The only Perplexity MCP server with multi-account pooling, an admin dashboard, and zero-cost monitoring.
No API keys. No per-query fees. Uses your existing Perplexity Pro session.

       

Features · Quick Start · Admin Panel · Configuration · Architecture

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🎯 Why This One?

Most Perplexity MCP servers are single-account wrappers around the paid Sonar API. This one is different:

• 🆓 No API costs — uses session cookies, not the paid API. Same features, zero per-query fees
• 🏊 Multi-account pool — round-robin across N accounts with automatic failover
• 📊 Admin dashboard — React UI to monitor quotas, manage tokens, tail logs in real-time
• ❤️ Zero-cost health checks — monitors all accounts via rate-limit API without consuming queries
• 🛡️ Downgrade protection — detects when Perplexity silently returns a regular result instead of deep research
• 📱 Telegram alerts — get notified when tokens expire or quota runs out

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✨ Features

🔍 Smart Search Pro Search — fast, accurate answers with citations Reasoning — multi-model thinking for complex decisions Deep Research — comprehensive 10-30+ citation reports Multi-source — web, scholar, and social 🤖 9 Models Available sonar · gpt-5.2 · claude-4.5-sonnet · grok-4.1 gpt-5.2-thinking · claude-4.5-sonnet-thinking gemini-3.0-pro · kimi-k2-thinking · grok-4.1-reasoning

🏊 Token Pool Engine Round-robin rotation across accounts Exponential backoff on failures (60s → 120s → ... → 1h cap) 3-level fallback — Pro → auto (exhausted) → anonymous Smart quota tracking — decrements locally, verifies at zero Hot-reload — add/remove tokens without restart 🛡️ Production Hardened Silent deep research downgrade detection Atomic config saves (no corruption on crash) Connection drop handling Cross-process state sharing via pool_state.json 53 unit tests

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🖼️ Screenshots

Token Pool Dashboard

_{Stats grid, monitor controls, sortable token table with per-account quotas (Pro / Research / Agentic), filter pills, and one-click actions.}

Log Viewer

_{Live log streaming with auto-refresh, level filtering, search highlighting, follow mode, and line numbers.}

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🚀 Quick Start

1. Clone & Install

git clone https://github.com/teoobarca/perplexity-mcp.git
cd perplexity-mcp
uv sync

2. Add to Your AI Tool

🟣 Claude Code

claude mcp add perplexity -s user -- uv --directory /path/to/perplexity-mcp run perplexity-mcp

🟢 Cursor

Go to Settings → MCP → Add new server and paste:

{
  "command": "uv",
  "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/perplexity-mcp", "run", "perplexity-mcp"]
}

🔵 Windsurf / VS Code / Other MCP clients

Add to your MCP config file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["--directory", "/path/to/perplexity-mcp", "run", "perplexity-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

That's it. Works immediately with anonymous sessions. Add your tokens for Pro access — see Authentication.

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🛠️ Tools

Two MCP tools with LLM-optimized descriptions so your AI assistant picks the right one automatically:

perplexity_ask

AI-powered answer engine for tech questions, documentation lookups, and how-to guides.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
query	string	required	Natural language question with context
model	string	null	Model selection (see models)
sources	array	["web"]	Sources: web, scholar, social
language	string	en-US	ISO 639 language code

Mode auto-detection: Models with thinking or reasoning in the name automatically switch to Reasoning mode.

"gpt-5.2"          → Pro Search
"gpt-5.2-thinking"  → Reasoning Mode  ← auto-detected

perplexity_research

Deep research agent for comprehensive analysis. Returns extensive reports with 10-30+ citations.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
query	string	required	Detailed research question with full context
sources	array	["web", "scholar"]	Sources: web, scholar, social
language	string	en-US	ISO 639 language code

Tip

Deep research takes 2-5 minutes per query. Provide detailed context and constraints for better results. The server has a 15-minute timeout to accommodate this.

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🖥️ Admin Panel

A built-in web dashboard for managing your token pool. Start it with:

perplexity-server

Opens automatically at http://localhost:8123/admin/

Feature	Description
📊 Stats Grid	Total clients, Online/Exhausted counts, Monitor status
📋 Token Table	Sortable columns, filter pills (Online/Exhausted/Offline/Unknown), icon actions
💰 Quota Column	Per-token breakdown — Pro remaining, Research quota, Agentic research
❤️ Health Monitor	Zero-cost checks via rate-limit API, configurable interval
📱 Telegram Alerts	Notifications on token state changes (expired, exhausted, back online)
🔄 Fallback Toggle	Enable/disable automatic Pro → free fallback
📥 Import/Export	Bulk token management via JSON config files
📝 Log Viewer	Live streaming, level filter (Error/Warning/Info/Debug), search, follow mode
🧪 Test Button	Run health check on individual tokens or all at once

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🔐 Authentication

By default, the server uses anonymous Perplexity sessions (rate limited). For Pro access, add your session tokens.

