What is a search API?
A search API is an interface through which software sends a query and receives search results. Returned fields can include titles, URLs, snippets or page text, depending on the service.
It lets another program request information without using the search service's normal human-facing results page.
From a news question to candidate sources
An AI agent preparing an industry-news summary might submit keywords or a natural-language question, then pass the returned sources to a model for reading.
Exa's documentation illustrates search requests and content retrieval. Those service-specific fields are examples rather than a universal contract for every search API. The Exa article discusses the product context separately.
How does it relate to RAG and MCP?
A search API can supply retrieved material for RAG. MCP provides a shared connection format through which a compatible AI application can discover and use a server's tools. A search service can expose an MCP tool backed by its API.
A search API can also be one of several tools available to an agent. The TSO guide separates access to that tool from its inclusion in a candidate set, selection and successful invocation.
A returned page remains a candidate source. Check its date, content and support for the claim before treating a generated summary as verified.
Sources and scope
Source-language entry records a source check on 2026-10-21. This adaptation preserves that provenance and does not represent a new audit of the cited pages.