Web Search finds relevant web pages and signals using Exa search. It runs on your own Exa account.
Before you start
Account: your own Exa account. Nothing is charged from your wallet. Connect it first (steps below).
Input: no particular column is required. You set the action's settings.
Auto-run: check Auto-run at the top left of the toolbar before you run anything. See Run columns safely: Auto-run, test one row, then run the rest.
How do I connect Exa?
Open Settings, then Connections.
Click Create.
In the Connect an account window, find Exa in the list and click it.
Follow the steps that open for Exa.
Then open the column's settings: the Account block shows which account the column uses, with a Manage accounts link. See Connections: Loopster-provided accounts and your own.
How do I use Web Search?
Click Add column, then Add enrichment.
Open the Enrich tab and search for Exa or Web Search.
Choose Web Search.
Write the search query. Where a field offers a column list when you press
/or@, click a column to use each row's value.Click the arrow next to the main button and choose Add column without running.
Click the play button on one row, then double-click the cell to read the result.
To run the rest, click the play button on the column header and choose Run all N empty rows in the Run column dialog.
The column's settings:
Number of results: 1 to 25 (starts at 5).
Search type: auto, fast or instant (starts at auto).
Highlights are on to start. Summary and page text are off to start.
Include domains, exclude domains, category, and a start and end published date are empty to start.
How do I check it worked?
Double-click a cell.
The details show the fields of the result. Hover a field and click Add to column to put it in its own column. See Put a result's fields into their own columns.
Troubleshooting
Quick answer
Auto-run is off, or the column was added without running.
The cell says Error: open it and read the message. Then check the Exa connection under Settings, then Connections.
Nothing happens, or the cells stay empty
What you see: The column exists, but no row has run.
Why it happens: Auto-run is Off (the app says "New rows and values will not run on their own"), or you chose Add column without running.
What to do: Click a row's play button, or use the column header's Run column dialog. See Why didn't my column run?.
My cells say Skipped
What you see: Skipped in the cells.
Why it happens: Skipped means "Did not run because of filters or missing dependencies."
What to do: Double-click the cell and read the message. Check that every input is mapped to a column, and look under Run Settings for Add run condition ("Only run if this formula resolves to true.").
My cells say Unsatisfied
What you see: Unsatisfied in the cells.
Why it happens: Unsatisfied means "Enrichment ran correctly, but output didn't match expected format."
What to do: Double-click the cell and read the message. Check the input values in that row, and test one row before you re-run many. See What a cell's message means.
A cell says Error
What you see: The cell says Error, and the footer shows a count such as "1 cell failed".
Why it happens: Error means "Crashed, something went wrong." The message is in the cell it happened in.
What to do: Double-click the cell and read the message. Then open Settings, then Connections, and check the Status of the Exa connection. Fix the cause before you re-run.
I am not sure which Exa account a column uses
What you see: You want to know which Exa account a column runs on.
Why it happens: Exa runs on your own account, and the column's Account block shows which account it uses.
What to do: Open the column's settings and look at the Account block. Its Manage accounts link is next to it. Settings, then Connections, lists every account the workspace can run on. If Exa is not there, click Create and find Exa in the list.
The result did not change after I edited an input
What you see: A finished cell keeps its old result after you change an input.
Why it happens: With Auto-run on, Keep existing results is ticked: "Only errored, empty and new cells run. A completed answer is left alone even when one of its inputs changes."
What to do: Double-click the cell and click Re-run this cell, or click the play button on the column header and choose Overwrite all N rows in the Run column dialog. Read the line under each option first.
I see two things called Web Search
What you see: Two Web Search options, and a wallet charge on one.
Why it happens: The Web Search from Exa is in the Enrich tab and runs on your own Exa account. The Web Search use case in a Use AI column is a different feature, and AI columns are paid by the model tokens they use.
What to do: Check which one you added. Exa's comes from Add enrichment. The other comes from Use AI, then Configure.
What does it cost?
Exa runs on your own account. Nothing is charged from your wallet. See Your wallet and keeping spend under control.
Good to know
Web Search is the only Exa action in Loopster. It is in the Enrich tab.
It is not marked as eligible for a waterfall step.
It does not create rows in your table.
It does not write outside Loopster.