perplexity-mcp MCP server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides web search functionality using Perplexity AI's API. Works with the Anthropic Claude desktop client.

Examples

Use prompts like:

• "Search the web to find out what's new at Anthropic in the past week."
• "Do deep research on the latest advances in quantum computing in the past month."

Components

Prompts

The server provides two prompts:

• perplexity_search_web: Quick web search using Perplexity AI

  • Required "query" argument for the search query
  • Optional "recency" argument to filter results by time period:
    • 'day': last 24 hours
    • 'week': last 7 days
    • 'month': last 30 days (default)
    • 'year': last 365 days
  • Uses Perplexity's API to perform web searches

• perplexity_deep_research: Comprehensive deep research using Perplexity AI

  • Required "query" argument for the research topic
  • Optional "recency" argument to filter results by time period (same options as above)
  • Uses Perplexity's sonar-deep-research model with 65,536 max tokens
  • Provides exhaustive analysis with detailed insights backed by evidence

Tools

The server implements two tools:

• perplexity_search_web: Quick web search using Perplexity AI

  • Takes "query" as a required string argument
  • Optional "recency" parameter to filter results (day/week/month/year)
  • Returns concise search results from Perplexity's API
  • Best for quick lookups and current information

• perplexity_deep_research: Comprehensive deep research using Perplexity AI

  • Takes "query" as a required string argument
  • Optional "recency" parameter to filter results (day/week/month/year)
  • Returns extensive, detailed research with citations
  • Best for in-depth analysis, comprehensive reports, and thorough investigations

Installation

Requires UV (Fast Python package and project manager)

If uv isn't installed.

# Using Homebrew on macOS
brew install uv

or

# On macOS and Linux.
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# On Windows.
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Environment Variables

The following environment variable is required in your claude_desktop_config.json. You can obtain an API key from Perplexity

• PERPLEXITY_API_KEY: Your Perplexity AI API key

Optional environment variables:

• PERPLEXITY_MODEL: The Perplexity model to use (defaults to "sonar" if not specified)

  Available models:

  • sonar-deep-research: 128k context - Enhanced research capabilities
  • sonar-reasoning-pro: 128k context - Advanced reasoning with professional focus
  • sonar-reasoning: 128k context - Enhanced reasoning capabilities
  • sonar-pro: 200k context - Professional grade model
  • sonar: 128k context - Default model

And updated list of models is avaiable (here)[https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/model-cards]

Cursor & Claude Desktop Installation

Add this tool as a mcp server by editing the Cursor/Claude config file.

There is sometimes a problem with uvx scope in Claude Desktop, so if logs show that uvx is not found, try running which uvx from the terminal that has access to uvx and then specity the full path to the executable in "command" of the mcp config.

  "perplexity-mcp": {
    "env": {
      "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
      "PERPLEXITY_MODEL": "sonar"
    },
    "command": "uvx", # or full path like: /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/miniconda/base/bin/uvx
    "args": [
      "--from",
      "git+https://github.com/moon-strider/perplexity-mcp",
      "perplexity-mcp-ultra"
    ]
  }

Cursor

• On MacOS: /Users/your-username/.cursor/mcp.json
• On Windows: C:\Users\your-username\.cursor\mcp.json

If everything is working correctly, you should now be able to call the tool from Cursor.

Claude Desktop

• On MacOS: ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

To verify the server is working. Open the Claude client and use a prompt like "search the web for news about openai in the past week". You should see an alert box open to confirm tool usage. Click "Allow for this chat".