perplexity

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Translated

AI-powered search engine with real-time web grounding and citations

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NPX Install

npx skill4agent add vm0-ai/vm0-skills perplexity

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Translated version includes tags in frontmatter
perplexity-aiai-search-enginereal-time-web-searchapi-integrationacademic-research

SKILL.md Content

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Perplexity AI

AI search engine that provides real-time web-grounded answers with source citations. Unlike traditional search, Perplexity synthesizes information from multiple sources into coherent responses.
Official docs: https://docs.perplexity.ai/

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:
  • Get real-time information with source citations
  • Research topics that require up-to-date web data
  • Answer complex questions that need multi-source synthesis
  • Perform academic or SEC filings research
  • Get AI-generated summaries grounded in current web content

Prerequisites

  1. Create an account at https://perplexity.ai/
  2. Navigate to API settings: https://perplexity.ai/account/api
  3. Generate an API key
Set environment variable:
bash
export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="pplx-your-api-key"
Important: When using 
$VAR
in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing 
$VAR
in 
bash -c '...'
. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.
bash
bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"' | jq .

How to Use

1. Chat Completions (Recommended)

AI-powered Q&A with web search and citations. OpenAI SDK compatible.
Basic query with sonar model:
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "What is the current price of Bitcoin?"}
  ]
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'
With system prompt:
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "system", "content": "Be precise and concise. Answer in bullet points."},
    {"role": "user", "content": "What are the latest developments in AI?"}
  ]
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'
Advanced query with sonar-pro:
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar-pro",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "Compare the latest iPhone and Samsung Galaxy flagship phones"}
  ],
  "temperature": 0.2,
  "web_search_options": {
    "search_context_size": "high"
  }
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'

2. Search with Domain Filter

Limit search to specific domains.
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "Latest research on transformer architectures"}
  ],
  "search_domain_filter": ["arxiv.org", "openai.com", "anthropic.com"]
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'
Exclude domains (add 
-
prefix):
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "Best programming practices"}
  ],
  "search_domain_filter": ["-reddit.com", "-quora.com"]
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'

3. Search with Time Filter

Filter by recency.
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "Major tech news"}
  ],
  "search_recency_filter": "week"
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'
Filter by date range:
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "AI announcements"}
  ],
  "search_after_date_filter": "12/01/2024",
  "search_before_date_filter": "12/31/2024"
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'

4. Academic Search

Search academic sources.
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "Recent papers on large language model alignment"}
  ],
  "search_mode": "academic"
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'

5. Raw Search API

Get raw search results without AI synthesis.
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "query": "Claude AI Anthropic",
  "max_results": 5
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/search" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'
With domain and time filters:
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "query": "machine learning tutorials",
  "max_results": 10,
  "search_domain_filter": ["github.com", "medium.com"],
  "search_recency_filter": "month",
  "country": "US"
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/search" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'

6. Deep Research (Long-form)

For comprehensive research reports.
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar-deep-research",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "Write a comprehensive analysis of the electric vehicle market in 2024"}
  ],
  "reasoning_effort": "high"
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'

7. Reasoning Model

For complex problem-solving.
Write to 
/tmp/perplexity_request.json
:
json
{
  "model": "sonar-reasoning-pro",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "Analyze the pros and cons of microservices vs monolithic architecture for a startup"}
  ]
}
Then run:
bash
bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/perplexity_request.json'

Models

ModelDescriptionBest For
sonar
Lightweight, cost-effectiveQuick facts, news, simple Q&A
sonar-pro
Advanced search, deeper understandingComplex queries, detailed research
sonar-reasoning-pro
Multi-step reasoning with searchProblem-solving, analysis
sonar-deep-research
Exhaustive research, reportsAcademic research, market analysis

Response Format

Chat completions return:
json
{
  "id": "uuid",
  "model": "sonar",
  "choices": [
  {
  "message": {
  "role": "assistant",
  "content": "The answer with [1] citations..."
  }
  }
  ],
  "citations": ["https://source1.com", "https://source2.com"],
  "search_results": [
  {
  "title": "Source Title",
  "url": "https://source.com",
  "snippet": "Relevant excerpt..."
  }
  ],
  "usage": {
  "prompt_tokens": 10,
  "completion_tokens": 150,
  "total_tokens": 160
  }
}

Guidelines

  1. Model Selection: Use 
    sonar
    for simple queries, 
    sonar-pro
    for complex ones
  2. Cost Optimization: Lower 
    search_context_size
    reduces costs (low/medium/high)
  3. Domain Filters: Limit to 20 domains max; use 
    -
    prefix to exclude
  4. Recency Filters: Options are 
    day
    , 
    week
    , 
    month
    , 
    year
  5. Temperature: Lower (0.1-0.3) for factual queries, higher for creative
  6. Rate Limits: Vary by tier; check https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/rate-limits-usage-tiers
  7. Citations: Response includes numbered citations 
    [1]
    that map to 
    citations
    array