Perplexity MCP Server for Claude

Content

Perplexity Ask gives Claude a real-time research step backed by the Perplexity Sonar API. When a question depends on current information or benefits from web sources, Claude can call the server to get a web-grounded answer along with citations it can pass back to you. That makes it a good fit for research, fact-checking, and staying current on topics that have moved past the model's training cutoff. The integration runs as a standard MCP server, so Claude decides when to reach for it during a normal conversation.

Features

• Web-grounded answers powered by the Perplexity Sonar API.
• Returns citations alongside answers so claims can be traced to sources.
• Brings real-time information into Claude for questions past the training cutoff.
• Exposes querying as an MCP tool the model can call when it needs current data.
• Runs as a standard stdio MCP server that installs into Claude Code and Claude Desktop with one command.
• Maintained by Perplexity as the official MCP integration for Sonar.

Use Cases

• Answer questions that depend on current events or recent information.
• Research a topic and get a synthesized answer with sources.
• Fact-check a claim against live web sources with citations.
• Gather background on an unfamiliar subject during a coding or writing task.
• Add a reliable, cited research step to an agent workflow.

Installation

Claude Code

1. Make sure Node.js 18+ is installed (verify with npx --version).
2. Create a Perplexity Sonar API key in your Perplexity account settings.
3. Run: claude mcp add perplexity-ask --env PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=YOUR_KEY -- npx -y server-perplexity-ask
4. Verify the server is registered: claude mcp list

Claude Desktop

1. Create a Perplexity Sonar API key in your Perplexity account settings.
2. Open your Claude Desktop configuration file.
3. Add the Perplexity server to the mcpServers section using the configuration below, with your key in the env section.
4. Restart Claude Desktop and confirm the server appears.

Configuration

{
  "perplexity-ask": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y", "server-perplexity-ask"],
    "env": {
      "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}"
    }
  }
}

Examples

Research a current topic

Ask Claude to use Perplexity for a cited answer.

"Use Perplexity to research recent changes in this area and summarize the findings with sources."

Fact-check a claim

Have Claude verify a statement with citations.

"Check whether this statement is accurate using Perplexity and include the sources it cites."

Get background during a task

Pull in current context mid-conversation.

"Before we implement this, use Perplexity to find the current recommended approach and cite it."

Security

• The server reaches the Perplexity Sonar API over the network; the questions and context you send are transmitted to that service to produce answers.
• Treat returned answers and cited pages as untrusted input. Verify important claims and review any links before acting on them.
• The Perplexity API key is a credential. Store it in an environment variable and keep it out of source control and shared configs.
• Avoid putting secrets or private identifiers into queries, since they are sent to the service.

Troubleshooting

Authentication or 401 errors

Confirm PERPLEXITY_API_KEY is set correctly and active in your Perplexity account. Regenerate the key if it may have been revoked, and update the environment variable.

npx cannot resolve the package

Verify Node.js 18+ and npx are installed (npx --version). Networks that block the npm registry will prevent npx -y server-perplexity-ask from resolving.

Requests fail or time out

Check internet access to the Perplexity Sonar API. Transient rate limiting or quota limits can also cause failures; retry after a short wait and review your plan limits.

Server not listed in Claude Code

Re-run the claude mcp add perplexity-ask ... command, then claude mcp list. Confirm the key was passed via --env and that the server was added to the scope (project versus user) you are running in.

• Source repositorygithub.com 2026-07-18T11:38:32+00:00
• Documentationgithub.com
• Websitedocs.perplexity.ai
• Submitted by glorydavid030232026-06-03