Perplexity Tools

Use ONLY when user says "search", "find", "look up", "ask", "research", or "what's the latest" for generic queries. NOT for library/framework docs (use Context7), gt CLI (use Graphite MCP), or workspace questions (use Nx MCP).

Quick Reference

Which Perplexity tool?

• •Need search results/URLs? → Perplexity Search
• •Need conversational answer? → Perplexity Ask
• •Need deep research? → Researcher agent (/research <topic>)

NOT Perplexity - use these instead:

• •Library/framework docs → Context7 MCP
• •Graphite gt CLI → Graphite MCP
• •THIS workspace → Nx MCP
• •Specific URL → URL Crawler

Perplexity Search

When to use:

• •Generic searches, finding resources
• •Current best practices, recent information
• •Tutorial/blog post discovery
• •User says "search for...", "find...", "look up..."

Default parameters (ALWAYS USE):

mcp__perplexity__perplexity_search({
  query: "your search query",
  max_results: 3,           // Default is 10 - too many!
  max_tokens_per_page: 512  // Reduce per-result content
})

When to increase limits: Only if:

• •User explicitly needs comprehensive results
• •Initial search found nothing useful
• •Complex topic needs multiple sources

// Increased limits (use sparingly)
mcp__perplexity__perplexity_search({
  query: "complex topic",
  max_results: 5,
  max_tokens_per_page: 1024
})

Perplexity Ask

When to use:

• •Need conversational explanation, not search results
• •Synthesize information from web
• •Explain concepts with current context

Usage:

mcp__perplexity__perplexity_ask({
  messages: [
    {
      role: "user",
      content: "Explain how postgres advisory locks work"
    }
  ]
})

NOT for:

• •Library documentation (use Context7)
• •Deep multi-source research (use researcher agent)

Prohibited Tool

NEVER use: mcp__perplexity__perplexity_research

Use instead: Researcher agent (/research <topic>)

• •Token cost: 30-50k tokens
• •Provides multi-source synthesis with citations
• •Use sparingly for complex questions only

Tool Selection Chain

Priority order:

1. •Context7 MCP - Library/framework docs
2. •Graphite MCP - Any gt CLI mention
3. •Nx MCP - THIS workspace questions
4. •Perplexity Search - Generic searches
5. •Perplexity Ask - Conversational answers
6. •Researcher agent - Deep multi-source research
7. •WebSearch - Last resort (after Perplexity exhausted)

Examples

✅ CORRECT - Use Perplexity Search:

• •"Find postgres migration best practices"
• •"Search for React testing tutorials"
• •"Look up latest trends in microservices"

✅ CORRECT - Use Perplexity Ask:

• •"Explain how postgres advisory locks work"
• •"What are the trade-offs of microservices?"

❌ WRONG - Use Context7 instead:

• •"Search for React hooks documentation" → Context7 MCP
• •"Find Next.js routing docs" → Context7 MCP
• •"Look up Temporal workflow API" → Context7 MCP

❌ WRONG - Use Graphite MCP instead:

• •"Search for gt stack commands" → Graphite MCP
• •"Find gt branch workflow" → Graphite MCP

❌ WRONG - Use Nx MCP instead:

• •"Search for build config" (in THIS workspace) → Nx MCP
• •"Find project dependencies" (in THIS workspace) → Nx MCP

Key Points

• •Default to limited results - avoid context bloat
• •Library docs = Context7 - ALWAYS try Context7 first
• •"gt" = Graphite MCP - ANY "gt" mention uses Graphite
• •Deep research = /research - NOT perplexity_research tool
• •Fallback chain - Search → Ask → WebSearch (last resort)