diff --git a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/WebSearchTool.ts b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/WebSearchTool.ts
index 43a032585..478704fd1 100644
--- a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/WebSearchTool.ts
+++ b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/WebSearchTool.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,26 @@ const inputSchema = lazySchema(() =>
       .array(z.string())
       .optional()
       .describe('Never include search results from these domains'),
+    num_results: z
+      .number()
+      .optional()
+      .describe('Number of search results to return (default: 8)'),
+    livecrawl: z
+      .enum(['fallback', 'preferred'])
+      .optional()
+      .describe(
+        "Live crawl mode - 'fallback': use live crawling as backup if cached content unavailable, 'preferred': prioritize live crawling (default: 'fallback')",
+      ),
+    search_type: z
+      .enum(['auto', 'fast', 'deep'])
+      .optional()
+      .describe(
+        "Search type - 'auto': balanced search (default), 'fast': quick results, 'deep': comprehensive search",
+      ),
+    context_max_characters: z
+      .number()
+      .optional()
+      .describe('Maximum characters for context string optimized for LLMs (default: 10000)'),
   }),
 )
 type InputSchema = ReturnType<typeof inputSchema>
@@ -148,6 +168,10 @@ export const WebSearchTool = buildTool({
     const adapterResults = await adapter.search(query, {
       allowedDomains: input.allowed_domains,
       blockedDomains: input.blocked_domains,
+      numResults: input.num_results,
+      livecrawl: input.livecrawl,
+      searchType: input.search_type,
+      contextMaxCharacters: input.context_max_characters,
       signal: context.abortController.signal,
       onProgress(progress) {
         if (onProgress) {
diff --git a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/__tests__/adapterFactory.test.ts b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/__tests__/adapterFactory.test.ts
index 14eb7fecb..4e5353d89 100644
--- a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/__tests__/adapterFactory.test.ts
+++ b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/__tests__/adapterFactory.test.ts
@@ -52,10 +52,10 @@ describe('createAdapter', () => {
     expect(createAdapter().constructor.name).toBe('ApiSearchAdapter')
   })
 
-  test('selects the Bing adapter for third-party Anthropic base URLs', () => {
+  test('selects the Exa adapter for third-party Anthropic base URLs', () => {
     delete process.env.WEB_SEARCH_ADAPTER
     isFirstPartyBaseUrl = false
 
