Search the web

Search the web

Returns ranked web results for a query, each with its title, URL, snippet and dates, optionally limited to domains or a date range.

On the CLI, -n sets the number of results (10 by default), and --domains, --recency-filter, the date flags and --country apply the Search API's filters. Extra queries on the CLI are rephrasings of one question, not separate searches, and come back as a single ranked list.

Set up

Use the first option your agent supports.

MCP (official, remote)

Add this server to your agent's MCP settings, then sign in when asked.

{ "mcpServers": { "perplexity": { "url": "https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp" } } }

Call the MCP tool perplexity_search.

Server URL: https://api.perplexity.ai/mcp

CLI (official)

Install the command, then confirm it runs.

curl -fsSL https://github.com/perplexityai/perplexity-cli/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
pplx --version

Run pplx search web.

Set $PERPLEXITY_API_KEY in your environment first (get a key: https://console.perplexity.ai/project/keys).

API (official)

• Base URL: https://api.perplexity.ai
• Endpoint: POST /search
• Auth: send the header Authorization: Bearer $PERPLEXITY_API_KEY
• Get a key: https://console.perplexity.ai/project/keys
• Docs: https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/getting-started/overview

Before doing anything else, make one read-only call to confirm access.

Rules

• Ask the user before anything that sends messages, costs money, or changes data.
• Never print API keys.