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Family-IT-Guy

Perplexity MCP Server

Perplexity Intelligent MCP Server

An intelligent Perplexity research MCP server for Claude Desktop with automatic model selection, multi-model synthesis, and persistent research history.

Features

  • Intelligent Model Selection: Auto-picks the right Perplexity model based on your query

  • Research History: Saves all research to ~/Documents/Perplexity Research/

  • Multi-Model Synthesis: Combines multiple models for comprehensive research

  • Search History: Search past research to avoid duplicate queries

  • Built-in Citations: Every response includes sources and references

Related MCP server: Perplexity MCP Server

Quick Setup

Prerequisites

Configure Claude Desktop

Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity-research": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@familyitguy/perplexity-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace your-api-key-here with your Perplexity API key.

Restart Claude Desktop

Quit completely (Cmd+Q) and reopen. You're done!

Available Tools

research

Intelligent Perplexity search with auto-logging.

Use: "Research the current state of AI in healthcare"

deep_research

Multi-model synthesis for comprehensive research.

Use: "Do a deep research on renewable energy trends"

search_research

Search past research for existing findings.

Use: "Search my research for React performance"

list_research_threads

List all saved research threads.

read_research_thread

Read a specific past research thread.

list_models

Show available Perplexity models and when to use each.

Models

Model

Best For

sonar

Simple factual lookups, current events

sonar-pro

Multi-source research, fact-checking

sonar-reasoning-pro

Why/how questions, complex analysis (default)

sonar-deep-research

Exhaustive research, comprehensive reports

Research Storage

All research is automatically saved to:

~/Documents/Perplexity Research/
├── topic-name-2025-01-15.md
├── another-topic-2025-01-16.md
└── ...

You can browse your research history in Finder anytime.

Environment Variables

Variable

Description

Default

PERPLEXITY_API_KEY

Your Perplexity API key

Required

PERPLEXITY_RESEARCH_DIR

Custom research directory

~/Documents/Perplexity Research/

License

MIT

Install Server
A
security – no known vulnerabilities
A
license - permissive license
A
quality - confirmed to work

Resources

Looking for Admin?

Admins can modify the Dockerfile, update the server description, and track usage metrics. If you are the server author, to access the admin panel.

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MCP directory API

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curl -X GET 'https://glama.ai/api/mcp/v1/servers/Family-IT-Guy/perplexity-mcp'

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