# llm_perplexity A RocketRide LLM node that connects Perplexity AI's Sonar models to a pipeline with built-in real-time web search. ## What it does Routes questions through Perplexity AI's Sonar family of models, each of which grounds responses in current web content rather than training data alone. The node is registered with `classType: llm` and the `invoke` capability, so agents and other LLM-consuming nodes can use it as a drop-in model connection. It can also be driven directly via the `questions`/`answers` lane pair. Uses `langchain-openai` (`ChatOpenAI`) against Perplexity's OpenAI-compatible endpoint at `https://api.perplexity.ai`. Temperature is fixed at `0`. The SDK's built-in retries are disabled; the node manages its own retry loop with per-model timeouts and exponential backoff (see "Timeouts and retries" below). Prompt length is checked against the model's token limit before each request, using a word-based estimate (approximately 0.75 words per token). --- ## Configuration | Field | Type / Default | Description | |---------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | `profile` | enum, default `sonar` | Which Sonar model profile to activate (see Profiles) | | `apikey` | string | Perplexity AI API key for the selected profile | | `model` | string (per profile) | Perplexity model identifier, set automatically by profile| | `modelTotalTokens` | number (per profile) | Total context window in tokens | | `modelOutputTokens` | number (per profile) | Maximum output tokens per response | The `model`, `modelTotalTokens`, and `modelOutputTokens` values are preset by the chosen profile; only `apikey` needs to be supplied per profile. ### Lanes | Lane in | Lane out | Description | |-------------|-----------|------------------------------------------------------| | `questions` | `answers` | Send a question directly, receive a generated answer | --- ## Profiles | Profile | Model | Context (tokens) | Max output | Model source | |-------------------------------|-----------------------|------------------|------------|--------------| | Sonar (default) | `sonar` | 127,072 | 4,096 | manual | | Sonar Pro | `sonar-pro` | 200,000 | 8,000 | manual | | Sonar Reasoning | `sonar-reasoning` | 128,000 | 4,096 | manual | | Sonar Reasoning Pro | `sonar-reasoning-pro` | 128,000 | 4,096 | manual | | Sonar Deep Research | `sonar-deep-research` | 128,000 | 4,096 | manual | | Perplexity: Sonar Pro Search | `sonar-pro-search` | 200,000 | 8,000 | OpenRouter | All profiles except `sonar-pro-search` use manually configured model metadata. The `sonar-pro-search` profile pulls token limits from OpenRouter. --- ## Timeouts and retries Request timeout and retry behavior scale with model complexity: | Model(s) | Timeout | Max retries | Base delay | |-----------------------------|---------|-------------|------------| | `sonar-deep-research` | 180 s | 3 | 2.0 s | | `sonar-reasoning*` models | 120 s | 2 | 1.5 s | | All other models | 60 s | 2 | 1.0 s | Retries use exponential backoff (`base_delay x 2^attempt`) and only fire on transient failures: timeouts, connection/network errors, and HTTP 500/502/503/504 responses. Authentication errors, quota/billing errors, and input validation errors fail immediately without retrying. After all retries are exhausted, raw API errors are translated into concise user-facing messages covering: bad API key, rate limiting, quota/billing issues, invalid input, model unavailability, content policy violations, timeouts, and network errors. --- ## Authentication Set `apikey` to a valid Perplexity AI API key in the selected profile's config panel. The key is validated at save time by sending a minimal 10-token probe request (`"Hi"`) to `https://api.perplexity.ai`. If the probe fails, a concise warning is surfaced rather than a raw error dump. For HTTP 401 responses that return an HTML page (a known Perplexity behavior), the node extracts the page title or `

` text and formats it into a readable message. To obtain an API key, visit [https://www.perplexity.ai/settings/api](https://www.perplexity.ai/settings/api). --- ## Upstream docs - [Perplexity AI documentation](https://docs.perplexity.ai/) --- ## Schema | Field | Type | Description | Default | |---|---|---|---| | `model` | `string` | **Model**
Perplexity AI model | | | `modelTotalTokens` | `number` | **Tokens**
Total Tokens | | | `perplexity.profile` | `string` | **Model**
Perplexity AI model | `"sonar-pro"` | ## Dependencies - `openai` - `langchain-openai` - `langchain-core` - `langchain` ## Source [ View source](https://github.com/rocketride-org/rocketride-server/tree/develop/nodes/src/nodes/llm_perplexity)