managing-perplexity-api

name	managing-perplexity-api
description	Use when working with Perplexity Api — perplexity AI API management covering models, search-augmented generation, usage analytics, and rate limits. Use when monitoring API health, analyzing query performance, reviewing available models, checking usage quotas, or troubleshooting Perplexity API issues.
connection_type	perplexity
preload	false

Perplexity API Management Skill

Manage and analyze Perplexity AI API resources including models, usage, and search-augmented generation.

API Conventions

Authentication

All API calls use Bearer API key, injected automatically.

Base URL

https://api.perplexity.ai

Core Helper Function

#!/bin/bash

perplexity_api() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $PERPLEXITY_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://api.perplexity.ai${endpoint}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer $PERPLEXITY_API_KEY" \
            "https://api.perplexity.ai${endpoint}"
    fi
}

Output Rules

• Target ≤50 lines per script output
• Use jq to extract only needed fields
• Never dump full API responses

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Available Models ==="
perplexity_api GET "/models" \
    | jq -r '.data[] | "\(.id)\t\(.owned_by // "perplexity")\t\(.context_length // "N/A")"' \
    | column -t | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== API Health Check ==="
RESULT=$(perplexity_api POST "/chat/completions" '{"model": "sonar", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "test"}], "max_tokens": 1}')
echo "$RESULT" | jq '{model: .model, usage: .usage, citations: (.citations | length // 0)}' 2>/dev/null \
    || echo "Error: $(echo $RESULT | jq -r '.error.message // "unknown"')"

Phase 2: Analysis

Performance & Rate Limits

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Model Latency Check ==="
for model in "sonar" "sonar-pro"; do
    START=$(date +%s%N)
    RESULT=$(perplexity_api POST "/chat/completions" "{\"model\": \"$model\", \"messages\": [{\"role\": \"user\", \"content\": \"What is 2+2?\"}], \"max_tokens\": 10}")
    END=$(date +%s%N)
    LATENCY=$(( (END - START) / 1000000 ))
    TOKENS=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq '.usage.total_tokens // 0')
    CITATIONS=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq '.citations | length // 0')
    echo "$model: ${LATENCY}ms, ${TOKENS} tokens, ${CITATIONS} citations"
done

echo ""
echo "=== Rate Limit Status ==="
HEADERS=$(curl -s -D- -o /dev/null -X POST \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $PERPLEXITY_API_KEY" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    "https://api.perplexity.ai/chat/completions" \
    -d '{"model": "sonar", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "test"}], "max_tokens": 1}')
echo "$HEADERS" | grep -i "x-ratelimit\|retry-after" | while read line; do
    echo "  "

Search Quality

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Search-Augmented Response Check ==="
RESULT=$(perplexity_api POST "/chat/completions" '{"model": "sonar", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Latest news today"}], "max_tokens": 50}')
echo "$RESULT" | jq '{
    model: .model,
    citations_count: (.citations | length),
    citations: .citations[0:5],
    usage: .usage
}'

echo ""
echo "=== Model Comparison ==="
for model in "sonar" "sonar-pro"; do
    RESULT=$(perplexity_api POST "/chat/completions" "{\"model\": \"$model\", \"messages\": [{\"role\": \"user\", \"content\": \"Current weather in NYC\"}], \"max_tokens\": 30}")
    CITATIONS=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq '.citations | length // 0')
    TOKENS=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq '.usage | {input: .prompt_tokens, output: .completion_tokens}')
    echo "$model: $CITATIONS citations, tokens: $TOKENS"
done

Output Format

=== Perplexity API ===
Models Available: <list>

--- Performance ---
<model>: <latency>ms, <tokens> tokens, <citations> citations

--- Rate Limits ---
Requests: <remaining>/<limit>

--- Search Quality ---
Avg Citations: <n> per query

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• Search-augmented: Perplexity models include web search results and citations automatically
• Citations field: Responses include citations array with source URLs
• OpenAI-compatible: API follows OpenAI chat/completions format
• Rate limits: Check x-ratelimit-* response headers for current limits
• Model names: Use sonar or sonar-pro for search-augmented models