What features does Perplexity MCP server provide?

Q: What features does Perplexity MCP server provide?

perplexity_search: Direct web search using the Perplexity Search API, returning ranked results with metadata.. perplexity_ask: General-purpose conversational AI with real-time web search using the sonar-pro model.. perplexity_research: Deep, comprehensive research using the sonar-deep-research model for detailed analyses.. perplexity_reason: Advanced reasoning and problem-solving using the sonar-reasoning-pro model.. Strip thinking (strip_thinking): Optional parameter for perplexity_reason and perplexity_research to remove ... tags and save tokens; default is false.. HTTP server deployment: Run in HTTP mode with PORT, BIND_ADDRESS, ALLOWED_ORIGINS, and PERPLEXITY_API_KEY; includes Docker and Node.js setup and /mcp endpoint.. Proxy support: Supports PERPLEXITY_PROXY as well as HTTPS_PROXY/HTTP_PROXY with a defined precedence order.. Multi-client integration: Connects with various MCP clients (Cursor, Claude Code, VS Code, Codex, Claude Desktop) via standard MCP configuration.

Perplexity MCP Server 2025: Features & Setup Guide

Overview

The Perplexity MCP Server is the official server implementation for the Perplexity API Platform, enabling AI assistants to access real-time web search, reasoning, and research capabilities through Sonar models and the Perplexity Search API. It exposes four primary tools: perplexity_search for direct web search returning ranked results with metadata; perplexity_ask for general-purpose conversational AI with real-time web search using the sonar-pro model; perplexity_research for deep, comprehensive research using sonar-deep-research; and perplexity_reason for advanced reasoning with sonar-reasoning-pro. Optional strip_thinking can be enabled to remove <think>...</think> tags and reduce token usage for perplexity_reason and perplexity_research. Deployment is flexible: run an HTTP server with environment variables such as PERPLEXITY_API_KEY, PORT, BIND_ADDRESS, and ALLOWED_ORIGINS; Docker and Node.js workflows are provided; and multiple MCP clients (Cursor, Claude, VS Code, Codex, Claude Desktop) can connect via standard MCP configurations. The README covers API key setup, plugin vs manual configuration, proxy options (PERPLEXITY_PROXY or HTTPS_PROXY/HTTP_PROXY), and troubleshooting, including endpoint details such as the /mcp path.

Features

perplexity_search

Direct web search using the Perplexity Search API, returning ranked results with metadata.

perplexity_ask

General-purpose conversational AI with real-time web search using the sonar-pro model.

perplexity_research

Deep, comprehensive research using the sonar-deep-research model for detailed analyses.

perplexity_reason

Advanced reasoning and problem-solving using the sonar-reasoning-pro model.

Strip thinking (strip_thinking)

Optional parameter for perplexity_reason and perplexity_research to remove <think>...</think> tags and save tokens; default is false.

HTTP server deployment

Run in HTTP mode with PORT, BIND_ADDRESS, ALLOWED_ORIGINS, and PERPLEXITY_API_KEY; includes Docker and Node.js setup and /mcp endpoint.

Proxy support

Supports PERPLEXITY_PROXY as well as HTTPS_PROXY/HTTP_PROXY with a defined precedence order.

Multi-client integration

Connects with various MCP clients (Cursor, Claude Code, VS Code, Codex, Claude Desktop) via standard MCP configuration.