perplexity-webui-mcp

mcp server for querying perplexity pro via webui session token.

---

quick start

this package is a local mcp wrapper (stdio transport) that launches the upstream perplexity-webui-scraper mcp server via uvx.

manual run:

PERPLEXITY_SESSION_TOKEN="your_token_here" npx perplexity-webui-mcp

important: this uses perplexity's internal webui api with a session cookie. for personal/local tinkering only - not affiliated with perplexity ai.

---

overview

perplexity-webui-mcp is a local stdio MCP wrapper that launches the upstream perplexity-webui-scraper MCP server through uvx. this keeps your package on npm while using the upstream battle-tested WebUI implementation (browser impersonation, retry logic, model-specific tools, and token CLI ecosystem).

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quick installation

paste this into your llm agent session:

Install and configure perplexity-webui-mcp by following the instructions here:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Microck/perplexity-webui-mcp/refs/heads/master/INSTALL.md

npm (recommended)

npm install -g perplexity-webui-mcp

runtime requirement:

uv --version

if uv is missing, install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/

---

manual installation

from source

git clone https://github.com/Microck/perplexity-webui-mcp.git
cd perplexity-webui-mcp
npm install
npm run build

---

getting your session token

fastest method (automatic via CLI):

uvx --with rich --from "perplexity-webui-scraper@latest" get-perplexity-session-token

this interactive CLI asks for your email, handles OTP/magic-link verification, and prints the session token.

you can run that command from any directory.

manual method (browser):

1. open perplexity.ai in your browser and log in
2. open devtools (f12 or cmd+opt+i)
3. go to application > cookies > https://www.perplexity.ai
4. copy the value of __Secure-next-auth.session-token

powered by token extraction flow from: https://github.com/henrique-coder/perplexity-webui-scraper

---

configuration

because this server uses stdio, you configure it as a local command and pass the token via env.

note: deep research can take longer than 60 seconds. if your client supports it, set a higher timeout (example: 10 minutes).

mcp client config (claude desktop, opencode, etc)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "command": "perplexity-webui-mcp",
      "timeout": 600000,
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_SESSION_TOKEN": "your_session_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

from source

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/perplexity-webui-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "timeout": 600000,
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_SESSION_TOKEN": "your_session_token_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

remote deployment over tailscale (optional)

if your cloud machine gets blocked by cloudflare but your home machine works, run the upstream mcp server on the home machine and connect to it from opencode as a remote mcp.

1. copy templates from this repo:

• deploy/systemd/perplexity-webui-mcp.env.example
• deploy/systemd/perplexity-webui-mcp-sse.sh
• deploy/systemd/perplexity-webui-mcp.service

2. install and enable service on the home machine (user service):

mkdir -p ~/.config ~/.config/systemd/user ~/.local/bin
cp deploy/systemd/perplexity-webui-mcp.env.example ~/.config/perplexity-webui-mcp.env
cp deploy/systemd/perplexity-webui-mcp-sse.sh ~/.local/bin/perplexity-webui-mcp-sse.sh
cp deploy/systemd/perplexity-webui-mcp.service ~/.config/systemd/user/perplexity-webui-mcp.service
chmod 600 ~/.config/perplexity-webui-mcp.env
chmod 755 ~/.local/bin/perplexity-webui-mcp-sse.sh
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now perplexity-webui-mcp.service

3. point opencode (cloud host) to the tailscale endpoint:

{
  "mcp": {
    "perplexity-webui": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "http://<tailscale-ip>:8790/sse",
      "enabled": true,
      "timeout": 600000,
      "oauth": false
    }
  }
}

4. verify:

opencode mcp list

---

features

tool	description
pplx_ask	best-model query (auto model selection)
pplx_deep_research	deep research mode
pplx_sonar	sonar model
pplx_gpt52 / pplx_gpt52_thinking	gpt-5.2 variants
pplx_claude_sonnet / pplx_claude_sonnet_think	claude sonnet 4.5 variants
pplx_gemini_flash / pplx_gemini_flash_think / pplx_gemini_pro_think	gemini 3 variants
pplx_grok / pplx_grok_thinking	grok 4.1 variants
pplx_kimi_thinking	kimi k2.5 thinking

all upstream model tools support source_focus values: web, academic, social, finance, all.

how this differs from v1.0.0

• old v1.0.0: one custom tool (perplexity_search) implemented in local TypeScript HTTP logic.
• current: delegates to upstream perplexity-webui-scraper MCP, exposing the full upstream model-specific toolset.
• result: significantly better compatibility with Perplexity anti-bot protections.

---

troubleshooting

problem	solution
token invalid / 401	get a fresh token from browser cookies
uvx not found	install uv (uv --version should work)
no answer returned	check rate limits or whether your account can access the selected model
clarifying questions error	deep research mode may request clarifying questions first
timeout	deep research can take several minutes - be patient

verify both modes quickly

PERPLEXITY_SESSION_TOKEN="your_token_here" npm run self-test

this checks both:

• regular search (best)
• deep research (deep_research)

and prints pass/fail per mode.

---

project structure

perplexity-webui-mcp/
├── deploy/
│   └── systemd/
│       ├── perplexity-webui-mcp.env.example
│       ├── perplexity-webui-mcp-sse.sh
│       └── perplexity-webui-mcp.service
├── src/
│   └── index.ts      # proxy launcher for upstream MCP
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
├── .env.example
├── .gitignore
├── LICENSE
├── INSTALL.md
└── README.md

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license

mit

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author

Microck

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shoutout

special thanks to henrique-coder/perplexity-webui-scraper for the WebUI reverse-engineering and token CLI workflow that helped this project.