Perplexity
Research with citations, then feed fresh docs to your coding agent.
Start: What Perplexity is and where things liveAbout Perplexity
Perplexity is an answer engine that searches the live web and cites its sources. Each answer has numbered citations that link to the original pages. Developers use the app's Search and Deep Research to look up libraries and docs, the Perplexity MCP Server to give coding agents live search, and the Perplexity API to build research features.
Best for: Developers and builders who need current, cited answers before they write or change code.
Good for
- Answering questions with sources you can check
- Comparing libraries and checking how recent each source is
- Running Deep Research before a risky upgrade
- Giving a coding agent live search through the MCP server
Where people slip
- Trusting an answer without opening its citations
- Building on stale findings, like docs for an older version
- Putting a literal API key in a committed MCP config
- Still calling Sonar Chat Completions, which ended on September 27, 2026
What is Perplexity Deep Research?
A mode you pick from the Search menu. It may ask clarifying questions, shows the sources it reads and key findings, then writes a report. Reports usually finish in under 3 minutes.
Can my coding agent use Perplexity?
Yes. The Perplexity MCP Server gives agents like Claude Code tools to search, ask, research and reason. Keep your API key in an environment variable, not in a committed config.
What replaced Sonar Chat Completions?
The Agent API. It takes one input string and an effort level instead of messages and Sonar model names. Web search is off unless you add a web tool or an effort level.
Is Perplexity free?
There's a Free plan with practically unlimited basic searches but no advanced models. Pro, Education Pro and Max are paid personal plans. Enterprise Pro and Enterprise Max are company plans.
Checked against Perplexity's own docs on 2026-11-06.
Basics
Know what Perplexity is, find your way around the home screen, and get your first cited answer safely.
New to Perplexity? Start here. Already use it? Skip to the next milestone.
0 of 2 lessons completeResearch with receipts
Ask scoped questions, check the citations, and hand verified docs to your coding agent.
0 of 3 lessons completePerplexity inside the dev loop
Give your coding agent Perplexity tools through MCP and run Deep Research before a risky upgrade.
0 of 2 lessons complete