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

1. 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

2. Install Node.js:

   • For Mac:

     brew install node
     

   • For Windows:
     • Download from nodejs.org
     • Run the installer

3. Verify installations by running:

git --version
node --version

Tool Installation

1. Clone the repository

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

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. 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;
  

4. 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.

5. 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

1. Git not found:

   • Make sure you’ve installed Git correctly
   • Try restarting your terminal
   • On Mac, make sure Homebrew is in your PATH

2. Node.js errors:

   • Verify Node.js installation with node --version
   • Try reinstalling Node.js

3. 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

4. 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