-    expect(createAdapter().constructor.name).toBe('BingSearchAdapter')
+    expect(createAdapter().constructor.name).toBe('ExaSearchAdapter')
   })
 })
diff --git a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/__tests__/exaAdapter.test.ts b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/__tests__/exaAdapter.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8d1ef6f20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/__tests__/exaAdapter.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,302 @@
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, mock, test } from 'bun:test'
+
+const _abortMock = () => ({
+  AbortError: class AbortError extends Error {
+    constructor(message?: string) { super(message); this.name = 'AbortError' }
+  },
+  isAbortError: (e: unknown) => e instanceof Error && (e as Error).name === 'AbortError',
+})
+mock.module('src/utils/errors.js', _abortMock)
+mock.module('src/utils/errors', _abortMock)
+
+describe('ExaSearchAdapter.search', () => {
+  const createAdapter = async () => {
+    const { ExaSearchAdapter } = await import('../adapters/exaAdapter')
+    return new ExaSearchAdapter()
+  }
+
+  // Exa MCP returns SSE lines like: data: {"result":{"content":[{"type":"text","text":"..."}]}}
+  const buildSseResponse = (text: string) => `data: ${JSON.stringify({ result: { content: [{ type: 'text', text }] } })}\n`
+
+  const STRUCTURED_TEXT = [
+    'Title: Example Result 1',
+    'URL: https://example.com/page1',
+    'Content: This is the content snippet for page 1.',
+    '',
+    '---',
+    '',
+    'Title: Example Result 2',
+    'URL: https://example.com/page2',
+    'Content: This is the content snippet for page 2.',
+  ].join('\n')
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    mock.restore()
+  })
+
+  test('parses structured Title/URL/Content blocks from SSE response', async () => {
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(STRUCTURED_TEXT) })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const results = await adapter.search('test query', {})
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(2)
+    expect(results[0]).toEqual({
+      title: 'Example Result 1',
+      url: 'https://example.com/page1',
+      snippet: 'This is the content snippet for page 1.',
+    })
+    expect(results[1]).toEqual({
+      title: 'Example Result 2',
+      url: 'https://example.com/page2',
+      snippet: 'This is the content snippet for page 2.',
+    })
+  })
+
+  test('parses markdown link fallback when no structured blocks', async () => {
+    const markdownText = '- [React Docs](https://react.dev/docs)\n- [React Hooks](https://react.dev/hooks)'
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(markdownText) })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const results = await adapter.search('react', {})
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(2)
+    expect(results[0]).toEqual({
+      title: 'React Docs',
+      url: 'https://react.dev/docs',
+      snippet: undefined,
+    })
+    expect(results[1].url).toBe('https://react.dev/hooks')
+  })
+
+  test('parses plain URL fallback', async () => {
+    const plainUrlText = 'https://example.com/page1\nhttps://example.com/page2'
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(plainUrlText) })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const results = await adapter.search('test', {})
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(2)
+    expect(results[0].url).toBe('https://example.com/page1')
+  })
+
+  test('returns empty array for empty response', async () => {
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: '' })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const results = await adapter.search('test', {})
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(0)
+  })
+
+  test('parses direct JSON response (non-SSE fallback)', async () => {
+    const jsonResponse = JSON.stringify({
+      result: { content: [{ type: 'text', text: STRUCTURED_TEXT }] },
+    })
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: jsonResponse })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const results = await adapter.search('test', {})
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(2)
+    expect(results[0].url).toBe('https://example.com/page1')
+  })
+
+  test('calls onProgress with query_update and search_results_received', async () => {
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(STRUCTURED_TEXT) })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const progressCalls: any[] = []
+    const onProgress = (p: any) => progressCalls.push(p)
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    await adapter.search('test', { onProgress })
+
+    expect(progressCalls).toHaveLength(2)
+    expect(progressCalls[0]).toEqual({ type: 'query_update', query: 'test' })
+    expect(progressCalls[1]).toEqual({
+      type: 'search_results_received',
+      resultCount: 2,
+      query: 'test',
+    })
+  })
+
+  test('filters results by allowedDomains', async () => {
+    const mixedText = [
+      'Title: Allowed',
+      'URL: https://allowed.com/a',
+      '---',
+      'Title: Blocked',
+      'URL: https://blocked.com/b',
+    ].join('\n')
+
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(mixedText) })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const results = await adapter.search('test', { allowedDomains: ['allowed.com'] })
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(results[0].url).toBe('https://allowed.com/a')
+  })
+
+  test('filters results by blockedDomains', async () => {
+    const mixedText = [
+      'Title: Good',
+      'URL: https://good.com/a',
+      '---',
+      'Title: Spam',
+      'URL: https://spam.com/b',
+    ].join('\n')
+
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(mixedText) })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const results = await adapter.search('test', { blockedDomains: ['spam.com'] })
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(results[0].url).toBe('https://good.com/a')
+  })
+
+  test('filters subdomains with allowedDomains', async () => {
+    const text = [
+      'Title: Subdomain',
+      'URL: https://docs.example.com/page',
+      '---',
+      'Title: Other',
+      'URL: https://other.com/page',
+    ].join('\n')
+
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(text) })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const results = await adapter.search('test', { allowedDomains: ['example.com'] })
+
+    expect(results).toHaveLength(1)
+    expect(results[0].url).toBe('https://docs.example.com/page')
+  })
+
+  test('throws AbortError when signal is already aborted', async () => {
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(STRUCTURED_TEXT) })),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    const controller = new AbortController()
+    controller.abort()
+
+    const { AbortError } = await import('src/utils/errors')
+    await expect(
+      adapter.search('test', { signal: controller.signal }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(AbortError)
+  })
+
+  test('re-throws non-abort axios errors', async () => {
+    const networkError = new Error('Network error')
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: mock(() => Promise.reject(networkError)),
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    await expect(adapter.search('test', {})).rejects.toThrow('Network error')
+  })
+
+  test('sends correct MCP request payload to Exa endpoint', async () => {
+    const axiosPost = mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(STRUCTURED_TEXT) }))
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: axiosPost,
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    await adapter.search('hello world', {})
+
+    expect(axiosPost.mock.calls).toHaveLength(1)
+    const [url, body, config] = (axiosPost.mock.calls as any[][])[0]
+    expect(url).toBe('https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp')
+    expect(body.jsonrpc).toBe('2.0')
+    expect(body.method).toBe('tools/call')
+    expect(body.params.name).toBe('web_search_exa')
+    expect(body.params.arguments.query).toBe('hello world')
+    expect(body.params.arguments.type).toBe('auto')
