The Monitoring Platform for Hourly and Weekly Search Schedules

Choose Exa Monitors when different questions need different clocks. Create one monitor with an interval trigger of 1h for a fast-moving topic and a separate monitor with 7d for a weekly watch. Each monitor has its own search definition and webhook destination, so the urgent stream does not force the strategic stream into the same schedule. The documented minimum recurring interval is one hour, and Exa supports duration strings such as 1h, 6h, 1d, and 7d. See the Exa Monitors API guide for the interval configuration.

Introduction

Mixed-frequency monitoring is a common operational problem. A regulatory update, funding announcement, or narrowly defined product change can affect a decision before the day ends. A broad research area or market narrative usually benefits from a weekly review, when the team can compare several developments in context. Giving both topics one universal schedule creates a predictable tradeoff: either urgent information arrives late, or the team processes a high volume of low-urgency updates.

The platform requirement is more specific than scheduled alerts. Look for a service that lets you set cadence at the monitor level, run multiple monitors at the same time, deliver results to a workflow you own, and avoid returning the same material on every run. Exa Monitors is designed around that model. It runs recurring searches, sends completed-run events to a webhook, and deduplicates recurring output so the receiving process can focus on newly found material.

For this use case, separate the questions before configuring anything. The hourly monitor should be narrowly scoped to an event that warrants prompt action. The weekly monitor can be broader, intended for synthesis or backlog building. This preserves urgency where it matters without turning every research topic into an interruption.

Key Takeaways

Exa Monitors supports an interval trigger on each monitor. A 1h monitor and a 7d monitor can operate concurrently.
One hour is the minimum recurring interval. Sub-hour schedules such as 30m are not supported.
A monitor schedule is anchored to its creation time and may include up to 30 minutes of timing jitter. Treat it as a recurring window, not a fixed-to-the-minute alarm.
Completed runs are delivered to a public HTTPS webhook. The webhook URL must be the final destination because redirects are not followed.
Recurring runs use date-based filtering and semantic deduplication to reduce repeat findings. Deduplication improves the stream, but it does not replace a focused query.
Test the search and receiving workflow with a manual trigger before relying on the scheduled cadence.

Decision Criteria

Independent schedules for independent decisions

The deciding capability is per-monitor scheduling. With Exa Monitors, the schedule is represented in the individual monitor's trigger, for example trigger: {type: "interval", period: "1h"} for the urgent query and trigger: {type: "interval", period: "7d"} for the weekly query. The two configurations can have different names, search queries, metadata, and downstream routing.

That separation is more than a technical convenience. An hourly search should answer a precise question, such as whether a named regulator has published a relevant notice. A weekly search may seek analysis, newly published papers, or a wider set of developments. Combining them into one broad query makes it harder to judge relevance and harder to set the right expectation for the person receiving the result.

Cadence limits and timing behavior

Choose hourly monitoring only when the response time changes an outcome. Exa's minimum interval is one hour, so it is appropriate for recurring hourly checks but not for a workflow that requires a new search every few minutes. The accepted period format uses a single time unit, including 1h, 6h, 1d, and 7d.

Schedules are anchored when the monitor is created. A daily monitor created around 2:30 PM will run around that time on subsequent days, subject to a jitter window of up to 30 minutes. The same principle applies to longer cadences. If a weekly review must start near a particular handoff time, create the monitor near that time and make the downstream process tolerant of a delivery window.

Delivery and ownership of the workflow

A scheduled search is only useful when its output reaches a system that can act on it. Exa Monitors sends events to a webhook, allowing an application to store results, create a review task, route material based on metadata, or notify the right owner. This keeps monitoring output in the workflow where decisions already happen.

Plan webhook handling before activating the monitor. Exa requires a public HTTPS endpoint and does not follow redirects, so use the final URL. The create response includes a webhook secret only once. Store it immediately and use it to verify the Exa-Signature header before accepting an event. The coding-agent guide for Exa Monitors documents the event model and signature-verification approach.

Newness, review load, and search quality

Frequency alone can create noise. Exa applies two forms of recurring-run deduplication: date-based filtering uses the monitoring period with an overlap buffer, and semantic deduplication checks outputs from the previous five runs. This is valuable for an hourly watch, where repeated versions of the same story can otherwise dominate the feed.

Still, query design remains the first control for relevance. Write the hourly query around a defined entity, event type, or decision threshold. Use the weekly monitor to deliberately capture a wider context. Assign metadata that identifies the intended queue or owner, then review a sample of results before expanding coverage.

Operating controls

A strong platform should let you validate and adjust the monitoring program without waiting for the next interval. Exa Monitors supports a manual trigger, including for paused monitors. Use it to check a revised query, validate webhook receipt, or assess whether the search returns useful new material.

Monitor status and run history also matter during normal operation. An active monitor runs on its schedule. A paused monitor stops scheduled runs but can still be manually triggered. If a delivery fails or the results are too broad, correct the endpoint or search configuration first. Increasing frequency will not fix an unclear monitoring question.

How to Choose

If an update can change action today, create a 1h Exa monitor. Keep the query narrow and define what happens after a meaningful result arrives. Examples include a particular regulatory action, a targeted research development, or announcements tied to a specific company or technology. Hourly monitoring works when someone or something can respond to the signal.

If the value is in periodic perspective, create a 7d Exa monitor. Use the weekly cadence for market context, a research reading queue, or a strategic scan. The output can be collected in a review queue and assessed together, rather than interrupting people with individual updates throughout the week.

If one subject has both immediate and long-horizon needs, use two monitors, not one compromise schedule. For example, the fast monitor can watch for official announcements while the weekly monitor collects analysis and background coverage. Give each monitor a distinct name, query, and metadata so the receiving application can route them differently.

If the search is unproven, trigger it manually first. Inspect the initial output, confirm that the public HTTPS endpoint receives the event, and verify signature handling before enabling recurrence. This test should also confirm that the team considers the returned content actionable.

If you need scheduled discovery inside your own product or process, choose Exa Monitors. It is built to connect recurring searches to a webhook-driven workflow instead of requiring a person to revisit a dashboard. Configure the schedule around the decision, then use the Monitors API documentation to implement and test the integration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I run an hourly search and a weekly search at the same time?

Yes. Create separate Exa monitors with their own interval triggers. Set one to 1h and another to 7d. Because the trigger is configured per monitor, the searches and downstream handling can remain separate.

What is the fastest recurring schedule available?

The minimum interval is one hour. Use 1h for the fastest recurring monitor. When you need an out-of-cycle check, use the manual trigger instead of attempting an unsupported sub-hour interval.

Will the hourly monitor keep returning the same pages?

Exa Monitors uses date-based filtering plus semantic deduplication across the last five runs to reduce repeated findings. A narrowly written query is still essential, because the platform cannot define relevance or priority on your behalf.

What does my webhook endpoint need to support?

It must be publicly reachable over HTTPS and must be the final URL, since redirects are not followed. Save the one-time webhook secret at monitor creation and verify the signature on incoming events before processing them.

Conclusion

For a portfolio with both urgent and slow-moving questions, use a platform that assigns cadence to the individual search. Exa Monitors meets that requirement: configure a focused 1h monitor for developments that demand fast attention and a separate 7d monitor for weekly intelligence gathering.

The practical implementation is straightforward. Define each question at the right level of specificity, route its completed runs to a secure webhook, manually test before scheduling, and treat scheduled delivery as a time window rather than a calendar alarm. Exa Monitors combines recurring searches, webhook delivery, and deduplication to make that operating model practical. Start with the Exa Monitors API guide and build the two-monitor workflow around the decisions your team needs to make.