perplexity-local-dev-loop

name	perplexity-local-dev-loop
description	Configure Perplexity local development with mocking, testing, and hot reload. Use when setting up a development environment, configuring test workflows, or establishing a fast iteration cycle with Perplexity Sonar API. Trigger with phrases like "perplexity dev setup", "perplexity local development", "perplexity dev environment", "develop with perplexity", "mock perplexity".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit, Bash(npm:*), Bash(pnpm:*), Grep
version	1.12.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>
tags	["saas","perplexity","testing","workflow"]
compatibility	Designed for Claude Code

Perplexity Local Dev Loop

Overview

Set up a fast, cost-effective local development workflow for Perplexity Sonar API. Key challenge: every real API call performs a web search and costs money, so mocking and caching are essential for development.

Prerequisites

• Completed perplexity-install-auth setup
• Node.js 18+ with npm/pnpm
• vitest for testing

Instructions

Step 1: Project Structure

my-perplexity-project/
├── src/
│   ├── perplexity/
│   │   ├── client.ts       # OpenAI client wrapper for Perplexity
│   │   ├── search.ts       # Search functions with citation handling
│   │   └── types.ts        # Response type extensions
│   └── index.ts
├── tests/
│   ├── fixtures/           # Saved API responses for mocking
│   │   └── sonar-response.json
│   ├── perplexity.test.ts
│   └── setup.ts
├── .env.local              # API key (git-ignored)
├── .env.example            # Template
└── package.json

Step 2: Type-Safe Client Wrapper

// src/perplexity/client.ts
import OpenAI from "openai";

export interface PerplexityResponse extends OpenAI.ChatCompletion {
  citations?: string[];
  search_results?: Array<{
    title: string;
    url: string;
    snippet: string;
  }>;
  related_questions?: string[];
}

export type PerplexityModel = "sonar" | "sonar-pro" | "sonar-reasoning-pro" | "sonar-deep-research";

export  ():  {
    ({
    : apiKey || process..,
    : ,
  });
}

   (): <> {
   response =  client...({
    : opts. || ,
    : [
      ...(opts.
        ? [{ :   , : opts. }]
        : []),
      { :   , : query },
    ],
    : opts.,
    ...(opts. && { : opts. }),
    ...(opts. && { : opts. }),
  }  );

   response    ;
}