Perplexity Reference Architecture

Overview

Production-ready architecture patterns for Perplexity integrations.

Prerequisites

•Understanding of layered architecture
•Perplexity SDK knowledge
•TypeScript project setup
•Testing framework configured

Project Structure

code

my-perplexity-project/
├── src/
│   ├── perplexity/
│   │   ├── client.ts           # Singleton client wrapper
│   │   ├── config.ts           # Environment configuration
│   │   ├── types.ts            # TypeScript types
│   │   ├── errors.ts           # Custom error classes
│   │   └── handlers/
│   │       ├── webhooks.ts     # Webhook handlers
│   │       └── events.ts       # Event processing
│   ├── services/
│   │   └── perplexity/
│   │       ├── index.ts        # Service facade
│   │       ├── sync.ts         # Data synchronization
│   │       └── cache.ts        # Caching layer
│   ├── api/
│   │   └── perplexity/
│   │       └── webhook.ts      # Webhook endpoint
│   └── jobs/
│       └── perplexity/
│           └── sync.ts         # Background sync job
├── tests/
│   ├── unit/
│   │   └── perplexity/
│   └── integration/
│       └── perplexity/
├── config/
│   ├── perplexity.development.json
│   ├── perplexity.staging.json
│   └── perplexity.production.json
└── docs/
    └── perplexity/
        ├── SETUP.md
        └── RUNBOOK.md

Layer Architecture

code

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│             API Layer                    │
│   (Controllers, Routes, Webhooks)        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│           Service Layer                  │
│  (Business Logic, Orchestration)         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│          Perplexity Layer        │
│   (Client, Types, Error Handling)        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│         Infrastructure Layer             │
│    (Cache, Queue, Monitoring)            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key Components

Step 1: Client Wrapper

typescript

// src/perplexity/client.ts
export class PerplexityService {
  private client: PerplexityClient;
  private cache: Cache;
  private monitor: Monitor;

  constructor(config: PerplexityConfig) {
    this.client = new PerplexityClient(config);
    this.cache = new Cache(config.cacheOptions);
    this.monitor = new Monitor('perplexity');
  }

  async get(id: string): Promise<Resource> {
    return this.cache.getOrFetch(id, () =>
      this.monitor.track('get', () => this.client.get(id))
    );
  }
}

Step 2: Error Boundary

typescript

// src/perplexity/errors.ts
export class PerplexityServiceError extends Error {
  constructor(
    message: string,
    public readonly code: string,
    public readonly retryable: boolean,
    public readonly originalError?: Error
  ) {
    super(message);
    this.name = 'PerplexityServiceError';
  }
}

export function wrapPerplexityError(error: unknown): PerplexityServiceError {
  // Transform SDK errors to application errors
}

Step 3: Health Check

typescript

// src/perplexity/health.ts
export async function checkPerplexityHealth(): Promise<HealthStatus> {
  try {
    const start = Date.now();
    await perplexityClient.ping();
    return {
      status: 'healthy',
      latencyMs: Date.now() - start,
    };
  } catch (error) {
    return { status: 'unhealthy', error: error.message };
  }
}

Data Flow Diagram

code

User Request
     │
     ▼
┌─────────────┐
│   API       │
│   Gateway   │
└──────┬──────┘
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────┐
│   Service   │───▶│   Cache     │
│   Layer     │    │   (Redis)   │
└──────┬──────┘    └─────────────┘
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────┐
│ Perplexity    │
│   Client    │
└──────┬──────┘
       │
       ▼
┌─────────────┐
│ Perplexity    │
│   API       │
└─────────────┘

Configuration Management

typescript

// config/perplexity.ts
export interface PerplexityConfig {
  apiKey: string;
  environment: 'development' | 'staging' | 'production';
  timeout: number;
  retries: number;
  cache: {
    enabled: boolean;
    ttlSeconds: number;
  };
}

export function loadPerplexityConfig(): PerplexityConfig {
  const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
  return require(`./perplexity.${env}.json`);
}

Instructions

Step 1: Create Directory Structure

Set up the project layout following the reference structure above.

Step 2: Implement Client Wrapper

Create the singleton client with caching and monitoring.

Step 3: Add Error Handling

Implement custom error classes for Perplexity operations.

Step 4: Configure Health Checks

Add health check endpoint for Perplexity connectivity.

Output

•Structured project layout
•Client wrapper with caching
•Error boundary implemented
•Health checks configured

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Circular dependencies	Wrong layering	Separate concerns by layer
Config not loading	Wrong paths	Verify config file locations
Type errors	Missing types	Add Perplexity types
Test isolation	Shared state	Use dependency injection

Examples

Quick Setup Script

bash

# Create reference structure
mkdir -p src/perplexity/{handlers} src/services/perplexity src/api/perplexity
touch src/perplexity/{client,config,types,errors}.ts
touch src/services/perplexity/{index,sync,cache}.ts

Resources

Flagship Skills

For multi-environment setup, see perplexity-multi-env-setup.