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Human guide: work with your agent → Inspect one Exa action before starting provider-backed work. Your first result is a verified input and output contract.

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Provider-specific requirements

Use Exa for web-grounded retrieval, then synthesis. type vs category: type controls the search strategy (auto/fast/neural/deep). category filters result type (company/people/news/financial report). These are independent params. "type":"news" is a 422 error — use "category":"news" for news results.
  • In AI-column workflows, instruct the model prompt to use Exa retrieval explicitly for website-derived tech stack and on-site signals.
  • Use direct Exa tool calls when you need tighter provider controls or auditable step-by-step retrieval outside AI-column orchestration.
  • For auditable outputs, run exa_search/exa_contents first and synthesize after inspecting citations.
  • For larger or uncertain authorized research, use focused queries and small numResults during a pilot, then widen only if coverage is low. A small supplied Play needs no extra pilot. inspect retained citations without rerunning retrieval or adding paid repair.
  • Treat exa_answer as the summarization layer, not the first retrieval step, when precision matters.

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Find an applicable action

Confirm your effective workspace, then search the live catalog:
Search returns candidates. Check the returned provider and operation rather than selecting a similar title automatically.

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Inspect the selected contract

Replace <returned-tool-id> with the identifier returned by discovery:
These commands do not execute the selected provider action. Read its required inputs, supported access mode, pricing unit, outputs, and limits. A connection does not establish that every action supports BYOK. Follow the provider-specific requirements above and the live action contract.

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Prepare one reviewed input

Use one authorized record that matches the inspected schema. Preserve its source identity and define the result you will accept. Open the action reference for its payload and response shape. Provider-backed execution can incur usage or external effects. For reusable logic, follow Write Plays. For direct-call recovery, use Tool execution recovery.
Continue only when the workspace, provider, required fields, acceptance rule, and applicable price are understood. Keep unavailable access separate from no-result evidence.