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Perplexity API Platform MCP Server

     

The official MCP server implementation for the Perplexity API Platform, providing AI assistants with real-time web search, reasoning, and research capabilities through the Agent API and the Search API.

Remote MCP Server

The remote MCP server is hosted by Perplexity and is the easiest way to get started: same tools, nothing to install or update. The Cursor and VS Code buttons at the top of this page connect to it with one click. If your MCP client does not support remote servers yet, skip to the local server setup below. Connect over Streamable HTTP with your Perplexity API key:

https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp

For Claude Code:

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

See the MCP integration docs for manual Cursor/VS Code configuration, usage from the Anthropic API, and setup for other clients.

Local MCP Server

Get Your API Key

1. Get your Perplexity API Key from the API Portal
2. Replace your_key_here in the configurations below with your API key
3. (Optional) Set timeout: PERPLEXITY_TIMEOUT_MS=600000 (default: 5 minutes)
4. (Optional) Set custom base URL: PERPLEXITY_BASE_URL=https://your-custom-url.com (default: https://api.perplexity.ai)
5. (Optional) Set log level: PERPLEXITY_LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG|INFO|WARN|ERROR (default: ERROR)

Claude Code

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

Or install via plugin:

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

Codex

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

Agent Plugins

This repository is packaged as an Agent Plugin, so clients that support the standard can install it directly from this repository. The Agent Plugins format does not carry secrets, so set the PERPLEXITY_API_KEY environment variable through your client's plugin or MCP settings.

Other MCP Clients

Most clients can be configured manually using the same mcpServers wrapper in their client config (as shown for Cursor). If a client has a different schema, check its docs for the exact wrapper format.

For manual setup, these clients all use the same mcpServers structure:

Client	Config File
Cursor	~/.cursor/mcp.json
Claude Desktop	claude_desktop_config.json
Kiro	.kiro/settings/mcp.json
Windsurf	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
VS Code	.vscode/mcp.json

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

Proxy Setup (For Corporate Networks)…