+    expect(body.params.arguments.numResults).toBe(8)
+    expect(body.params.arguments.livecrawl).toBe('fallback')
+    expect(body.params.arguments.contextMaxCharacters).toBe(10000)
+    expect(config.headers.Accept).toBe('application/json, text/event-stream')
+  })
+
+  test('passes custom search options to MCP request', async () => {
+    const axiosPost = mock(() => Promise.resolve({ data: buildSseResponse(STRUCTURED_TEXT) }))
+    mock.module('axios', () => ({
+      default: {
+        post: axiosPost,
+        isCancel: () => false,
+      },
+    }))
+
+    const adapter = await createAdapter()
+    await adapter.search('test', {
+      numResults: 15,
+      livecrawl: 'preferred',
+      searchType: 'deep',
+      contextMaxCharacters: 20000,
+    })
+
+    const [, body] = (axiosPost.mock.calls as any[][])[0]
+    expect(body.params.arguments.numResults).toBe(15)
+    expect(body.params.arguments.livecrawl).toBe('preferred')
+    expect(body.params.arguments.type).toBe('deep')
+    expect(body.params.arguments.contextMaxCharacters).toBe(20000)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/exaAdapter.ts b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/exaAdapter.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4ebde5842
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/exaAdapter.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+/**
+ * Exa AI-based search adapter — uses MCP protocol to call Exa's web search API.
+ *
+ * Ported from kilocode's production-validated implementation (mcp-exa.ts + websearch.ts).
+ * Key improvements over previous version:
+ *   - Passes through numResults/livecrawl/type/contextMaxCharacters from options
+ *   - Cleaner SSE parsing matching kilocode's approach
+ *   - Proper content snippet extraction from Exa responses
+ */
+
+import axios from 'axios'
+import { AbortError } from 'src/utils/errors.js'
+import type { SearchResult, SearchOptions, WebSearchAdapter } from './types.js'
+
+const EXA_MCP_URL = 'https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp'
+const FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS = 25_000
+
+export class ExaSearchAdapter implements WebSearchAdapter {
+  async search(
+    query: string,
+    options: SearchOptions,
+  ): Promise<SearchResult[]> {
+    const { signal, onProgress, allowedDomains, blockedDomains } = options
+
+    if (signal?.aborted) {
+      throw new AbortError()
+    }
+
+    onProgress?.({ type: 'query_update', query })
+
+    const abortController = new AbortController()
+    if (signal) {
+      signal.addEventListener('abort', () => abortController.abort(), { once: true })
+    }
+
+    // Use options to derive search params — matches kilocode websearch.ts defaults
+    const numResults = options.numResults ?? 8
+    const livecrawl = options.livecrawl ?? 'fallback'
+    const searchType = options.searchType ?? 'auto'
+    const contextMaxCharacters = options.contextMaxCharacters ?? 10000
+
+    let responseText: string
+    try {
+      const response = await axios.post(
+        EXA_MCP_URL,
+        {
+          jsonrpc: '2.0',
+          id: 1,
+          method: 'tools/call',
+          params: {
+            name: 'web_search_exa',
+            arguments: {
+              query,
+              type: searchType,
+              numResults,
+              livecrawl,
+              contextMaxCharacters,
+            },
+          },
+        },
+        {
+          signal: abortController.signal,
+          timeout: FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS,
+          headers: {
+            'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+            Accept: 'application/json, text/event-stream',
+          },
+          responseType: 'text',
+        },
+      )
+      responseText = response.data as string
+    } catch (e) {
+      if (axios.isCancel(e) || abortController.signal.aborted) {
+        throw new AbortError()
+      }
+      throw e
+    }
+
+    if (abortController.signal.aborted) {
+      throw new AbortError()
+    }
+
+    const searchText = this.parseSse(responseText)
+
+    if (abortController.signal.aborted) {
+      throw new AbortError()
+    }
+
+    // Parse the Exa results from the text response
+    const results = this.parseResults(searchText)
+
+    // Client-side domain filtering
+    const filteredResults = results.filter((r) => {
+      if (!r.url) return false
+      try {
+        const hostname = new URL(r.url).hostname
+        if (allowedDomains?.length && !allowedDomains.some(d => hostname === d || hostname.endsWith('.' + d))) {
+          return false
+        }
+        if (blockedDomains?.length && blockedDomains.some(d => hostname === d || hostname.endsWith('.' + d))) {
+          return false
+        }
+      } catch {
+        return false
+      }
+      return true
+    })
+
+    onProgress?.({
+      type: 'search_results_received',
+      resultCount: filteredResults.length,
+      query,
+    })
+
+    return filteredResults
+  }
+
+  private parseSse(body: string): string | undefined {
+    // SSE format: lines starting with "data: " containing JSON
+    // Matches kilocode mcp-exa.ts parseSse implementation
+    for (const line of body.split('\n')) {
+      if (!line.startsWith('data: ')) continue
+      const data = line.substring(6).trim()
+      if (!data || data === '[DONE]' || data === 'null') continue
+
+      try {
+        const parsed = JSON.parse(data)
+        const content = parsed?.result?.content
+        if (Array.isArray(content) && content[0]?.text) {
+          return content[0].text
+        }
+      } catch {
+        // Continue to next line
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Fallback: try parsing as direct JSON response (non-SSE)
+    try {
+      const parsed = JSON.parse(body)
+      const content = parsed?.result?.content
+      if (Array.isArray(content) && content[0]?.text) {
+        return content[0].text
+      }
+    } catch {
+      // Not JSON
+    }
+
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  private parseResults(text: string | undefined): SearchResult[] {
+    if (!text) return []
+
+    const results: SearchResult[] = []
+
+    // Exa returns structured text with "Title:", "URL:", and "Content:" fields
+    // separated by "---" between entries
+    const blocks = text.split(/\n---\n/g)
+
+    for (const block of blocks) {
+      const titleMatch = block.match(/^Title:\s*(.+)$/m)
+      const urlMatch = block.match(/^URL:\s*(https?:\/\/[^\s]+)$/m)
+      const contentMatch = block.match(/^Content:\s*([\s\S]+?)(?=\n(?:Title:|URL:|---)|$)/m)
+
+      if (urlMatch) {
+        results.push({
+          title: titleMatch?.[1]?.trim() ?? urlMatch[1],
+          url: urlMatch[1].trim(),
+          snippet: contentMatch?.[1]?.trim().slice(0, 300),
+        })
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Fallback: markdown links
+    if (results.length === 0) {
+      const markdownLinkRegex = /\[([^\]]+)\]\((https?:\/\/[^\)]+)\)/g
+      let match: RegExpExecArray | null
+      while ((match = markdownLinkRegex.exec(text)) !== null) {
+        results.push({
+          title: match[1].trim(),
+          url: match[2].trim(),
+        })
+      }
+    }
+
+    // Fallback: plain URLs
+    if (results.length === 0) {
+      const urlRegex = /^https?:\/\/[^\s<>"\]]+/gm
+      let match: RegExpExecArray | null
+      while ((match = urlRegex.exec(text)) !== null) {
+        results.push({
+          title: match[0],
+          url: match[0],
+        })
+      }
+    }
+
+    return results
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/index.ts b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/index.ts
index 3a3c3cb0b..f1ef10bc9 100644
--- a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/index.ts
+++ b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/index.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { isFirstPartyAnthropicBaseUrl } from 'src/utils/model/providers.js'
 import { ApiSearchAdapter } from './apiAdapter.js'
 import { BingSearchAdapter } from './bingAdapter.js'
 import { BraveSearchAdapter } from './braveAdapter.js'
+import { ExaSearchAdapter } from './exaAdapter.js'
 import type { WebSearchAdapter } from './types.js'
 
