Perplexity Deep Research MCP

Instructions

Implementation Reference

• src/index.ts:82-146 (handler)

  Handler for executing the 'deep_research' tool. Sends the query to Perplexity's sonar-deep-research model via API, includes optional recency filter, returns formatted content and citations or error.

  case "deep_research": {
    const { 
      query, 
      search_recency_filter
    } = request.params.arguments as {
      query: string;
      search_recency_filter?: string;
    };
  
    try {
      const payload: any = {
        model: "sonar-deep-research",
        messages: [
          {
            role: "user",
            content: query
          }
        ],
        max_tokens: this.maxTokens,
        temperature: this.temperature
      };
  
      // Add optional parameters if provided
      if (search_recency_filter) {
        payload.search_recency_filter = search_recency_filter;
      }
  
      console.error(`Using model: sonar-deep-research, max_tokens: ${this.maxTokens}, temperature: ${this.temperature}`);
  
      const response = await axios.post('https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions', payload, {
        headers: {
          'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.PERPLEXITY_API_KEY!}`,
          'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        }
      });
      
      // Format the response to only include content and citations
      const formattedResponse = {
        content: response.data.choices[0].message.content,
        citations: response.data.citations || []
      };
      
      return {
        content: [{
          type: "text",
          text: JSON.stringify(formattedResponse, null, 2)
        }]
      };
    } catch (error: unknown) {
      if (axios.isAxiosError(error)) {
        const axiosError = error as AxiosError<PerplexityErrorResponse>;
        const errorData = axiosError.response?.data;
        const errorMessage = errorData?.error || errorData?.message || axiosError.message;
        
        return {
          content: [{
            type: "text", 
            text: `Perplexity API error: ${errorMessage}`
          }],
          isError: true
        };
      }
      throw error;
    }
  }

• src/index.ts:55-77 (registration)

  Registers the 'deep_research' tool in the ListToolsRequestHandler, providing name, description, and input schema.

  this.server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => {
    return {
      tools: [{
        name: "deep_research",
        description: "Perform a comprehensive web search using Perplexity's Deep Research API, which provides detailed and contextually relevant results with citations.",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            query: {
              type: "string",
              description: "The search query to perform"
            },
            search_recency_filter: {
              type: "string",
              description: "Filter search results by recency (options: month, week, day, hour)",
              enum: ["month", "week", "day", "hour"]
            }
          },
          required: ["query"]
        }
      }]
    };
  });

• src/index.ts:60-74 (schema)

  Input schema definition for the 'deep_research' tool: requires 'query' string, optional 'search_recency_filter' enum.

  inputSchema: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      query: {
        type: "string",
        description: "The search query to perform"
      },
      search_recency_filter: {
        type: "string",
        description: "Filter search results by recency (options: month, week, day, hour)",
        enum: ["month", "week", "day", "hour"]
      }
    },
    required: ["query"]
  }