Perplexity MCP
About This Server
Perplexity's official MCP server brings its real-time web search and reasoning into AI agents — real-time, cited web research powered by the Sonar API, available both as a local stdio server and as an officially hosted remote endpoint.
Installation
npx -y @perplexity-ai/mcp-serverFrequently Asked Questions
How is Perplexity MCP different from plain web search?
It calls Perplexity's Sonar API and returns retrieval-augmented, cited answers rather than just a list of links. An agent gets synthesized, up-to-date information with sources, which is ideal for research, fact-checking and sourcing while writing.
Do I have to install the local server?
Not necessarily. The easiest option is Perplexity's officially hosted remote MCP endpoint (over HTTP, nothing to install or update locally); alternatively run it locally via stdio with npx -y @perplexity-ai/mcp-server. Both require a PERPLEXITY_API_KEY.
Is Perplexity MCP free?
The MCP server code is open source and free (MIT). However, it calls the Perplexity Sonar API behind the scenes, which is a paid, usage-based API — you need to obtain an API key from your Perplexity account and pay per usage.