Perplexity MCP Server

Overview

The Perplexity MCP Server enables AI assistants to access Perplexity’s powerful search and reasoning capabilities directly within their workflows. Using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), you can integrate real-time web search, conversational AI, and advanced reasoning into any MCP-compatible client. There are two ways to connect:

Remote MCP server (recommended): hosted by Perplexity at https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp. No installation, nothing to update, works with any client that supports remote MCP servers.
Local MCP server: run the open-source server on your machine over stdio. Use this if your client only supports stdio servers or you need to pin a version.

Both expose the same tools and behave identically.

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that connects AI assistants with external data sources and tools. Learn more at modelcontextprotocol.io.

This page is for adding Perplexity as an MCP tool inside clients such as Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and Claude Desktop. To call the Perplexity API from application code, start with the Quickstart. To select Claude models through the Agent API, use Anthropic model IDs from Agent API models.

Remote MCP Server

Connect to https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp (Streamable HTTP) and authenticate with your API key as a bearer token:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Generate API Key

Navigate to the API Portal and generate a new key.

Claude Code
Cursor
VS Code
Anthropic API
Other Clients

claude mcp add --transport http perplexity https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Install in Cursor with one click, then replace YOUR_API_KEY with your key.Or add to your ~/.cursor/mcp.json manually:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "url": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Install in VS Code with one click and VS Code prompts for your key.Or add to your .vscode/mcp.json manually. The inputs block makes VS Code prompt for the key (masked) instead of storing it in a file that gets committed:

{
  "inputs": [
    {
      "type": "promptString",
      "id": "perplexity-api-key",
      "description": "Perplexity API Key",
      "password": true
    }
  ],
  "servers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer ${input:perplexity-api-key}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Use Perplexity’s tools in a Messages API request with the MCP connector:

curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  -H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
  -H "anthropic-beta: mcp-client-2025-11-20" \
  -d '{
    "model": "claude-opus-5",
    "max_tokens": 1024,
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What happened in AI this week?"}],
    "mcp_servers": [{
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp",
      "name": "perplexity",
      "authorization_token": "YOUR_PERPLEXITY_API_KEY"
    }],
    "tools": [{
      "type": "mcp_toolset",
      "mcp_server_name": "perplexity"
    }]
  }'

authorization_token accepts your Perplexity API key directly (no OAuth needed); it is sent to our server as a bearer token. Anthropic bills the Messages request as usual; Perplexity tool calls are billed to your Perplexity API key.To restrict which tools the model can call, disable tools by default and enable the ones you want:

"tools": [{
  "type": "mcp_toolset",
  "mcp_server_name": "perplexity",
  "default_config": {"enabled": false},
  "configs": {
    "perplexity_search": {"enabled": true}
  }
}]

Any client that supports remote MCP servers over Streamable HTTP can connect with:

Setting	Value
URL	`https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp`
Transport	Streamable HTTP
Header	`Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY`

If your client only supports stdio servers, use the local MCP server below.

Custom connectors on claude.ai (web) currently require OAuth and cannot send a static API key header. Use Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or the Anthropic API instead.

Tool calls are billed to the API key you connect with at standard API pricing. Your key’s existing rate limits apply.

Local MCP Server

Run the same server locally over stdio.

One-Click Install

Install in Cursor

Automatically configure the Perplexity MCP server in Cursor with one click.

Install in VS Code

Automatically configure the Perplexity MCP server in VS Code with one click.

Manual Setup

Get Your API Key

Generate API Key

Navigate to the API Portal and generate a new key.

Configure Your Client

Add the MCP server to your client configuration:

Claude Code
Cursor
Codex
Other Clients

Option 1: CLI Command (Recommended)The easiest way to get started:

claude mcp add perplexity --env PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="your_key_here" -- npx -y @perplexity-ai/mcp-server

Option 2: Plugin InstallInstall via plugin:

export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="your_key_here"
claude
# Then run: /plugin marketplace add perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol
# Then run: /plugin install perplexity

Option 3: Manual ConfigurationAdd to your claude.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@perplexity-ai/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

We recommend using the one-click install above for setting up the MCP server in Cursor.If you prefer to configure it manually, add the following to your mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@perplexity-ai/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

codex mcp add perplexity --env PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="your_key_here" -- npx -y @perplexity-ai/mcp-server

Most MCP-compatible clients (including Claude Desktop, VS Code, and Windsurf) use the mcpServers format. Configuration file locations:

Client	Config File
Cursor	`~/.cursor/mcp.json`
VS Code	`.vscode/mcp.json`
Claude Desktop	`claude_desktop_config.json`
Windsurf	`~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`
Google Antigravity	`~/.gemini/antigravity/mcp_config.json`

Standard mcpServers format:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@perplexity-ai/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code uses a slightly different format:

{
  "servers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@perplexity-ai/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If your client doesn’t work with these formats, check its documentation for the correct wrapper format.

Start Using

Restart your MCP client and start using Perplexity’s tools in your AI workflows.

Available Tools

perplexity_search

Direct web search using the Perplexity Search API. Returns ranked search results with titles, URLs, snippets, and metadata.Best for: Finding current information, news, facts, or specific web content.

perplexity_ask

General-purpose conversational AI with real-time web search, backed by the Agent API fast preset.Best for: Quick questions, everyday searches, and conversational queries that benefit from web context.

perplexity_research

Deep, comprehensive research backed by the Agent API high preset. Provides thorough analysis with citations.Best for: Complex topics requiring detailed investigation, comprehensive reports, and in-depth analysis.

perplexity_reason

Advanced reasoning and problem-solving backed by the Agent API medium preset.Best for: Logical problems, complex analysis, decision-making, and tasks requiring step-by-step reasoning.

For detailed setup instructions, troubleshooting, and proxy configuration, visit our GitHub repository.

Getting Started

Gateway API

Agent API

Search API

Embeddings API

Perplexity SDK

Admin & Management

Resources

Legacy API

Perplexity MCP Server

Overview

Remote MCP Server

Generate API Key

Local MCP Server

One-Click Install

Install in Cursor

Install in VS Code

Manual Setup

Generate API Key

Available Tools

perplexity_search

perplexity_ask

perplexity_research

perplexity_reason

​Overview

​Remote MCP Server

Generate API Key

​Local MCP Server

​One-Click Install

Install in Cursor

Install in VS Code

​Manual Setup

Generate API Key

​Available Tools

perplexity_search

perplexity_ask

perplexity_research

perplexity_reason

Overview

Remote MCP Server

Local MCP Server

One-Click Install

Manual Setup

Available Tools