---
title: "Exa / answer a question from the web"
description: "Exa tool exa-answer on looot: input fields, $0.005 per call, output shape, and code to run it with curl, JavaScript or Python."
sidebar:
  hidden: true
---

{/* Generated by scripts/generate-api-reference.mjs from data/api-reference.json. Do not edit. */}

Searches the web and writes a direct answer, or a cited summary, to a natural-language question. Send query; text adds the source text, and outputSchema asks for structured output. Returns the answer and its citations.

- **Tool id:** `exa-answer`
- **Provider:** [Exa](/providers/exa)
- **Job:** [Answer web](/reference/jobs/web-answer) (`web.answer`)
- **Price:** $0.005 per call. A call that fails at the provider costs $0.

## Inputs

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `model` | string | no | Model used to generate the answer. |
| `outputSchema` | object | no | JSON Schema draft-07 for structured output instead of a plain string answer. |
| `query` | string | yes | Natural-language question or instructions. Example: "What is the latest valuation of SpaceX?" |
| `systemPrompt` | string | no | Additional instructions guiding generated output/agent behavior. |
| `text` | boolean | no | Also return full page text for each citation. |

## Output

Shape of the run's `result`, checked against 1 real answer:

```txt
{ answer, citations: { id, url, title, publishedDate }[], requestId, costDollars: { total } }
```

## Run it

Every call needs your API token in `LOOOT_TOKEN`; [Sign in](/get-started/sign-in#use-the-token-in-scripts-and-agents) shows how to get one. Each run also needs a new idempotency key, so a retry never pays twice. With `wait: 30` the answer comes back inline when the run ends within 30 seconds. Otherwise you get the running run back: poll `GET /v1/runs/<runId>`.

Example input with placeholder values:

<CodeGroup>

```bash curl
curl -X POST "https://api.looot.ai/v1/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LOOOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{"endpointId":"exa-answer","input":{"query":"What is the latest valuation of SpaceX?"},"wait":30}'
```

```js JavaScript
const response = await fetch("https://api.looot.ai/v1/runs", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.LOOOT_TOKEN}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Idempotency-Key": crypto.randomUUID(),
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    endpointId: "exa-answer",
    input: {
      query: "What is the latest valuation of SpaceX?",
    },
    wait: 30,
  }),
});
const run = await response.json();
console.log(run.status, run.result);
```

```python Python
import os
import uuid

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.looot.ai/v1/runs",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['LOOOT_TOKEN']}",
        "Idempotency-Key": str(uuid.uuid4()),
    },
    json={
        "endpointId": "exa-answer",
        "input": {
            "query": "What is the latest valuation of SpaceX?",
        },
        "wait": 30,
    },
    timeout=90,
)
run = response.json()
print(run["status"], run.get("result"))
```

</CodeGroup>

To let looot pick among every provider of this job instead, send `job:web.answer` as `endpointId`; see [the job page](/reference/jobs/web-answer).