> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.get-exo.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Lean hybrid search

> Lean pgvector + BM25 RRF search over the org's memory chunks.

No cognition, brain inference, or contradiction detection -- the cheap,
capped primitive. Data scoping follows `scope`: `user`
filters to the effective subject (owner by default, or a provisioned subject
selected via `X-Exo-Subject` / the `subject` body field), `org`
searches the whole organization. Org routing and authz stay on the principal.
A missing embedder or pool degrades to 503 `service_degraded`, never 500.

## Authorization

This route requires the `read` scope.

A missing or invalid credential returns 401 [`authentication_error`](/errors/authentication_error). A valid credential without the scope returns 403 [`permission_denied`](/errors/permission_denied), and the problem body names the exact scope required.

## Headers

These are request conventions the contract does not declare as parameters, so they do not appear in the schema tables below.

| Header            | Applies      | What it does                                                                                                                                           |
| ----------------- | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `X-Exo-API-Key`   | Required     | Your Exo API key, `exo_<env>_<token>`. `Authorization: Bearer exo_...` is accepted as an alternate.                                                    |
| `X-Exo-Subject`   | Optional     | Acts for a provisioned subject instead of the key owner. An unprovisioned id returns 403 [`subject_not_provisioned`](/errors/subject_not_provisioned). |
| `Idempotency-Key` | Not honoured | This route does not replay: reads have no side effect to replay.                                                                                       |
| `X-Request-Id`    | Response     | Returned on every response, including `204`s. Quote it in a support request.                                                                           |

## Success responses

| Status | Meaning             |
| ------ | ------------------- |
| `200`  | Successful Response |

## Errors

| Status | Code                                                   | When                                                           |
| ------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `400`  | [`invalid_request`](/errors/invalid_request)           | Malformed request, for example an invalid cursor.              |
| `401`  | [`authentication_error`](/errors/authentication_error) | Missing or invalid credentials.                                |
| `403`  | [`permission_denied`](/errors/permission_denied)       | Missing scope, or an unprovisioned subject selector.           |
| `404`  | [`not_found`](/errors/not_found)                       | The resource does not exist, or is not visible to this caller. |
| `409`  | [`conflict`](/errors/conflict)                         | A conflict with the current state of the resource.             |
| `422`  | [`validation_error`](/errors/validation_error)         | The request was understood but failed field validation.        |
| `429`  | [`rate_limit_exceeded`](/errors/rate_limit_exceeded)   | Rate limit exceeded. Retry after the Retry-After interval.     |
| `503`  | [`service_degraded`](/errors/service_degraded)         | A dependency is temporarily unavailable. Safe to retry.        |

Every error is an RFC 9457 `application/problem+json` body carrying a stable `code`, a `requestId`, and a `suggestedAction` where Exo has one. See [Errors](/platform/errors).

## Notes

* **This is the cheap primitive, not a smaller retrieve.** There is no cognition block, no brain inference and no contradiction detection. If you want reasoning, call `POST /v1/retrieve`.
* **`scope` is a body field here, not a header.** `user` filters to the effective subject, `org` searches the whole organization.
* **Search has its own rate-limit family.** It embeds the query, so it does not draw on the generous `reads` bucket. See [Rate limits](/platform/rate-limits).


