Perplexity Tool for Claude Desktop

A custom MCP tool that integrates Perplexity AI's API with Claude Desktop, allowing Claude to perform web-based research and provide answers with citations.

Prerequisites Installation

Install Git:
- For Mac:
  - Install Homebrew first by pasting this in Terminal:
```
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
```
  - Then install Git:
```
brew install git
```
- For Windows:
  - Download Git from git-scm.com
  - Run the installer
Install Node.js:
- For Mac:
```
brew install node
```
- For Windows:
  - Download from nodejs.org
  - Run the installer
Verify installations by running:

git --version
node --version

Tool Installation

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/letsbuildagent/perplexity-tool
cd perplexity-tool

Install dependencies

npm install

Set up your API Key

You have two options:

Option 1 (Quick setup):

Open server.js
Find this line:

const PERPLEXITY_API_KEY = "YOUR-API-KEY-HERE";

Replace with your Perplexity API key

Option 2 (Best practice):

Create a .env file:
```
# On Mac/Linux:
touch .env
open .env

# On Windows:
notepad .env
```
Or simply create a new file named .env in your text editor
Add your API key to the .env file:
```
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
```
Install dotenv:
```
npm install dotenv
```

Update server.js:

import 'dotenv/config'
const PERPLEXITY_API_KEY = process.env.PERPLEXITY_API_KEY;

Configure Claude Desktop

Open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Add this configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity-tool": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/full/path/to/perplexity-tool/server.js"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /full/path/to with the actual path where you cloned the repository.

Restart Claude Desktop

Usage

Once installed, you can use the tool through Claude with commands like:

"Ask Perplexity about recent developments in AI"
"Use Perplexity to research the history of quantum computing"
"Search Perplexity for information about climate change, focusing on the last month"

Advanced Options

You can specify additional parameters:

temperature: Controls response randomness (0-2)
max_tokens: Limits response length
search_domain_filter: Restricts search to specific domains
search_recency_filter: Filters by time period (day/week/month/year)

Troubleshooting

Git not found:
- Make sure you've installed Git correctly
- Try restarting your terminal
- On Mac, make sure Homebrew is in your PATH
Node.js errors:
- Verify Node.js installation with node --version
- Try reinstalling Node.js
API Key issues:
- Make sure you've correctly copied your API key
- Check that there are no extra spaces in your .env file
- If using Option 2, verify dotenv is installed
Tool not appearing in Claude:
- Check the path in claude_desktop_config.json
- Make sure the path points to your server.js file
- Restart Claude Desktop
- Check the console for any error messages

License

MIT

Security Note

If you're planning to share your code or make it public:

Don't commit your API key to Git
Use the .env method (Option 2)
Add .env to your .gitignore file