perplexity.md

Perplexity

Connect GoClaw to Perplexity's search-augmented AI models via their OpenAI-compatible API.

Overview

Perplexity models combine language model generation with live web search, making them ideal for agents that need up-to-date information. GoClaw connects to Perplexity through the standard OpenAIProvider — the same code path used by OpenAI and Groq — so streaming and tool calls work without any special configuration.

Setup

Add your Perplexity API key to config.json:

{
  "providers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "api_key": "$PERPLEXITY_API_KEY"
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "provider": "perplexity",
      "model": "sonar-pro"
    }
  }
}

Store your key in .env.local:

PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=pplx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The default API base is https://api.perplexity.ai. GoClaw routes requests to /chat/completions as usual.

Models

Model	Notes
sonar-pro	Flagship search-augmented model, highest accuracy
sonar	Faster and cheaper search-augmented model
sonar-reasoning	Reasoning + search, good for complex queries
sonar-reasoning-pro	Best reasoning with live search

Perplexity's sonar models automatically perform web searches before answering. You don't need to configure search separately.

Examples

Minimal config:

{
  "providers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "api_key": "$PERPLEXITY_API_KEY"
    }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "provider": "perplexity",
      "model": "sonar-pro",
      "max_tokens": 2048
    }
  }
}

Use Perplexity only for a specific agent while others use a different provider:

{
  "providers": {
    "anthropic": { "api_key": "$ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" },
    "perplexity": { "api_key": "$PERPLEXITY_API_KEY" }
  },
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4-5"
    },
    "list": {
      "research-agent": {
        "provider": "perplexity",
        "model": "sonar-pro"
      }
    }
  }
}

Common Issues

Problem	Cause	Fix
401 Unauthorized	Invalid API key	Verify PERPLEXITY_API_KEY in .env.local
Search results seem stale	Using a non-sonar model	Switch to a sonar variant for live web search
High latency	Search adds round-trip time	Expected behavior; sonar is faster than sonar-pro
Tool calls not supported	Perplexity sonar models don't support function calling	Use Perplexity for research tasks; handle tool calls with a different provider

What's Next

• DashScope — Alibaba's Qwen models via OpenAI-compatible API
• Custom Provider — connect any OpenAI-compatible API