## OpenAPI

````yaml openapi.json POST /v1/search
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  contact:
    name: Exo
    url: https://get-exo.com/
  description: >-
    The Exo public developer API: ingest content, retrieve identity-conditioned
    context, and read the knowledge graph. Authenticate every request with an
    Exo API key, either as the X-Exo-API-Key header or as Authorization: Bearer
    exo_... . Errors follow RFC 9457 problem+json with a stable snake_case code
    on every body.
  title: Exo API
  version: 1.0.0
servers:
  - url: https://api.get-exo.com
security:
  - ApiKeyHeader: []
  - BearerAuth: []
tags:
  - name: retrieve
    x-group: Retrieval
  - name: search
    x-group: Search
  - name: ingest
    x-group: Ingestion
  - name: jobs
    x-group: Jobs
  - name: subjects
    x-group: Subjects
  - name: recall
    x-group: Recall
  - name: graph
    x-group: Graph
  - name: insights
    x-group: Contradictions and proposals
  - name: condition
    x-group: Condition
  - name: brain
    x-group: Brain
  - name: sessions
    x-group: Coding sessions
  - name: connectors
    x-group: Connectors
  - name: events
    x-group: Events and webhooks
  - name: meta
    x-group: Identity
  - name: keys
    x-group: Keys and sandbox
  - name: usage
    x-group: Usage
  - name: settings
    x-group: Settings
  - name: exports
    x-group: Exports
  - name: team
    x-group: Team
  - name: admin
    x-group: Account and purge
paths:
  /v1/search:
    post:
      tags:
        - search
      summary: Lean hybrid search
      description: >-
        Lean pgvector + BM25 RRF search over the org's memory chunks.


        No cognition, brain inference, or contradiction detection -- the cheap,

        capped primitive. Data scoping follows ``scope`` (spec 4.2): ``user``

        filters to the effective subject (owner by default, or a provisioned
        subject

        selected via ``X-Exo-Subject`` / the ``subject`` body field), ``org``

        searches the whole organization. Org routing and authz stay on the
        principal.

        A missing embedder or pool degrades to 503 ``service_degraded``, never
        500.
      operationId: search
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchRequest'
        required: true
      responses:
        '200':
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResponse'
          description: Successful Response
        '400':
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem'
          description: Malformed request, for example an invalid cursor.
        '401':
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem'
          description: Missing or invalid credentials
        '403':
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem'
          description: Missing scope or unprovisioned subject
        '404':
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem'
          description: The requested resource does not exist.
        '409':
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem'
          description: Conflict, for example a duplicate in-flight idempotent request.
        '422':
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem'
          description: Invalid query or topK
        '429':
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem'
          description: Rate limit exceeded
        '503':
          content:
            application/problem+json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem'
          description: A dependency is unavailable
components:
  schemas:
    SearchRequest:
      description: >-
        POST /v1/search request body.


        ``topK`` is coerced into [1, 50] (default 10), never rejected. ``scope``

        selects the data scope: ``user`` (default) filters to the effective
        subject,

        ``org`` searches org-wide. The reserved ``subject`` selector is handled
        by

        the shared seam and is intentionally absent here.
      properties:
        query:
          description: The search text.
          maxLength: 10000
          minLength: 1
          title: Query
          type: string
        scope:
          default: user
          description: >-
            Data scope: 'user' (default) filters to the effective subject; 'org'
            searches across the whole organization.
          enum:
            - user
            - org
          title: Scope
          type: string
        topK:
          default: 10
          description: Maximum number of results; coerced into [1, 50] (default 10).
          title: Topk
          type: integer
      required:
        - query
      title: SearchRequest
      type: object
    SearchResponse:
      description: 'POST /v1/search response: the ranked results plus a usage object.'
      properties:
        results:
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResult'
          title: Results
          type: array
        usage:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchUsage'
      required:
        - results
        - usage
      title: SearchResponse
      type: object
    Problem:
      description: |-
        RFC 9457 problem+json envelope (spec D9), documented in OpenAPI.

        Invariant: ``code`` equals the tail of the ``type`` URI
        (``https://docs.get-exo.com/errors/<code>``).
      properties:
        code:
          title: Code
          type: string
        detail:
          title: Detail
          type: string
        documentationUrl:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
            - type: 'null'
          title: Documentationurl
        errors:
          anyOf:
            - items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/FieldViolation'
              type: array
            - type: 'null'
          title: Errors
        requestId:
          default: ''
          title: Requestid
          type: string
        status:
          title: Status
          type: integer
        suggestedAction:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
            - type: 'null'
          title: Suggestedaction
        title:
          title: Title
          type: string
        type:
          title: Type
          type: string
      required:
        - type
        - title
        - status
        - detail
        - code
      title: Problem
      type: object
    SearchResult:
      description: 'One hybrid-search hit: the matching chunk text and its node.'
      properties:
        chunk:
          title: Chunk
          type: string
        nodeId:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
            - type: 'null'
          title: Nodeid
        score:
          title: Score
          type: number
        title:
          anyOf:
            - type: string
            - type: 'null'
          title: Title
      required:
        - chunk
        - score
      title: SearchResult
      type: object
    SearchUsage:
      description: >-
        Additive per-call usage counters for search (spec D13).


        - ``readUnits``: number of results returned (the billable read unit).

        - ``embedTokens``: DOCUMENTED ESTIMATE of Voyage embed tokens for the
        query
          (~3.5 chars/token, the same tokenizer-free proxy retrieve reports), not
          the metered figure.
      properties:
        embedTokens:
          title: Embedtokens
          type: integer
        readUnits:
          title: Readunits
          type: integer
      required:
        - readUnits
        - embedTokens
      title: SearchUsage
      type: object
    FieldViolation:
      description: A single field-level violation inside a Problem ``errors[]`` list.
      properties:
        code:
          title: Code
          type: string
        field:
          title: Field
          type: string
        message:
          title: Message
          type: string
        pointer:
          title: Pointer
          type: string
      required:
        - pointer
        - field
        - code
        - message
      title: FieldViolation
      type: object
  securitySchemes:
    ApiKeyHeader:
      description: An Exo API key (exo_...) sent as the X-Exo-API-Key header.
      in: header
      name: X-Exo-API-Key
      type: apiKey
    BearerAuth:
      description: The same Exo API key (exo_...) sent as an Authorization bearer token.
      scheme: bearer
      type: http

````