Perplexity
The official Perplexity MCP server connects AI assistants to Perplexity's Sonar and Agent APIs for real-time, web-wide search and research. It offers direct ranked web search plus conversational ask, deep research, and advanced reasoning presets for everything from quick lookups to detailed reports.
Install Perplexity
- Published by
- Official (vendor)
- Transport
- Remote (HTTP)
- Authentication
- API key
- Package
- @perplexity-ai/mcp-server
Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor
Add this to the mcpServers object in your client's
config file, then restart the client.
{
"mcpServers": {
"perplexity": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}"
}
}
}
}VS Code uses a different key — show that config
Identical entry, filed under servers rather than
mcpServers. Put it in
.vscode/mcp.json for one workspace.
{
"servers": {
"perplexity": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}"
}
}
}
}Before it will answer
A Perplexity API key as a bearer token. Search and reasoning calls are billed per request against your API credit, so an agent left to loop on perplexity_research will spend real money — cap it before you hand it a task. The identical tool set is available locally via npx -y @perplexity-ai/mcp-server with PERPLEXITY_API_KEY.
Tools
perplexity_ask
Conversational AI answer with real-time web search backing.
perplexity_reason
Advanced reasoning and problem-solving over web context.
perplexity_research
Deep, comprehensive research producing a detailed report.
perplexity_search
Direct web search returning ranked results with metadata.