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Overview

The official Perplexity SDKs provide convenient access to the Perplexity APIs from Python 3.8+ and Node.js applications. Both SDKs include type definitions for all request parameters and response fields, with both synchronous and asynchronous clients. Access four APIs: Agent API for third-party models with web search tools and presets, Search for ranked web search results, Sonar for web-grounded AI responses, and Embeddings for generating text embeddings.

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Available APIs

Agent API

Third-party models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more with presets and web search tools.

Search

Ranked web search results with filtering, multi-query support, and domain controls.

Sonar

AI responses with web-grounded knowledge, conversation context, and streaming support.

Embeddings

Generate high-quality text embeddings for semantic search and RAG.

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Installation

Install the SDK for your preferred language: 
pip install perplexityai

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Authentication

Get your Perplexity API Key

Navigate to the API Keys tab in the API Portal and generate a new key.
 After generating the key, set it as an environment variable in your terminal: 
setx PERPLEXITY_API_KEY "your_api_key_here"

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Using Environment Variables

You can use the environment variable directly: 
import os
from perplexity import Perplexity

client = Perplexity() # Automatically uses PERPLEXITY_API_KEY
Or use python-dotenv (Python) or dotenv (Node.js) to load the environment variable from a .env file: 
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from perplexity import Perplexity

load_dotenv()

client = Perplexity() # Uses PERPLEXITY_API_KEY from .env file
Now you’re ready to start using the Perplexity APIs! Choose your API below for step-by-step usage guides.

Agent API

Get started with third-party models

Search

Get started with web search

Sonar

Get started with AI responses

Embeddings

Get started with text embeddings

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Resources

Python Package

Install from PyPI with pip

Node.js Package

Install from npm registry