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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.

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Available APIs

Chat Completions

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

Search

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

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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.

Chat Completions

Get started with AI responses

Search

Get started with web search

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Resources

Python Package

Install from PyPI with pip

Python GitHub

Source code and development

Node.js Package

Install from npm registry

Node.js GitHub

Source code and development