Provider: Perplexity

Perplexity combines LLM reasoning with real-time web search, producing responses grounded in current information. Their Sonar models are uniquely suited for research-heavy coding tasks.

Get an API Key

Go to perplexity.ai/settings/api
Create an account or sign in
Generate an API key and copy it

Configure VibeCody

Option 1: Environment variable (recommended)

export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="pplx-..."
vibecli --provider perplexity

Option 2: Config file (~/.vibecli/config.toml)

[perplexity]
enabled = true
api_key = "pplx-..."
model = "sonar-pro"

Model Selection

Model	Strengths	Best for
`sonar-pro`	Deep research, citations	Complex research tasks
`sonar`	Fast search-augmented	Quick lookups
`sonar-reasoning-pro`	Multi-step reasoning with search	Harder questions
`sonar-deep-research`	Long, multi-step research	Reports; can run for minutes

Default: sonar-pro

Override from the CLI:

vibecli --provider perplexity --model sonar

Agent API

Perplexity ended Sonar Chat Completions support on 2026-09-27 and is moving each Sonar model onto its Agent API. VibeCody calls the Agent API directly (POST /v1/agent), so the model names above keep working unchanged. They map onto Perplexity’s presets as its migration guide does:

Model	Agent API preset
`sonar`, `sonar-pro`	`fast`
`sonar-reasoning-pro`	`low`
`sonar-deep-research`	`high`

Any model id containing a / — for example anthropic/claude-opus-5-5 or perplexity/sonar — is sent as the Agent API model, so a typed-in id reaches the model Perplexity brokers for it. Web search is always requested.

Not yet verified against a live account: the request and response shapes follow Perplexity’s published guide and are covered by unit tests, not by a call to the API. If a Perplexity request fails after upgrading, the error text is returned verbatim.

Best For

Research-heavy tasks – find current documentation, API references, library versions
Debugging with context – search for error messages and known issues in real-time
Technology comparison – evaluate libraries and tools with up-to-date information
Learning new APIs – get current examples and best practices

Verify Connection

vibecli --provider perplexity -c "What are the latest changes in React 19?"

Troubleshooting

Invalid API key

Verify the key starts with pplx-
Check your key at perplexity.ai/settings/api

Slow responses

Search-augmented models perform web searches before responding
Expect 3-10 seconds for research-heavy queries; sonar-deep-research can take minutes (requests time out after 300 s)