Ctrlk
For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt. This page is also available as Markdown.

Perplexity

Perplexity (https://api.perplexity.ai) hosts the Sonar family of web-aware reasoning models behind an OpenAI-style chat-completions interface. The extension ships a dedicated factory for it because Perplexity diverges from the standard OpenAI shape in two material ways:

  • The chat-completions endpoint is POST /chat/completions — without the /v1/ prefix used by NVIDIA NIM, OpenAI, and most compatible providers.

  • The Sonar API does not accept response_format: json_object, so JSON mode is disabled at the protocol level. Prompts that require structured output still work through prompt-level instruction.

Do not point the Generic (OpenAI-compatible) backend at https://api.perplexity.ai — Generic targets /v1/chat/completions and will return 404 Not Found. Use this dedicated Perplexity backend instead.

Requirements

  • A Perplexity API account and an API key (starts with pplx-…).

  • Network access to api.perplexity.ai.

Setup

  1. Sign in at perplexity.ai/settings/api and generate an API key.

  2. Pick a Sonar model (for example sonar-pro).

  3. Configure the backend in the AI Backend settings tab.

Configuration

Setting
Default
Description

Preferred Backend

Perplexity

Select backend.

Base URL

https://api.perplexity.ai

Override only if you proxy Perplexity through your own gateway.

Model

(empty)

Sonar model identifier, e.g. sonar-pro.

API Key

(empty)

Your pplx-… token. Sent as Authorization: Bearer ….

Extra Headers

(empty)

Optional extra Header: value lines if a gateway requires them.

Timeout

60

Request timeout in seconds.

A working baseline:

Supported Models

The Sonar family (web-aware) plus reasoning variants:

  • sonar — fast, lightweight.

  • sonar-pro — higher-capability default.

  • sonar-reasoning — chain-of-thought reasoning.

  • sonar-reasoning-pro — extended reasoning.

  • sonar-deep-research — multi-step research with broader retrieval.

  • r1-1776 — uncensored variant of DeepSeek R1.

Always cross-check the current model catalog on Perplexity's API page — names may change.

Capabilities

Capability
Value

Streaming

Yes (SSE).

JSON mode

No — response_format=json_object is not supported by Sonar. Use prompt-level instructions for structured output.

System role

Yes — agent profiles are delivered as the system message.

Auto-start

Not applicable (cloud backend).

The lack of JSON mode means features that rely on guaranteed JSON output — notably batch passive analysis and adaptive payload generation — fall back to a text-mode parser. The parser scans the model output for fenced JSON blocks first, then a top-level { / [, then individual field regexes as a last resort. It recovers from prose preambles and markdown wrappers but is more brittle than the strict response_format=json_object path: malformed JSON or schemas with unexpected fields are silently dropped. Keep confidence thresholds conservative when using Perplexity for scanner workflows.

Privacy Considerations

Perplexity is a cloud backend. The same guidance as other cloud providers applies:

  • Keep privacy mode at STRICT or BALANCED (the default) for real targets.

  • Review the context preview dialog before sending auto-captured traffic.

  • Review the Privacy Modes page for redaction patterns.

Output Token Limits

The extension sets max_tokens automatically per request type:

Request Type

max_tokens

Chat

4096

Scanner (single request)

2048

Scanner (batch analysis)

4096

Payload generation

1024

Troubleshooting

  • 401 Unauthorized: verify the API key is a valid pplx-… token and not expired.

  • 404 Not Found: confirm the Base URL is https://api.perplexity.ai (no /v1 suffix). The factory targets /chat/completions directly.

  • 400 Bad Request mentioning response_format: a request tried to force JSON mode against Sonar. Disable the JSON-mode toggle for that request or switch to a backend that supports it.

  • model_not_found / invalid_model: confirm the model ID matches Perplexity's catalog exactly.

  • Slow first token: Sonar models are shared infrastructure; brief cold starts are expected.

  • Extra headers: add them only if your organization routes requests through a gateway.

Retry Behavior

Transient network failures trigger automatic retries (max 6 attempts) with the standard stepped backoff (500 / 1000 / 1500 / 2000 / 3000 / 4000 ms). Each retry is recorded in the AI Request Logger as a RETRY activity. After 5 consecutive failures the circuit breaker opens for 30 seconds before allowing a half-open probe.

Related Pages

PreviousNVIDIA NIMNextGeneric (OpenAI-compatible)

Last updated