Perplexity Search

A guide to the Perplexity Search action for getting direct, cited answers from a powerful answer engine.

The Perplexity Search Action connects to the Perplexity AI answer engine. Unlike traditional search engines that give you a list of links, Perplexity is designed to understand your question and provide a direct, comprehensive, and cited answer based on up-to-date information from the web.

It's the perfect tool when you need a factual, summarized answer to a complex question, not just a list of sources to read through.

Connection Setup

You will need a Perplexity AI account and your API key.

1. Sign up for an account on perplexity.ai.

2. Find your API key in your Perplexity account settings.

3. In AgenticFlow, navigate to Settings > Connections and add a new Perplexity Connection, providing your API key.

How It Works

The Perplexity action sends your query to their conversational search engine. The engine scours the web, synthesizes the information it finds, and constructs a direct answer, complete with links to the sources it used. This makes it a highly reliable tool for research and fact-finding.

Configuration

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
Connection	Connection	Select the Perplexity connection you created.
Query	Text	The question you want to ask. It's best to phrase this as a clear, direct question.

Output Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
Answer	Text	The direct, synthesized answer to your query.
Sources	Array	An array of objects, where each object contains the title and url of a source used to generate the answer.

Example: Researching a Current Topic

Let's say you want to get a quick, reliable summary of a recent technological development for a report.

1. Get the Query: The workflow starts with a Text Input action where you ask: "What are the latest advancements in quantum computing in 2024?"

2. Configure the Perplexity Search Action:

   • Connection: Select your Perplexity connection.

   • Query: {{text_input_action.output}}

3. Use the Output:

   • The Answer output ({{perplexity_search_action.answer}}) will contain a detailed summary of recent advancements.

   • The Sources output ({{perplexity_search_action.sources}}) will provide a list of links to the articles, research papers, and news sites that the answer was based on.

   • You could connect these outputs to an Email Action to send the research to yourself or to an LLM Action to reformat it for your report.