Perplexity MCP Server

What This Does

This MCP server connects AI assistants to Perplexity AI's search API. Ask questions in natural language and get grounded, cited answers from the live web — directly inside Claude or any MCP-compatible client.

One tool, full control: perplexity_search_web exposes the complete Perplexity API — recency filtering, model selection, temperature, top_k/top_p, citation/image toggles, and streaming.

Related MCP server: Perplexity Web Search MCP Server

Getting Started

1. Get a Perplexity API Key

Sign up at perplexity.ai and generate an API key from your account settings.

2. Install & Configure

Claude Code (Recommended)

claude mcp add perplexity -- npx -y @jschuller/perplexity-mcp

Then set your API key:

export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=pplx-your-key-here

Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

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

Config location:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

From Source

git clone https://github.com/jschuller/perplexity-mcp.git
cd perplexity-mcp
npm install && npm run build

3. Verify

Ask Claude: "Search the web for the latest developments in quantum computing from the last week"

Tool Reference

perplexity_search_web

Environment Variables

Available Models

• sonar — Standard model (default)

• sonar-pro — Enhanced capabilities

• See full list: Perplexity Model Cards

Security

• API key stays in your local environment — never sent anywhere except the Perplexity API

• The server communicates only with api.perplexity.ai over HTTPS

• No data is stored or logged beyond the API request lifecycle

• See SECURITY.md for vulnerability reporting

Troubleshooting

Contributing

Contributions welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT