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Perplexity MCP Server

Provides web search via Perplexity API and exposes it to Claude as an MCP server.

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Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

View docs

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "perplexity_mcp": {
            "command": "node",
            "args": [
                "/absolute/path/to/perplexity-mcp/build/index.js"
            ],
            "env": {
                "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
                "PERPLEXITY_MODEL": "sonar"
            }
        }
    }
}

You can run a Perplexity-powered MCP Server that adds web search capabilities to your Claude Desktop workflow. It authenticates with Perplexity’s API and exposes search results to Claude prompts, making it easy to pull in up-to-date information without leaving your chat.

How to use

To use this MCP server, configure it in Claude so Claude can invoke the Perplexity search tool automatically. You can then ask Claude questions that require current web information, such as latest news, restaurant recommendations, or historical context, and Claude will retrieve results through Perplexity.

How to install

Prerequisites you need before installation are: Node.js (v14 or higher), a Perplexity API key, and the Claude Desktop App.

Installing via Smithery automatically installs the Perplexity MCP for Claude Desktop.

npx -y @smithery/cli install @jaacob/perplexity-mcp --client claude

For a manual installation, follow these steps in order.

Clone the project and install dependencies.

git clone https://github.com/jaacob/perplexity-mcp
cd perplexity-mcp
npm install

Build the server so you can run the compiled index.

npm run build

Configuration

Obtain your Perplexity API key from Perplexity’s settings page. Then add the MCP server to Claude’s configuration. Create or edit Claude’s config file to include the Perplexity MCP with the following structure.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity_mcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/to/perplexity-mcp/build/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",
        "PERPLEXITY_MODEL": "sonar"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available models

You can choose a Perplexity model by setting the PERPLEXITY_MODEL environment variable. Options include sonar-reasoning-pro, sonar-reasoning, sonar-pro, and sonar (default). If you don’t specify a model, sonar is used by default.

Notes on usage and models

After Claude loads the Perplexity MCP, you can start asking questions that require web search results. If Claude doesn’t automatically use the Perplexity search tool, you can force a web search by prefixing your prompt with "Search the web".

Development

To modify the server, edit the source at src/index.ts, rebuild with npm run build, and restart Claude to load changes.

License

MIT license.

Available tools

perplexity_search

A tool that queries Perplexity’s web search API and returns relevant results to Claude for display or further prompting.