Perplexity Web Search MCP server

This MCP server allows Claude and other MCP-compatible AI assistants to search the web and retrieve up-to-date information using the Perplexity API. It provides comprehensive search results with sources and citations, helping assistants access current information beyond their training data.

Installation

To install the Perplexity Web Search MCP Server:

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies using pip:

   pip install -e .
   

   or with uv:

   uv pip install -e .
   

Configuration

You need to provide your Perplexity API key. There are two ways to do this:

Option 1: Environment Variable

Set the PERPLEXITY_API_KEY environment variable:

export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Option 2: .env File

Create a .env file in the project root with your API key:

PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

Getting a Perplexity API Key

1. Visit Perplexity API Settings
2. Create an account if you don't have one
3. Generate an API key

Running the Server

Start the server with:

python server.py

Testing Functionality

You can test the search functionality without running the full MCP server:

python test_server.py "your search query here" --recency month

The --recency parameter accepts these values:

• day
• week
• month (default)
• year

Integration with Claude Desktop

1. Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file:

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

2. Add this configuration:

   {
     "perplexity-mcp": {
       "env": {
         "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
       },
       "command": "python",
       "args": [
         "/path/to/server.py"
       ]
     }
   }
   

3. Restart Claude Desktop

Example Prompts

When using Claude with the Perplexity MCP server, try these example prompts:

• "Search the web for the latest news about artificial intelligence"
• "Use Perplexity to find information about climate change published in the past week"
• "Search for recent research papers on quantum computing from the past month"

Available Tools

search_web

search_web(query: str, recency: str = "month") -> str

Parameters:

• query: Your search query
• recency: Time filter - 'day', 'week', 'month' (default), or 'year'

Returns: A comprehensive text response with:

• Detailed summary of search results
• Key facts and information
• Sources with URLs
• Any conflicting information (if present)

web_search_prompt

web_search_prompt(query: str, recency: str = "month") -> str

Creates a formatted prompt template for web searches.

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-mcp" '{"command":"python","args":["/path/to/server.py"],"env":{"PERPLEXITY_API_KEY":"your-api-key-here"}}'

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-mcp": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/server.py"
            ],
            "env": {
                "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
            }
        }
    }
}

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-mcp": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": [
                "/path/to/server.py"
            ],
            "env": {
                "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
            }
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect