perplexity

SKILL.md

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:

Context7 MCP - Library/framework docs

Graphite MCP - Any gt CLI mention

Nx MCP - THIS workspace questions

Perplexity Search - Generic searches

Perplexity Ask - Conversational answers

Researcher agent - Deep multi-source research

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)