code.

What does the skill return?

It returns formatted Exa.ai search result data for the requested query.

Can it browse private or authenticated pages?

No. It uses the Exa.ai search API and does not manage website logins.

Are search queries private?

Queries are sent to Exa.ai, so users should avoid sensitive or confidential text.

Does it validate the search results?

No. Users should review sources and verify important claims independently.

Developer Details

Author

Dwsy

License

MIT

Skillstore revision

Version notice

The author did not declare a version.

Repository

https://github.com/Dwsy/agent/tree/main/skills/exa

Ref

0519034dad657fb1f7706e0550e962beeda73fdf

Maintenance freshness

7/18/2026

Usage

16 downloads · 163 views

File structure

📄 exa.js

📄 pnpm-lock.yaml

📄 SKILL.md