Add the Perplexity MCP server to Cursor

Config last verified Jun 1, 2026

The exact config to run Perplexity in Cursor — paste it in, restart, and the tools load.

Prerequisites

Cursor installed.
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY — Perplexity API key from the dashboard at perplexity.ai/account/api. Required.

Setup

1. Open `~/.cursor/mcp.json`

2. Add this configuration

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json

~/.cursor/mcp.json

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "perplexity": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@perplexity-ai/mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "PERPLEXITY_API_KEY": "<PERPLEXITY_API_KEY>",
        "PERPLEXITY_BASE_URL": "<PERPLEXITY_BASE_URL>",
        "PERPLEXITY_TIMEOUT_MS": "<PERPLEXITY_TIMEOUT_MS>"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Restart Cursor and confirm the Perplexity tools load.

Gotchas

Cursor keeps MCP servers under an "mcpServers" object in ~/.cursor/mcp.json for global use, and also reads a project-scoped .cursor/mcp.json so a repository can ship its own servers. Remote servers are configured with a bare "url" field and connect natively, with OAuth handled in-app when a server requires it.

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