 export type {
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ function isThirdPartyProvider(): boolean {
 }
 
 let cachedAdapter: WebSearchAdapter | null = null
-let cachedAdapterKey: 'api' | 'bing' | 'brave' | null = null
+let cachedAdapterKey: 'api' | 'bing' | 'brave' | 'exa' | null = null
 
 export function createAdapter(): WebSearchAdapter {
   const envAdapter = process.env.WEB_SEARCH_ADAPTER
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ export function createAdapter(): WebSearchAdapter {
   //   3. First-party Anthropic API → api (server-side web search + connector_text)
   //   4. Fallback → bing
   const adapterKey =
-    envAdapter === 'api' || envAdapter === 'bing' || envAdapter === 'brave'
+    envAdapter === 'api' || envAdapter === 'bing' || envAdapter === 'brave' || envAdapter === 'exa'
       ? envAdapter
       : isThirdPartyProvider()
         ? 'bing'
@@ -56,9 +57,14 @@ export function createAdapter(): WebSearchAdapter {
     return cachedAdapter
   }
   if (adapterKey === 'brave') {
-	  cachedAdapter = new BraveSearchAdapter()
-	  cachedAdapterKey = 'brave'
-	  return cachedAdapter
+    cachedAdapter = new BraveSearchAdapter()
+    cachedAdapterKey = 'brave'
+    return cachedAdapter
+  }
+  if (adapterKey === 'exa') {
+    cachedAdapter = new ExaSearchAdapter()
+    cachedAdapterKey = 'exa'
+    return cachedAdapter
   }
 
   cachedAdapter = new BingSearchAdapter()
diff --git a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/types.ts b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/types.ts
index cd04762fb..a867c5d92 100644
--- a/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/types.ts
+++ b/packages/builtin-tools/src/tools/WebSearchTool/adapters/types.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,14 @@ export interface SearchOptions {
   blockedDomains?: string[]
   signal?: AbortSignal
   onProgress?: (progress: SearchProgress) => void
+  /** Number of search results to return (default: 8) */
+  numResults?: number
+  /** Live crawl mode (default: 'fallback') */
+  livecrawl?: 'fallback' | 'preferred'
+  /** Search type (default: 'auto') */
+  searchType?: 'auto' | 'fast' | 'deep'
+  /** Maximum characters for context string (default: 10000) */
+  contextMaxCharacters?: number
 }
 
 export interface SearchProgress {