majiayu000 Web Research with Perplexity
Two modes: quick (MCP direct) or deep (Task-based with context).
When to Use This Skill (Perplexity)
| Use Perplexity For | Use Gemini For |
|---|---|
| Technology comparisons (X vs Y) | Current events, breaking news |
| Best practices, industry standards | Real-time data (<24 hours old) |
| OWASP, security guidelines | Live pricing, availability |
| Documentation references | Recent releases, changelogs |
| Stable technical content | Rapidly changing information |
Default to Perplexity for most technical research. Use Gemini when recency is critical (today's news, live data).
Quick Mode (Simple Queries)
Use MCP directly for fast, simple lookups:
mcp__perplexity-ask__perplexity_ask({
"messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Your research question" }]
})
Deep Mode (Context-Aware Research)
For codebase-aware research, spawn the perplexity-researcher agent.
Foreground (blocking)
Task(subagent_type="perplexity-researcher", prompt="Research: <topic>")
Background (recommended for context efficiency)
Run in background to avoid polluting main context:
Task(
subagent_type="perplexity-researcher",
prompt="Research: <topic>",
run_in_background=true
)
Retrieve results when ready:
TaskOutput(task_id="<agent_id>", block=true)
Use background mode when:
- Running multiple research queries in parallel
- Main task can continue while research runs
- Want to keep main context clean
When to Use Deep Mode
- User asks "best way to do X" (needs to compare with current code)
- Researching improvements to existing code
- Need to understand if recommendations apply to current stack
Query Formulation Tips
- Be specific: "Go 1.25 error handling best practices 2025"
- Include context: "Redis vs Memcached for session storage in Go services"
- Ask comparisons: "Pros and cons of gRPC vs REST for microservices"
- Include year: "Claude Code context optimization 2025"
Output Structure
## Summary
[Key findings - 2-3 sentences]
## Details
[Organized findings by topic]
## Recommendations
[Actionable items for the project]
## Sources
- [Source](url)