Perplexity AI MCP server

The Perplexity AI MCP Server implements the Model Context Protocol standard to provide streamlined access to Perplexity AI's capabilities. This server acts as a bridge between MCP-compatible applications and Perplexity's API, enabling features like chatting, searching, and documentation retrieval through a standardized interface.

Installation

To set up the Perplexity AI MCP Server on your system:

Prerequisites

• Node.js and npm installed on your machine

Setup Steps

1. Clone the repository to your local machine:

   git clone https://github.com/username/perplexity-ai-mcp-server.git
   cd perplexity-ai-mcp-server
   

2. Install the required dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Configure your Perplexity API key as an environment variable:

   export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
   

   For Windows Command Prompt:

   set PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
   

   For Windows PowerShell:

   $env:PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
   

4. Start the server:

   npm start
   

Usage

The Perplexity AI MCP Server exposes several tools that can be accessed through any MCP-compatible client.

Available Tools

• Chat: Engage in conversational interactions with Perplexity AI
• Search: Perform web searches through Perplexity's search capabilities
• Documentation: Retrieve documentation on specific topics

Connecting to the Server

To connect to the server from an MCP client, use the server's URL. By default, the server runs on http://localhost:3000 unless configured otherwise.

Error Handling

The server includes built-in error handling to manage potential API failures gracefully. If you encounter issues with the Perplexity API, the server will return appropriate error messages rather than crashing.

Troubleshooting

If you experience connection issues:

• Verify your API key is correctly set as an environment variable
• Check that the server is running and listening on the expected port
• Ensure your network allows connections to the Perplexity API
• Review your MCP client configuration to confirm it's properly connecting to the server

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-ai" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","perplexity-mcp-server"]}'

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-ai": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "perplexity-mcp-server"
            ]
        }
    }
}

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-ai": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "perplexity-mcp-server"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect