Perplexity API

Perplexity API

Integrate Perplexity's APIs (search-grounded chat, agentic research, and web search) without leaking API keys to the browser.

Choose an API (fast routing)

• Use Chat Completions for "answer with citations" Q&A and lightweight research: POST https://api.perplexity.ai/v2/chat/completions.
• Use Async Chat Completions for long-running deep research with sonar-deep-research: POST https://api.perplexity.ai/v2/async/chat/completions.
• Use Agentic Research (Responses) for multi-step tool-using research flows: POST https://api.perplexity.ai/v2/responses.
• Use Search API when you want ranked results without synthesis: POST https://api.perplexity.ai/v2/search.

Quick start (SDK-first)

Installation

# Python
pip install perplexityai

# TypeScript/Node.js
npm install @perplexity-ai/perplexity_ai

Client Setup

TypeScript (Node.js):

import Perplexity from "@perplexity-ai/perplexity_ai";

const apiKey = process.env["PERPLEXITY_API_KEY"];
if (!apiKey) throw new Error("Missing PERPLEXITY_API_KEY");

const client = new Perplexity({ apiKey });

Python:

from perplexity import Perplexity

client = Perplexity()  # uses PERPLEXITY_API_KEY env var

Chat Completions (Sonar + citations)

Basic "answer with sources" request:

Python:

completion = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="sonar-pro",
    messages=[
        {"role": "system", "content": "Be precise and concise."},
        {"role": "user", "content": "What happened in tech news today?"}
    ],
    web_search_options={"search_context_size": "medium"},
)
print(completion.choices[0].message.content)

# Access citations (URLs of sources used)
for citation in completion.citations:
    print(f"Source: {citation}")

TypeScript:

const chunk = await client.chat.completions.create({
  model: "sonar-pro",
  messages: [
    { role: "system", content: "Be precise and concise." },
    { role: "user", content: "What happened in tech news today?" },
  ],
  web_search_options: { searchContextSize: "medium" },
});
console.log(chunk.content);

OpenAI compatibility (when you already use OpenAI SDKs)

• Set the OpenAI SDK base URL to https://api.perplexity.ai/v2.
• Use Chat Completions (/chat/completions) for Sonar models and Responses (/responses) for Agentic Research.
• Avoid TypeScript any casts; prefer the Perplexity SDKs or a typed fetch wrapper when you need Perplexity-only request fields.

References

• Chat Completions (models, web_search_options, structured outputs, streaming, attachments, return_images/videos): references/chat-completions.md
• Agentic Research / Responses (presets, tools web_search/fetch_url, streaming events): references/agentic-research.md
• Search API: references/search-api.md
• API key management (auth tokens/groups): references/key-management.md