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).

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

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

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

license

mit

author

Microck

shoutout

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