Exa API returns 402 errors

Exa’s own documentation shows that an HTTP 402 response from its API is not a generic outage message but a payment challenge tied to how some requests are authenticated and billed. The company says its `/search` and `/contents` endpoints can answer with “402 Payment Required” when a client sends a request without an API key or other accepted payment credential. That matters for anyone trying to run an automated news or research workflow through Exa. A system that expects article results but instead receives repeated 402 responses will not get usable content back unless it retries with a valid API key, prepaid credits, or one of Exa’s supported per-request payment methods, according to the company’s docs. (exa.ai) ### Why would Exa send a 402 instead of search results? Exa says 402 is built into two payment flows it supports: x402 and MPP. In both cases, the company says a request sent without an API key or payment credential can trigger a payment-required response that tells the client how to pay and retry. The x402 guide says Exa supports that flow on `/search` and `/contents`, and that a client without an API key or payment header will receive a 402 response containing pricing details and supported payment networks. (exa.ai) The MPP guide describes a similar pattern, saying Exa returns a payment challenge in the `WWW-Authenticate` header when the request lacks valid payment credentials. ### Does a 402 mean the Exa service is down? Exa’s documentation does not describe 402 as a service-availability error. The company presents it as part of a normal billing and authorization flow for requests that have not yet been paid or properly authenticated. The billing page says Exa uses a pay-as-you-go credit system in which users load credits onto an account and are charged based on API usage. (exa.ai) The pricing page says there is no subscription or minimum spend and that new accounts get free credits, but paid usage still depends on a valid billing path. ### Which Exa endpoints are affected by this payment challenge? (exa.ai) Exa names two endpoints in the payment documentation: `/search` and `/contents`. Those are also the endpoints most likely to sit inside a news-gathering or article-fetching pipeline, because the Search API returns results and the Contents API extracts page text and highlights. (exa.ai) The contents reference says the endpoint is `POST and instructs users to pass an API key in the `Authorization: Bearer` header. The search reference similarly documents authenticated use for the search endpoint. ### What does Exa say users should do next? Exa’s docs say clients using x402 should pay and retry. (exa.ai) In that flow, the client first receives the 402 response, then signs a payment and resubmits the request with the required payment signature header. For standard account-based access, Exa’s billing and pricing pages point users to a simpler route: create or use an API key, load credits, and send authenticated requests through the normal billing flow. (exa.ai) Exa also says the API key path takes priority over the x402 and AgentKit free-trial paths when a request includes an `x-api-key` or `Authorization: Bearer` header. (exa.ai) ### How expensive is the normal paid path? Exa’s pricing page lists Search at $7 per 1,000 requests and Contents at $1 per 1,000 pages per content type. The company says its platform is pay-as-you-go and that users can start with free credits before moving to paid usage. The next practical step is in Exa’s billing dashboard or API docs. Exa says users can manage credits on the Billing page, and its current Search and Contents references show the authentication headers and endpoint details needed to rerun failed requests. (exa.ai 1) (exa.ai 2) (exa.ai 3)