Perplexity Search API

OpenClaw supports Perplexity Search API as a web_search provider. It returns structured results with title, url, and snippet fields.

For compatibility, OpenClaw also supports legacy Perplexity Sonar/OpenRouter setups. If you use OPENROUTER_API_KEY, an sk-or-... key in plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.apiKey, or set plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.baseUrl / model, the provider switches to the chat-completions path and returns AI-synthesized answers with citations instead of structured Search API results.

Getting a Perplexity API key

1. Create a Perplexity account at perplexity.ai/settings/api
2. Generate an API key in the dashboard
3. Store the key in config or set PERPLEXITY_API_KEY in the Gateway environment.

ClawCentral

In ClawCentral, add your Perplexity API key via Admin UI → Settings → Secrets. The environment variable and openclaw configure methods apply to self-hosted OpenClaw deployments.

OpenRouter compatibility

If you were already using OpenRouter for Perplexity Sonar, keep provider: "perplexity" and set OPENROUTER_API_KEY in the Gateway environment, or store an sk-or-... key in plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.apiKey.

Optional compatibility controls:

• plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.baseUrl
• plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.model

Config examples

Native Perplexity Search API

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      perplexity: {
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "pplx-...",
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "perplexity",
      },
    },
  },
}

OpenRouter / Sonar compatibility

{
  plugins: {
    entries: {
      perplexity: {
        config: {
          webSearch: {
            apiKey: "<openrouter-api-key>",
            baseUrl: "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
            model: "perplexity/sonar-pro",
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  tools: {
    web: {
      search: {
        provider: "perplexity",
      },
    },
  },
}

Where to set the key

Via Admin UI (ClawCentral): add the key via Admin UI → Settings → Secrets.

Via config (self-hosted): run openclaw configure --section web. It stores the key in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json under plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.apiKey. That field also accepts SecretRef objects.

Via environment (self-hosted): set PERPLEXITY_API_KEY or OPENROUTER_API_KEY in the Gateway process environment. For a self-hosted gateway install, put it in ~/.openclaw/.env (or your service environment). See Env vars.

If provider: "perplexity" is configured and the Perplexity key SecretRef is unresolved with no env fallback, startup/reload fails fast.

Tool parameters

These parameters apply to the native Perplexity Search API path.

Parameter	Description
query	Search query (required)
count	Number of results to return (1-10, default: 5)
country	2-letter ISO country code (e.g., "US", "DE")
language	ISO 639-1 language code (e.g., "en", "de", "fr")
freshness	Time filter: day (24h), week, month, or year
date_after	Only results published after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
date_before	Only results published before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)
domain_filter	Domain allowlist/denylist array (max 20)
max_tokens	Total content budget (default: 25000, max: 1000000)
max_tokens_per_page	Per-page token limit (default: 2048)

For the legacy Sonar/OpenRouter compatibility path, only query and freshness are supported. Search API-only filters such as country, language, date_after, date_before, domain_filter, max_tokens, and max_tokens_per_page return explicit errors.

Examples:

// Country and language-specific search
await web_search({
  query: "renewable energy",
  country: "DE",
  language: "de",
});

// Recent results (past week)
await web_search({
  query: "AI news",
  freshness: "week",
});

// Date range search
await web_search({
  query: "AI developments",
  date_after: "2024-01-01",
  date_before: "2024-06-30",
});

// Domain filtering (allowlist)
await web_search({
  query: "climate research",
  domain_filter: ["nature.com", "science.org", ".edu"],
});

// Domain filtering (denylist - prefix with -)
await web_search({
  query: "product reviews",
  domain_filter: ["-reddit.com", "-pinterest.com"],
});

// More content extraction
await web_search({
  query: "detailed AI research",
  max_tokens: 50000,
  max_tokens_per_page: 4096,
});

Domain filter rules

• Maximum 20 domains per filter
• Cannot mix allowlist and denylist in the same request
• Use - prefix for denylist entries (e.g., ["-reddit.com"])

Notes

• Perplexity Search API returns structured web search results (title, url, snippet)
• OpenRouter or explicit plugins.entries.perplexity.config.webSearch.baseUrl / model switches Perplexity back to Sonar chat completions for compatibility
• Results are cached for 15 minutes by default (configurable via cacheTtlMinutes)

See Web tools for the full web_search configuration. See Perplexity Search API docs for more details.