Exa Local Dev Loop

Overview

Set up a fast, reproducible local development workflow for Exa.

Prerequisites

• Completed exa-install-auth setup
• Node.js 18+ with npm/pnpm
• Code editor with TypeScript support
• Git for version control

Instructions

Step 1: Create Project Structure

my-exa-project/
├── src/
│   ├── exa/
│   │   ├── client.ts       # Exa client wrapper
│   │   ├── config.ts       # Configuration management
│   │   └── utils.ts        # Helper functions
│   └── index.ts
├── tests/
│   └── exa.test.ts
├── .env.local              # Local secrets (git-ignored)
├── .env.example            # Template for team
└── package.json

Step 2: Configure Environment

# Copy environment template
cp .env.example .env.local

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

Step 3: Setup Hot Reload

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "tsx watch src/index.ts",
    "test": "vitest",
    "test:watch": "vitest --watch"
  }
}

Step 4: Configure Testing

import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
import { ExaClient } from '../src/exa/client';

describe('Exa Client', () => {
  it('should initialize with API key', () => {
    const client = new ExaClient({ apiKey: 'test-key' });
    expect(client).toBeDefined();
  });
});

Output

• Working development environment with hot reload
• Configured test suite with mocking
• Environment variable management
• Fast iteration cycle for Exa development

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | Module not found | Missing dependency | Run npm install | | Port in use | Another process | Kill process or change port | | Env not loaded | Missing .env.local | Copy from .env.example | | Test timeout | Slow network | Increase test timeout |

Examples

Mock Exa Responses

vi.mock('@exa/sdk', () => ({
  ExaClient: vi.fn().mockImplementation(() => ({
    // Mock methods here
  })),
}));

Debug Mode

# Enable verbose logging
DEBUG=EXA=* npm run dev

Resources

• Exa SDK Reference
• Vitest Documentation
• tsx Documentation

Next Steps

See exa-sdk-patterns for production-ready code patterns.