Perplexity
Connects to the Perplexity AI search/answer API. An agent can run a quick web search with cited sources, or kick off a deeper multi-step research query.
Add to an agent node's tools array with _node_type: "tool-perplexity". See Connector Reference — How connectors are used.
Authentication
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
api_key | Yes (or perplexity_api_key) | Perplexity API key, sent as Authorization: Bearer <api_key>. |
perplexity_api_key | Yes (if api_key not set) | Used if api_key is not set. |
{
"name": "perplexity",
"_node_type": "tool-perplexity",
"api_key": "{{ secret.PERPLEXITY_API_KEY }}"
}
Tools
perplexity_search
Search the web using Perplexity AI and get a synthesised answer with source citations.
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
query | string | Yes | What to search for |
model | string | No | sonar (default) | sonar-pro | sonar-deep-research |
max_tokens | number | No | Max output tokens (default 1024) |
Returns: JSON with answer (synthesised text), citations (array of source URLs), input_tokens, and output_tokens.
perplexity_deep_research
Perform deep multi-step research using Perplexity sonar-deep-research. Returns a detailed answer with many sources. Slower but much more thorough.
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
query | string | Yes | Research question or topic |
Internally always uses model sonar-deep-research with max_tokens fixed at 4096.
Returns: JSON with answer (synthesised text), citations (array of source URLs), input_tokens, and output_tokens.