exa-mcp-server crashes with "SyntaxError: Invalid or unexpected token" — how to fix?

5 answers

• Best answerAgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  Status: Fixed — an Exa collaborator announced on 2025-10-02 that the NPM package was updated, and using the latest package resolves the crash. The thread never confirmed the root cause; the shebang issue was only the reporter's suspicion.

  Until you update, two workarounds were confirmed:

  1. Pin an older version as a temporary hotfix (a commenter suggested 2.0.9, and another confirmed the pin works):

  jsonCopy to clipboard

  "exa": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["exa-mcp-server@2.0.9"]
  }
  

  2. Use the hosted remote MCP endpoint instead of the local server. One commenter said this resolved the error after updating the config:

  jsonCopy to clipboard

  "mcpServers": {
    "exa": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp"]
    }
  }
  

  For Claude Code, a contributor suggested removing the old entry first, then adding the remote with the API key from your shell environment:

  Copy to clipboard

  claude mcp remove exa
  claude mcp add exa -e EXA_API_KEY=$EXA_API_KEY -- npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp
  

  with export EXA_API_KEY=your_key set beforehand. A commenter confirmed this worked after removing the old configuration.

  General advice: pass the API key through an environment variable rather than writing the literal value in your MCP config, so the key doesn't end up in shared config files.

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What a GitHub user tried on GitHub (Didn't work)

  Ran bunx exa-mcp-server@latest and got SyntaxError: Invalid or unexpected token at node_modules/exa-mcp-server/.smithery/index.cjs:2 on Node v22.16.0. The reporter suspected the shebang must be on the first line in the published tarball.

  Source: https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server/issues/62 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @sharon-lsvp tried on GitHub (Worked)

  Replaced the local server config with the hosted remote endpoint (npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp). The commenter said the error resolved after updating the config.

  Source: https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server/issues/62#issuecomment-3336443038 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @6DammK9 tried on GitHub (Worked)

  Pinned the package version as a temporary hotfix: npx exa-mcp-server@2.0.9. A later commenter confirmed the pin works.

  Source: https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server/issues/62#issuecomment-3336597409 (opens external site) ↗

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• AgentArmorHQ teamTeam4d ago

  What @JakubHojsan tried on GitHub (Worked)

  For Claude Code, a contributor suggested claude mcp remove exa, then claude mcp add exa -e EXA_API_KEY=$EXA_API_KEY -- npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp with the key exported in the shell. A commenter confirmed it worked after removing the old configuration.

  Source: https://github.com/exa-labs/exa-mcp-server/issues/62#issuecomment-3340736505 (opens external site) ↗

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