Test your Perplexity API key.

What this key does

Perplexity's API is OpenAI-compatible. The Sonar model family does retrieval-augmented chat using Perplexity's index. Citations come back as part of the response.

How to get a Perplexity API key

1. Sign in at perplexity.ai/settings/api.
2. Add a payment method (the API requires it).
3. Create a key starting with pplx-.
4. Paste it here.

Common errors and fixes

• 401 Unauthorized: Key is invalid, revoked, or pasted with extra whitespace. Generate a new key from the provider console and try again.
• 403 Forbidden: Key is valid but lacks permission for this resource. Check project / org / workspace scope, or that billing is set up for this key.
• 429 Too Many Requests: You hit the per-minute or per-day rate limit. Wait a moment and retry, or upgrade your tier.
• 404 Not Found: The endpoint or model id changed. Check the provider docs for the current path and model identifier.
• 5xx: The provider is having issues. Check their status page before assuming the bug is yours.

Security best practices

• Store keys in an env var or secret manager — never commit them to a repo, even a private one.
• Restrict scope: prefer per-project or per-deployment keys over a single root key shared across services.
• Rotate on a schedule (90 days is a sane default) and immediately on suspected leak.
• Audit usage in the provider console after rotation to confirm the old key has zero traffic.
• Set per-key spend limits where the provider supports them, so a leaked key has a bounded blast radius.

Pricing at a glance

Sonar is billed per request plus per token. Sonar Pro is more expensive but includes deeper search.