Perplexity Web Search MCP Server
A simple MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides web search functionality using the Perplexity API. This server allows Claude or other MCP-compatible AI assistants to search the web and get up-to-date information.
Features
- Search the web with Perplexity's powerful search capabilities
- Get comprehensive search results with sources and citations
- Filter results by time period (day, week, month, year)
- Includes a ready-to-use prompt template for web searches
- Supports loading API key from environment variables or .env file
Installation
- Clone this repository
- Install dependencies: ``` pip install -e . ``` or ``` uv pip install -e . ```
Configuration
You can set the `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY` environment variable with your Perplexity API key:
Alternatively, you can create a `.env` file in the project root with the following content:
A sample `.env.example` file is provided for reference.
To get a Perplexity API key:
- Visit [Perplexity API Settings](https://www.perplexity.ai/settings/api)
- Create an account if you don't have one
- Generate an API key
Usage
Running the server
Testing the server
You can test the server functionality without running the full MCP server using the included test script:
Options for `--recency` are: day, week, month (default), year
Using with Claude Desktop
- Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file: - On macOS: `~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` - On Windows: `%APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- Add the following configuration: ```json { "perplexity-mcp": { "env": { "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here" }, "command": "python", "args": [ "/path/to/server.py" ] } } ```
- Restart Claude Desktop
Example Prompts for Claude
- "Search the web for the latest news about artificial intelligence"
- "Use Perplexity to find information about climate change published in the past week"
- "Search for recent research papers on quantum computing from the past month"
API Reference
Tool: `search_web(query: str, recency: str = "month") -> str`
Search the web using Perplexity API and return results.
**Parameters:**
- `query`: The search query string
- `recency`: Filter results by time period - 'day', 'week', 'month' (default), or 'year'
**Returns:**
A comprehensive text response containing:
- A detailed summary of the search results
- Key facts and information found
- Sources with URLs for verification
- Any conflicting information if present
Prompt: `web_search_prompt(query: str, recency: str = "month") -> str`
Creates a prompt template for searching the web with Perplexity.
**Parameters:**
- `query`: The search query
- `recency`: Time period filter - 'day', 'week', 'month' (default), or 'year'
**Returns:**
A formatted prompt string that instructs the AI to:
- Search for the specified query
- Focus on results from the specified time period
- Summarize key findings
- Highlight important facts
- Mention conflicting information
- Cite sources with links
License
MIT