Perplexity MCP server for AI agents

This MCP server integrates Perplexity AI's API with Claude Desktop, enabling Claude to perform web-based research and provide answers with citations. The tool connects Claude to Perplexity's search capabilities, allowing it to retrieve and cite current information from the internet.

Prerequisites

Before installing the Perplexity Tool, ensure you have the following software installed:

Git Installation

For Mac:

Install Homebrew first:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Then install Git:
```
brew install git
```

For Windows:

Download Git from git-scm.com
Run the installer

Node.js Installation

For Mac:

brew install git

For Windows:

Download from nodejs.org
Run the installer

Verify Installations

Confirm both tools are installed correctly:

git --version
node --version

Installing the Perplexity Tool

Step 1: Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/letsbuildagent/perplexity-tool
cd perplexity-tool

Step 2: Install Dependencies

npm install

Step 3: Set Up Your API Key

Option 1 (Quick setup):

Open server.js

Find this line:

const PERPLEXITY_API_KEY = "YOUR-API-KEY-HERE";

Replace with your Perplexity API key

Option 2 (Best practice):

Create a .env file:

# On Mac/Linux:
touch .env
open .env

# On Windows:
notepad .env

Add your API key to the .env file:
```
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
```
Install dotenv:
```
npm install dotenv
```

Update server.js:

import 'dotenv/config'
const PERPLEXITY_API_KEY = process.env.PERPLEXITY_API_KEY;

Step 4: Configure Claude Desktop

Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity-tool": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/full/path/to/perplexity-tool/server.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /full/path/to with the actual path where you cloned the repository

Step 5: Restart Claude Desktop

Restart the application to apply changes.

Using the Perplexity Tool

Once installed, use the tool through Claude with commands like:

"Ask Perplexity about recent developments in AI"
"Use Perplexity to research the history of quantum computing"
"Search Perplexity for information about climate change, focusing on the last month"

Advanced Options

You can customize your searches with these parameters:

temperature: Controls response randomness (0-2)
max_tokens: Limits response length
search_domain_filter: Restricts search to specific domains
search_recency_filter: Filters by time period (day/week/month/year)

Troubleshooting

Git Issues

Make sure Git is installed correctly
Try restarting your terminal
On Mac, verify Homebrew is in your PATH

Node.js Problems

Check installation with node --version
Try reinstalling Node.js if necessary

API Key Problems

Ensure your API key is copied correctly
Check for extra spaces in your .env file
If using Option 2, verify dotenv is installed

Tool Not Appearing in Claude

Verify the path in claude_desktop_config.json
Ensure the path points to your server.js file
Restart Claude Desktop
Check the console for error messages

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "perplexity-tool" '{"command":"node","args":["/full/path/to/perplexity-tool/server.js"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "perplexity-tool": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/full/path/to/perplexity-tool/server.js"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "perplexity-tool": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/full/path/to/perplexity-tool/server.js"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect