Exa Known Pitfalls

Overview

Real gotchas when integrating Exa's neural search API. Exa uses embeddings-based search rather than keyword matching, which creates a different class of failure modes than traditional search APIs. This skill covers the top pitfalls with wrong/right examples.

Pitfall 1: Keyword-Style Queries

Exa's neural search interprets natural language semantically. Boolean operators and keyword syntax degrade results.

import Exa from "exa-js";
const exa = new Exa(process.env.EXA_API_KEY);

// BAD: keyword/boolean style — Exa ignores AND/OR
const bad = await exa.search(
  "python AND machine learning OR deep learning 2024"
);

// GOOD: natural language statement
const good = await exa.search(