Perplexity Cli

Perplexity CLI

[](https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0) [](https://nodejs.org/)

A command-line interface for interacting with Perplexity AI's Sonar models directly from your terminal.

🚀 Why Perplexity CLI?

• 🔍 AI-Powered Research: Access to Perplexity's advanced search and reasoning capabilities
• 📚 Citation Support: Get responses backed by real sources and citations
• 🌐 Real-Time Information: Leverage up-to-date web search for current information
• 💡 Advanced Reasoning: Utilize Sonar models optimized for complex analysis
• 💻 Terminal-First: Designed for developers who live in the command line
• 🔧 Tool Integration: Built-in web search, fetch, and multi-tool workflows

Features

• � Interactive Mode: Real-time streaming responses with beautiful terminal UI
• ⚡ Fast & Efficient: Optimized for developer productivity
• 🎨 Beautiful Themes: Dark blue Perplexity theme with customizable alternatives
• 📝 Command History: Navigate through previous prompts with arrow keys
• 🔌 MCP Support: Model Context Protocol support for custom integrations
• 📊 Citation Tracking: View sources and citations for AI responses
• 🔄 Checkpoint System: Save and resume conversations

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20.0.0 or higher
• A Perplexity API key (get one at https://www.perplexity.ai/settings/api)
• macOS, Linux or Windows

Installation

npm install -g @perplexity-cli/perplexity-cli

Configuration

Set your Perplexity API key as an environment variable:

export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

Or start Perplexity CLI and enter your api key there.

Basic Usage

Interactive mode

Start in current directory

perplexity

Include multiple directories

perplexity --include-directories ../lib,../docs

Use specific model

perplexity -m sonar-pro

Available Models

• sonar-pro: Advanced model for complex reasoning and research
• sonar: Balanced performance for general use
• sonar-reasoning-pro: Precise reasoning offering Chain of Thought
• sonar-deep-research: Expert level research model

Non-interactive mode for scripts

Get a simple text response:

perplexity -p "Explain the architecture of this codebase"

For more advanced scripting, including how to parse JSON and handle errors, use the --output-format json flag to get structured output:

perplexity -p "Explain the architecture of this codebase" --output-format json

For real-time event streaming (useful for monitoring long-running operations), use --output-format stream-json to get newline-delimited JSON events:

perplexity -p "Run tests and deploy" --output-format stream-json

📚 Documentation

Getting Started

• [Quickstart Guide](./docs/cli/index.md) - Get up and running

quickly.

• [Authentication Setup](./docs/cli/authentication.md) - Detailed

auth configuration.

• [Configuration Guide](./docs/cli/configuration.md) - Settings and

customization.

• [Keyboard Shortcuts](./docs/cli/keyboard-shortcuts.md) - Productivity

tips.

Core Features

• [Commands Reference](./docs/cli/commands.md) - All slash commands

(/help, /chat, etc).

• [Custom Commands](./docs/features/custom-commands.md) - Create your own

reusable commands.

• [Context Files (PERPLEXITY.md)](./docs/cli/perplexity-md.md) - Provide persistent

context to Perplexity CLI.

• [Checkpointing](./docs/features/checkpointing.md) - Save and resume

conversations.

• [Token Caching](./docs/features/token-caching.md) - Optimize token usage.

Tools & Extensions

• [Built-in Tools Overview](./docs/tools/index.md)
• [File System Operations](./docs/tools/file-system.md)
• [Shell Commands](./docs/tools/shell.md)
• [Web Fetch & Search](./docs/tools/web-fetch.md)
• [MCP Server Integration](./docs/tools/mcp-server.md) - Extend with custom

tools.

• [Custom Extensions](./docs/extensions/index.md) - Build and share your own

commands.

Advanced Topics

• [Headless Mode (Scripting)](./docs/features/headless.md) - Use Perplexity CLI in

automated workflows.

• [Architecture Overview](./docs/development/architecture.md) - How Perplexity CLI works.
• [IDE Integration](./docs/ide-integration/ide-integration.md) - VS Code companion.
• [Sandboxing & Security](./docs/features/sandbox.md) - Safe execution

environments.

• [Trusted Folders](./docs/cli/trusted-folders.md) - Control execution

policies by folder.

• [Telemetry & Monitoring](./docs/development/telemetry.md) - Usage tracking.
• [Tools API Development](./docs/core/tools-api.md) - Create custom tools.
• [Local development](./docs/local-development.md) - Local development

tooling.

Troubleshooting & Support

• [Troubleshooting Guide](./docs/troubleshooting.md) - Common issues and

solutions.

• [FAQ](./docs/faq.md) - Frequently asked questions.
• Use /bug command to report issues directly from the CLI.

Using MCP Servers

Configure MCP servers in ~/.perplexity/settings.json to extend Perplexity CLI with custom tools:

> @github List my open pull requests
> @slack Send a summary of today's commits to #dev channel
> @database Run a query to find inactive users

See the [MCP Server Integration guide](./docs/tools/mcp-server.md) for setup instructions.

Development

Building from Source

# Download latest version of node
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash

# in lieu of restarting the shell
\. "$HOME/.nvm/nvm.sh"

# Download and install Node.js:
nvm install 24

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/NoQuli/perplexity-cli.git
cd perplexity-cli

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run locally
npm start

Running Tests

npm test

Security

⚠️ Never commit your API key to version control. Always use environment variables or the .env file (which should be in .gitignore).

License

Apache-2.0 License - See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for guidelines.

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Built with ❤️ using the architecture from Gemini CLI

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: noQuli
• Source: noQuli/perplexity-cli
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.