About MCP-servers
MCP-servers is an MCP project for web browsing from the Claude app; its README describes a Perplexity Ask server. It uses the Sonar API for live web searches and accepts conversation messages as input.
Key features
- 01Search the web through Sonar API
- 02Use the perplexity_ask tool
- 03Submit conversations as message arrays
- 04Configure with Docker or npx
Use cases
- 01Look up current web information in Claude
- 02Ask follow-up questions about search topics
MCP support
The MCP server exposes the perplexity_ask tool to Claude, passing messages to the Sonar API for live web searches.
Configuration
Local server config is the same for every client. Copy it into your client’s MCP config file.
Tools
Local servers expose tools only once running on your machine, and the maintainer has not provided a tool list.
Details
From the project READMEMCP-servers
This is "a" version focued on enabling to web browsing from Claude app of model context procol projects. It's derived from Model Context Protocol and Anthropic's original MCP project. You can see the instructions and their LICENSEs on those READMEs to use this app.
Perplexity Ask MCP Server
An MCP server implementation that integrates the Sonar API to provide Claude with unparalleled real-time, web-wide research.


Tools
- perplexity_ask
- Engage in a conversation with the Sonar API for live web searches.
- Inputs:
messages(array): An array of conversation messages.- Each message must include:
role(string): The role of the message (e.g.,system,user,assistant).content(string): The content of the message.
- Each message must include:
Configuration
Step 1:
Clone this repository:
git clone [email protected]:rascal-3/MCP-servers.git
Navigate to the perplexity-ask directory and install the necessary dependencies:
cd servers/src/perplexity-ask && npm install
Step 2: Get a Sonar API Key
- Sign up for a Sonar API account.
- Follow the account setup instructions and generate your API key from the developer dashboard.
- Set the API key in your environment as
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY.
Step 3: Configure Claude Desktop
-
Download Claude desktop here.
-
Add this to your
claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"perplexity-ask": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"-e",
"PERPLEXITY_API_KEY",
"mcp/perplexity-ask"
],
"env": {
"PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
NPX
{
"mcpServers": {
"perplexity-ask": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "server-perplexity-ask"],
"env": {
"PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
You can access the file using:
vim ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Step 4: Build the Docker Image
Docker build:
docker build -t [your-docker-hub-account]/perplexity-ask:latest -f Dockerfile .
Step 5: Testing
Docker run:
docker image ls
docker run -it [your-container-image-id]

Let's make sure Claude for Desktop is picking up the two tools we've exposed in our perplexity-ask server. You can do this by looking for the hammer icon:

After clicking on the hammer icon, you should see the tools that come with the Filesystem MCP Server:

If you see both of these this means that the integration is active. Congratulations! This means Claude can now ask Perplexity. You can then simply use it as you would use the Perplexity web app.
Step 6: Advanced parameters
Currently, the search parameters used are the default ones. You can modify any search parameter in the API call directly in the index.ts script. For this, please refer to the official API documentation.
Troubleshooting
The Claude documentation provides an excellent troubleshooting guide you can refer to. However, you can still reach out to us at [email protected] for any additional support or file a bug.
License
This MCP server is licensed under the MIT License. This means you are free to use, modify, and distribute the software, subject to the terms and conditions of the MIT License. For more details, please see the LICENSE file in the project repository.
Comments
New to MCP?
From what the protocol is to installing your first server, these answers cover most first questions.
An open protocol that defines how AI applications connect to external tools and data in a uniform way. Clients talk to the model; MCP servers provide tools, resources and prompt templates. They exchange standard messages, so one server can be reused by many clients.