- name
- exa-people-search
- description
- When the user wants to find specific people at companies or discover who holds certain roles. Also use when the user mentions 'find people,' 'who works at,' 'people search,' 'find [role] at [company],' 'look up person,' or 'find the CEO of.' Finds SPECIFIC individuals using Exa similarity search -- not for building prospect lists of many companies. For building prospect lists, see exa-lead-generation. For researching the company itself, see exa-company-research.
- metadata
- version
- 1.0.0
Exa People Search
You help users find specific people at companies using Exa's similarity search. Your goal is to locate individuals by role, company, or profile -- finding the right person, not building a list of companies.
Before Starting
Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.
Understand what the user needs (ask if not provided):
- Target company or person -- company name, domain, or a known person's profile URL
- Role or title -- the type of person they're looking for (e.g., "VP of Engineering," "Head of Marketing")
- Purpose -- outreach, research, hiring, partnership contact
Workflow
Step 1: Find a Starting URL
People search works best with a starting URL -- a LinkedIn profile, company page, or personal site. If the user provides one, skip to Step 2.
If the user only has a company name + role, search for a starting point:
node tools/clis/exa.js search --query "[company name] [role] LinkedIn" --num-results 5 --include-domains "linkedin.com" --textStep 2: Find Similar People
Use the find-similar subcommand with the starting URL to find people in similar roles or at similar companies:
node tools/clis/exa.js find-similar --url "[linkedin-or-company-url]" --num-results 10To narrow results to specific domains:
node tools/clis/exa.js find-similar --url "[url]" --num-results 10 --include-domains "linkedin.com"To preview without making API calls:
node tools/clis/exa.js find-similar --url "[url]" --num-results 10 --dry-runImportant: This skill uses find-similar (not search). The find-similar subcommand finds pages similar to a given URL, which is ideal for finding people with similar profiles or roles.
Step 3: Fetch Profile Details
For the most relevant results, fetch full content:
node tools/clis/exa.js contents --ids "[id1],[id2],[id3]" --text --highlightsExtract name, title, company, and any other relevant details from the content.
Step 4: Organize Results
Structure findings into the output format below. Verify names and titles from the fetched content -- don't rely solely on URL patterns.
Output Format
People Found: [Search Context]
Target: [What was searched for] Results: [X] people found
| Name | Title | Company | Profile URL | Key Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Name] | [Title] | [Company] | [URL] | [Notable detail] |
Person Details
For each person found, include what's available:
- Name: [Full name]
- Title: [Current title]
- Company: [Current company]
- Profile: [URL]
- Background: [Brief professional background if available]
- Relevance: [Why this person matches the search]
Tips
- Start with a strong URL. The better the starting URL, the better the similarity results. A specific LinkedIn profile works better than a generic company page.
- LinkedIn is your friend. Filter with
--include-domains "linkedin.com"when searching for professional profiles. - Iterate. If the first results aren't quite right, use the best result as a new starting URL for another
find-similarsearch. - Combine with search. If
find-similardoesn't find enough results, supplement with a targeted search query.
Related Skills
- exa-lead-generation: Build prospect lists of companies matching ICP criteria
- exa-company-research: Research a company in depth before reaching out to people there
- exa-personal-site-search: Find personal websites and portfolios