Perform AI-driven web searches with cited, grounded answers using the Perplexity API.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install perplexity
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install perplexity using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is Perplexity Search?
Perplexity Search is a high-performance skill designed to provide AI agents with real-time access to the web. By leveraging the Perplexity API, this skill delivers grounded answers that include citations, ensuring that the information retrieved is both current and verifiable. As part of the Openclaw Skills ecosystem, it allows developers to bridge the gap between static model training and the evolving landscape of live internet data.
The skill is optimized for both speed and accuracy, providing a seamless way to incorporate external knowledge into automated workflows. Whether you are building a research assistant or a technical fact-checker, this tool provides the necessary infrastructure to query the web programmatically with high confidence in the output quality.
Perplexity Search Use Cases
- Conducting automated market research or competitor analysis.
- Verifying technical claims or software documentation details with live web data.
- Aggregating daily news summaries or industry updates using batch processing.
- Feeding real-time context into larger AI-driven development pipelines.
How Perplexity Search Works
- The user initiates a search query or a batch of queries through the provided Node.js script.
- The skill authenticates with the Perplexity API using a secure environment variable.
- Search queries are processed by Perplexity's models to crawl the web and synthesize information.
- The API returns a structured response containing the answer and supporting citations.
- The skill outputs the results to the console or as a JSON object for further processing within Openclaw Skills workflows.
Perplexity Search Setup
To get started with this skill, ensure you have Node.js installed and follow these steps:
- Obtain an API key from Perplexity AI.
- Set your environment variable:
export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY='your_api_key_here'
- Run a single search query:
node scripts/search.mjs "what is the latest stable version of React"
- Run a batch query for multiple topics:
node scripts/search.mjs "Query 1" "Query 2" "Query 3"
Perplexity Search Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill manages search data through a structured input/output flow. Below is the schema for the information processed:
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| query | The string or array of strings representing the search intent. |
| response | The synthesized answer generated by the AI model. |
| citations | An array of source links used to verify the response. |
| format | Supports standard text output or raw JSON using the --json flag. |
| environment | Requires PERPLEXITY_API_KEY for authorization. |
Perplexity Search Advanced Features
- Batch Query Support: Send multiple research questions in a single execution to save time and API overhead.
- JSON Output Mode: Use the --json flag to receive machine-readable data, perfect for piping into other Openclaw Skills.
- Grounded Citations: Automatically retrieve source URLs to ensure data integrity and transparency.
- CLI Integration: Designed for easy execution within terminal-based AI agent environments and CI/CD pipelines.
SKILL.md
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