perplexity

Perplexity MCP Server for Claude Code integrates Perplexity's Sonar web search and scholarly capabilities directly into Claude Code sessions. With this server you can perform real-time web searches, search academic papers, analyze images from URLs or base64 data, and analyze PDF documents. You can also filter search results by including or excluding specific domains and tune the amount of context used for searches to balance depth with efficiency. In Claude Code, enable the Perplexity MCP server and use commands like the perplexity search_web tool to perform web-wide queries, or specialized tools for academic literature and image/PDF analysis. The setup is designed to work seamlessly via the provided mcp_config.json configuration and the small wrapper script, giving Claude Code access to Perplexity’s capabilities without leaving your workflow.

Prerequisites:

• Claude Code installed and accessible
• Python 3.8 or higher
• A Perplexity API key
• A terminal/command line

Installation steps:

1. Clone the repository and navigate into it

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/perplexity-mcp-server.git
cd perplexity-mcp-server

2. Set up a Python virtual environment and install dependencies

python3 -m venv mcp_venv
source mcp_venv/bin/activate   # on macOS/Linux
# or: mcp_venv\Scripts\activate  # on Windows (PowerShell)
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Configure your API key

cp config/.env.example .env
# edit .env to set PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=your_actual_api_key

4. Ensure scripts are executable (Linux/macOS)

chmod +x scripts/run_mcp_silent.sh
chmod +x src/perplexity_fastmcp.py

5. Create the Claude MCP configuration (example)

mkdir -p ~/.claude
cat > ~/.claude/mcp_config.json << EOF
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "command": "$(pwd)/scripts/run_mcp_silent.sh",
      "args": [],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}
EOF

6. Start testing locally

python src/perplexity_mcp_server.py

Then integrate with Claude Code using the mcp_config.json you created.

Tips and notes:

• Ensure your PERPLEXITY_API_KEY is correctly set in the .env file used by the server.
• The wrapper script (run_mcp_silent.sh) is the entry point for Claude Code integration; keep it executable and in the expected path.
• If you update the repository, re-check the path in ~/.claude/mcp_config.json to point to the current script location.
• You can filter searches by domain inclusion/exclusion when configuring the MCP server; consult the server code to adjust defaults.
• If Claude Code doesn’t see the MCP server, verify that the mcp_config.json path is correctly referenced in Claude Code and that the server process is running.