diff --git a/backend/src/pro/exa.test.ts b/backend/src/pro/exa.test.ts
index 72de5288f..0ff386013 100644
--- a/backend/src/pro/exa.test.ts
+++ b/backend/src/pro/exa.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, mock } from 'bun:test'
 import { Elysia, t } from 'elysia'
+import { createExaClient } from './exa'
 
 // Create a test version of the plugin with mocked Exa client
 const createTestExaPlugin = (mockExaClient: any) => {
@@ -22,7 +23,6 @@ const createTestExaPlugin = (mockExaClient: any) => {
 
         const response = await store.exaClient.search(body.query, {
           numResults: body.max_results,
-          useAutoprompt: true,
           type: 'fast',
         })
 
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ const createTestExaPlugin = (mockExaClient: any) => {
 
         const response = await store.exaClient.getContents([body.url], {
           livecrawlTimeout: 5_000,
+          maxAgeHours: 24,
           extras: { imageLinks: 1 },
           text: { maxCharacters },
         })
@@ -137,7 +138,6 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
       })
       expect(mockSearch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('test search', {
         numResults: 10,
-        useAutoprompt: true,
         type: 'fast',
       })
     })
@@ -156,11 +156,25 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
       expect(response.status).toBe(200)
       expect(mockSearch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('test search', {
         numResults: 5,
-        useAutoprompt: true,
         type: 'fast',
       })
     })
 
+    it('should not send useAutoprompt (undocumented in current API reference)', async () => {
+      mockSearch.mockResolvedValueOnce({ results: [] })
+
+      await app.handle(
+        new Request('http://localhost/search', {
+          method: 'POST',
+          headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+          body: JSON.stringify({ query: 'test search' }),
+        }),
+      )
+
+      const [, options] = mockSearch.mock.calls[0]
+      expect(options).not.toHaveProperty('useAutoprompt')
+    })
+
     it('should use default max_results when not provided', async () => {
       mockSearch.mockResolvedValueOnce({ results: [] })
 
@@ -174,7 +188,6 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
 
       expect(mockSearch).toHaveBeenCalledWith('test search', {
         numResults: 10,
-        useAutoprompt: true,
         type: 'fast',
       })
     })
@@ -315,6 +328,7 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
       })
       expect(mockGetContents).toHaveBeenCalledWith(['https://example.com'], {
         livecrawlTimeout: 5_000,
+        maxAgeHours: 24,
         extras: { imageLinks: 1 },
         text: { maxCharacters: 16_000 },
       })
@@ -422,6 +436,7 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
         expect(response.status).toBe(200)
         expect(mockGetContents).toHaveBeenCalledWith([url], {
           livecrawlTimeout: 5_000,
+          maxAgeHours: 24,
           extras: { imageLinks: 1 },
           text: { maxCharacters: 16_000 },
         })
@@ -521,6 +536,7 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
       expect(response.status).toBe(200)
       expect(mockGetContents).toHaveBeenCalledWith(['https://example.com'], {
         livecrawlTimeout: 5_000,
+        maxAgeHours: 24,
         extras: { imageLinks: 1 },
         text: { maxCharacters: 32_000 },
       })
@@ -547,6 +563,7 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
       expect(response.status).toBe(200)
       expect(mockGetContents).toHaveBeenCalledWith(['https://example.com'], {
         livecrawlTimeout: 5_000,
+        maxAgeHours: 24,
         extras: { imageLinks: 1 },
         text: { maxCharacters: 64_000 },
       })
@@ -573,6 +590,7 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
       expect(response.status).toBe(200)
       expect(mockGetContents).toHaveBeenCalledWith(['https://example.com'], {
         livecrawlTimeout: 5_000,
+        maxAgeHours: 24,
         extras: { imageLinks: 1 },
         text: { maxCharacters: 1_000 },
       })
@@ -628,4 +646,19 @@ describe('Pro - Exa Plugin', () => {
       expect(data.data.text).toContain('[Content truncated. Call fetch_content with max_length=64000 for more.]')
     })
   })
+
+  describe('createExaClient', () => {
+    it('should attach x-exa-integration header for API attribution', () => {
+      const client = createExaClient('test-api-key')
+      const headers = (client as unknown as { headers: Headers }).headers
+      expect(headers.get('x-exa-integration')).toBe('thunderbolt')
+    })
+
+    it('should preserve the x-api-key header alongside the integration header', () => {
+      const client = createExaClient('test-api-key')
+      const headers = (client as unknown as { headers: Headers }).headers
+      expect(headers.get('x-api-key')).toBe('test-api-key')
+      expect(headers.get('x-exa-integration')).toBe('thunderbolt')
+    })
+  })
 })
diff --git a/backend/src/pro/exa.ts b/backend/src/pro/exa.ts
index ff8b8bb7e..9404b3415 100644
--- a/backend/src/pro/exa.ts
+++ b/backend/src/pro/exa.ts
@@ -2,9 +2,33 @@ import { getSettings } from '@/config/settings'
 import { memoize } from '@/lib/memoize'
 import { safeErrorHandler } from '@/middleware/error-handling'
 import { Elysia, t } from 'elysia'
-import { Exa } from 'exa-js'
+import { Exa, type ContentsOptions } from 'exa-js'
 import type { FetchContentResponse, SearchResponse } from './types'
 
+/**
+ * exa-js v1.10.2 does not yet type `maxAgeHours`, but the `/contents` API accepts it
+ * as the successor to the deprecated `livecrawl` enum. The SDK spreads unknown options
+ * into the request body, so this field reaches the API unchanged.
+ */
+type ContentsOptionsWithMaxAge = ContentsOptions & { maxAgeHours?: number }
+
+/**
+ * Default freshness window for fetched content. Pages cached within the last 24 hours
+ * are served as-is; older pages trigger a live crawl bounded by `livecrawlTimeout`.
+ */
+const DEFAULT_MAX_AGE_HOURS = 24
+
+/**
+ * Builds an Exa client with the `x-exa-integration` header set so the Exa team can
+ * attribute API usage to the thunderbolt repo. `headers` is private in the SDK but
+ * is a runtime `Headers` instance, so the cast is safe.
+ */
+export const createExaClient = (apiKey: string): Exa => {
+  const client = new Exa(apiKey)
+  ;(client as unknown as { headers: Headers }).headers.set('x-exa-integration', 'thunderbolt')
+  return client
+}
+
 const getExaClient = memoize(() => {
   const settings = getSettings()
   const apiKey = settings.exaApiKey
@@ -13,7 +37,7 @@ const getExaClient = memoize(() => {
     return null
   }
 
-  return new Exa(apiKey)
+  return createExaClient(apiKey)
 })
 
 /**
@@ -31,7 +55,6 @@ export const exaPlugin = new Elysia({ name: 'exa' })
 
       const response = await store.exaClient.search(body.query, {
         numResults: body.max_results,
-        useAutoprompt: true,
         type: 'fast',
       })
 
@@ -61,11 +84,13 @@ export const exaPlugin = new Elysia({ name: 'exa' })
       const requestedMax = body.max_length ?? defaultMaxChars
       const maxCharacters = Math.min(Math.max(requestedMax, minChars), hardCap)
 
-      const response = await store.exaClient.getContents([body.url], {
+      const contentsOptions: ContentsOptionsWithMaxAge = {
         livecrawlTimeout: 5_000,
+        maxAgeHours: DEFAULT_MAX_AGE_HOURS,
         extras: { imageLinks: 1 },
         text: { maxCharacters },
-      })
+      }
+      const response = await store.exaClient.getContents([body.url], contentsOptions)
 
       const result = response.results[0]
       if (!result) {