AI Provider Setup · BYOK
Online-aware Sonar models with live citations — for research, not agents.
Perplexity's Sonar models are web-grounded by default — every answer comes back with live citations pulled at query time. Use when you need up-to-date information with sources. Note: Sonar models do NOT support tool/function calling, so they are not a fit for agentic workflows.
PERPLEXITY_API_KEYSign up at perplexity.ai. You can use the same account for both the consumer app and the API.
Navigate to perplexity.ai/settings/api. This is the only place to generate and manage API keys.
Click Add Payment Method. Perplexity API requires a card on file before generating any keys — even the free tier.
Click Generate API Key. The full key starts with pplx- and is shown once. Copy it immediately.
Go to Settings then AI Providers, find the Perplexity row, paste the key, and click Connect.
sonar-pro is our recommended pick — best quality citations and 200K context. Use sonar-large for a cheaper online option.
Perplexity's Sonar models do NOT support tool calling. Keep Perplexity for research chats. For agentic workflows (pause campaigns, update budgets), switch to Claude or GPT.
Re-check the key starts with pplx-, your card is active, and you have not exceeded the per-minute limit (Perplexity rate-limits aggressively on new accounts).
Once you've pasted your key into /settings/ai-providers, hit Test. Admaxxer makes a single no-cost call against the provider's /v1/models (or equivalent) endpoint and reports back:
These are the pinned model IDs Admaxxer tests against. The model picker in chat will show these plus any live-catalog entries the provider returns.
| Model ID | Display name | Context | Tools | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
sonar-pro |
Sonar Pro (recommended) | 200K | No | Best Sonar tier — strongest citations and 200K context. Research-only, no tools. |
sonar-large |
Sonar Large | 127K | No | Cheaper online-aware tier. Good for straightforward web-grounded Q&A. |
llama-3.1-sonar-large-online |
Llama 3.1 Sonar Large (Online) | 127K | No | Legacy Sonar build. Stable snapshot if you need a pinned version. |
When it happens: On Connect if the key is wrong or was revoked.
Fix: Regenerate at perplexity.ai/settings/api and paste the new key.
When it happens: Quickly on new accounts — Perplexity has tight default rate limits.
Fix: Reduce request rate. For higher limits, contact Perplexity API support to upgrade your tier.
When it happens: If your card is declined or billing is disabled.
Fix: Open perplexity.ai/settings/api and update the payment method.
When it happens: If Admaxxer tries an agentic action (pause, update) while Perplexity is selected.
Fix: Switch to a tool-supporting model (Claude, GPT, Gemini) for agentic workflows. Use Perplexity for research chats.
When it happens: If the model id is stale (Sonar model lineup changes).
Fix: Use sonar-pro or sonar-large. Check docs.perplexity.ai/api-reference for current ids.