How to Get Tokens

1. Sign in at perplexity.ai
2. Open DevTools (F12) → Application → Cookies
3. Copy these two cookies:
   • next-auth.csrf-token
   • next-auth.session-token

Single Token

Create token_pool_config.json in the project root:

{
  "tokens": [
    {
      "id": "my-account",
      "csrf_token": "your-csrf-token-here",
      "session_token": "your-session-token-here"
    }
  ]
}

Multi-Token Pool

Add multiple accounts for round-robin rotation with automatic failover:

{
  "monitor": {
    "enable": true,
    "interval": 6,
    "tg_bot_token": "optional-telegram-bot-token",
    "tg_chat_id": "optional-chat-id"
  },
  "fallback": {
    "fallback_to_auto": true
  },
  "tokens": [
    { "id": "account-1", "csrf_token": "...", "session_token": "..." },
    { "id": "account-2", "csrf_token": "...", "session_token": "..." },
    { "id": "account-3", "csrf_token": "...", "session_token": "..." }
  ]
}

Note

Session tokens last ~30 days. The monitor detects expired tokens and alerts you via Telegram.

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⚙️ Configuration

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
PERPLEXITY_TIMEOUT	900	Request timeout in seconds (15 min for deep research)
SOCKS_PROXY	—	SOCKS5 proxy URL (socks5://host:port)

Token States

Token state is computed automatically from session_valid + rate_limits (never set manually):

State	Meaning	Badge	Behavior
🟢 normal	Session valid, pro quota available	Online	Used for all requests
🟡 exhausted	Session valid, pro quota = 0	Exhausted	Skipped for Pro, used as auto fallback
🔴 offline	Session invalid/expired	Offline	Not used for any requests
🔵 unknown	Not yet checked	Unknown	Used normally (quota assumed available)

Fallback Chain

When a Pro request fails, the server tries progressively:

1. ✅ Next client with Pro quota (round-robin)
2. ✅ Next client with Pro quota ...
3. 🟡 Any available client (auto mode)
4. 🔵 Anonymous session (auto mode)
5. ❌ Error returned to caller

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🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Your AI Assistant (Claude Code / Cursor / Windsurf)    │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                       │ MCP (stdio)
                       ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  perplexity-mcp                                          │
│  ┌────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │  tools.py       │  │  server.py                     │  │
│  │  • ask          │──│  • Pool state sync             │  │
│  │  • research     │  │  • Timeout handling            │  │
│  └────────────────┘  └────────────────────────────────┘  │
└──────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
                       ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Backend Engine (perplexity/)                            │
│                                                          │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌────────────────┐  │
│  │  client.py   │  │  client_pool │  │  admin.py      │  │
│  │  • Search    │  │  • Rotation  │  │  • REST API    │  │
│  │  • Upload    │  │  • Backoff   │  │  • Static      │  │
│  │  • Validate  │  │  • Monitor   │  │    files       │  │
│  └──────┬───────┘  │  • Fallback  │  └────────┬───────┘  │
│         │          └──────────────┘           │          │
│         ▼                                     ▼          │
│  ┌─────────────┐                    ┌────────────────┐   │
│  │ Perplexity  │                    │ React Admin UI │   │
│  │ (web API)   │                    │ :8123/admin/   │   │
│  └─────────────┘                    └────────────────┘   │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Component	File	Role
MCP Server	src/server.py	Stdio transport, pool state sync, timeout handling
Tool Definitions	src/tools.py	2 MCP tools with LLM-optimized descriptions
API Client	perplexity/client.py	Perplexity API via curl_cffi (bypasses Cloudflare)
Client Pool	perplexity/server/client_pool.py	Round-robin, backoff, monitor, state persistence
Query Engine	perplexity/server/app.py	Rotation loop, 3-level fallback, validation
Admin API	perplexity/server/admin.py	REST endpoints + static file serving
Admin UI	perplexity/server/web/	React + Vite + Tailwind dashboard

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🧪 Development

# Install in development mode
uv pip install -e ".[dev]" --python .venv/bin/python

# Run unit tests (53 tests)
.venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/ -v

# Frontend development
cd perplexity/server/web
npm install
npm run dev      # Dev server with proxy to :8123
npm run build    # Production build

Project Structure

src/                          # MCP stdio server (thin wrapper)
  server.py                   #   Entry point, pool state sync
  tools.py                    #   Tool definitions

perplexity/                   # Backend engine
  client.py                   #   Perplexity API client (curl_cffi)
  config.py                   #   Constants, endpoints, model mappings
  exceptions.py               #   Custom exception hierarchy
  logger.py                   #   Centralized logging
  server/
    app.py                    #   Starlette app, query engine
    client_pool.py            #   ClientPool, rotation, monitor
    admin.py                  #   Admin REST API
    utils.py                  #   Validation helpers
    main.py                   #   HTTP server entry point
    web/                      #   React admin frontend (Vite + Tailwind)

tests/                        # 53 unit tests

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⚠️ Limitations

• Unofficial — uses Perplexity's web interface, may break if they change it
• Cookie-based auth — session tokens expire after ~30 days
• Rate limits — anonymous sessions have strict query limits
• Deep research — takes 2-5 minutes per query (this is normal)

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📄 License

MIT