perplexity-install-auth

Perplexity Install & Auth

Overview

Set up Perplexity Sonar API access using the OpenAI-compatible chat completions endpoint at https://api.perplexity.ai. Perplexity does not have a custom SDK -- you use the standard OpenAI client library pointed at Perplexity's base URL.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+
• Perplexity account at perplexity.ai
• API key from perplexity.ai/settings/api

Instructions

Step 1: Install OpenAI Client Library

set -euo pipefail
# Node.js / TypeScript
npm install openai

# Python
pip install openai

There is no @perplexity/sdk package. Perplexity uses the OpenAI wire format, so you use the official openai package with a custom baseURL.

Step 2: Configure API Key

# Set environment variable
export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="pplx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

# Or create .env file (add .env to .gitignore)
echo 'PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=pplx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' >> .env

API keys start with pplx- and are generated at perplexity.ai/settings/api. You must add credits to your account before making API calls.

Step 3: Verify Connection (TypeScript)

import OpenAI from "openai";

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.PERPLEXITY_API_KEY,
  baseURL: "https://api.perplexity.ai",
});

async function verify() {
  const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
    model: "sonar",
    messages: [{ role: "user", content: "What is 2+2?" }],
    max_tokens: 50,
  });
  console.log("Connected:", response.choices[0].message.content);
  console.log("Model:", response.model);
  console.log("Tokens used:", response.usage?.total_tokens);
}

verify().catch(console.error);

Step 4: Verify Connection (Python)

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["PERPLEXITY_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://api.perplexity.ai",
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="sonar",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "What is 2+2?"}],
    max_tokens=50,
)
print("Connected:", response.choices[0].message.content)
print("Model:", response.model)
print("Tokens:", response.usage.total_tokens)

Available Models

Model	Use Case	Input $/M tokens	Output $/M tokens
sonar	Fast search, simple queries	$1	$1
sonar-pro	Deep research, more citations	$3	$15
sonar-reasoning-pro	Chain-of-thought with search	$3	$15
sonar-deep-research	Multi-step research synthesis	$2	$8

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Invalid or missing API key	Verify key starts with pplx- and has credits
403 Forbidden	Key lacks model access	Check key permissions at perplexity.ai/settings
Module not found: openai	SDK not installed	Run npm install openai or pip install openai
Connection refused	Wrong base URL	Ensure baseURL is https://api.perplexity.ai

Output

• OpenAI client configured with Perplexity base URL
• Successful API response confirming connection
• Token usage confirming billing is active

Resources

• Perplexity API Documentation
• API Key Management
• OpenAI Compatibility Guide
• Model Cards

Next Steps

After successful auth, proceed to perplexity-hello-world for your first search query.