Perplexity MCP Server: Web Search and Research for Claude
Perplexity's official MCP server gives Claude web search, quick answers, deep research and reasoning via its API. Claude Code commands, costs and limits.
By Claudekit Team Published 1 min read
- Type
- MCP Server
- Pricing
- Paid
- Repository
- github.com
- GitHub stars
- 2,587
- Website
- docs.perplexity.ai
The Perplexity MCP Server is the official Model Context Protocol server for the Perplexity API Platform. It gives Claude real-time web search, quick cited answers, deep research runs and multi-step reasoning, backed by Perplexity’s Search API and Agent API. Use it when Claude needs current, sourced information.
Who it is for
Developers and researchers who already use the Perplexity API and want Claude Code to run web research, check facts or pull recent results without leaving the terminal.
Install
Get an API key from the Perplexity API console. The README’s Claude Code command for the hosted server is:
claude mcp add --transport http perplexity https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"To run it locally instead:
claude mcp add perplexity --env PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="your_key_here" -- npx -y @perplexity-ai/mcp-serverThe repo also ships as a Claude Code plugin: set PERPLEXITY_API_KEY in your shell, start claude, then run /plugin marketplace add perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol and /plugin install perplexity. Both commands above store your key in Claude Code’s MCP config, so keep that file private.
Use cases
- Quick lookups: “Ask Perplexity what changed in the latest release of this framework.”
- Filtered search: search only certain domains or recent dates with
perplexity_search. - Deep research: run
perplexity_researchfor a sourced report on a topic. - Reasoning: hand a tricky analysis question to
perplexity_reason.
Pros
- Official, MIT licensed, with hosted and local options.
- Documented Claude Code commands and a plugin.
- Search results include publication dates when available.
- Supports corporate proxies through
PERPLEXITY_PROXY.
Cons and caveats
- Every call is billed to your API account. Research runs cost more and take longer.
- Answers come from another model, so Claude is relaying a second AI’s summary. Check the sources.
- Fetched web content is untrusted input.
Links
- Repo: perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol
- Docs: Perplexity MCP server
- Package: @perplexity-ai/mcp-server on npm
- Related: Tavily MCP, Exa MCP server, Brave Search MCP server
Checked 24 Oct 2026 against the vendor repo, the Perplexity docs and the MCP registry.
Frequently asked questions
Which tools does it provide?
Four: perplexity_search (ranked results from the Search API), perplexity_ask (fast preset), perplexity_research (high preset, can take minutes) and perplexity_reason (medium preset).
Do I need to install anything?
No. Perplexity hosts a remote server at https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp. You only need an API key. A local npx version also exists.
How is it billed?
Calls go through your Perplexity API account. The Search API bills per successful request and the Agent API bills per token plus tool fees, per Perplexity's pricing docs.
What license is it under?
The repository is MIT licensed.