Web Research with Perplexity Skill

Web Research with Perplexity

Two modes: quick (MCP direct) or deep (Task-based with context).

Best For

Technology comparisons (X vs Y)
Best practices, industry standards
OWASP, security guidelines
Documentation references
Stable technical content

Quick Mode (Simple Queries)

Use MCP directly for fast, simple lookups:

mcp__perplexity-ask__perplexity_ask({
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Your research question" }]
})

Deep Mode (Context-Aware Research)

For codebase-aware research, spawn the perplexity-researcher agent.

Foreground (blocking)

Task(subagent_type="perplexity-researcher", prompt="Research: <topic>")

Background (recommended for context efficiency)

Run in background to avoid polluting main context:

Task(
  subagent_type="perplexity-researcher",
  prompt="Research: <topic>",
  run_in_background=true
)

Retrieve results when ready:

TaskOutput(task_id="<agent_id>", block=true)

Use background mode when:

Running multiple research queries in parallel
Main task can continue while research runs
Want to keep main context clean

When to Use Deep Mode

User asks "best way to do X" (needs to compare with current code)
Researching improvements to existing code
Need to understand if recommendations apply to current stack

Query Formulation Tips

Be specific: "Go 1.25 error handling best practices 2025"
Include context: "Redis vs Memcached for session storage in Go services"
Ask comparisons: "Pros and cons of gRPC vs REST for microservices"
Include year: "Claude Code context optimization 2025"

Reference Following (Deep Research)

After Perplexity returns results with citations:

Review all cited URLs in the response
WebFetch top 2-3 most relevant sources for deeper context
Synthesize comprehensive answer combining all sources

# After Perplexity response with citations
WebFetch(url="<cited-url-1>", prompt="Extract key details about <topic>")
WebFetch(url="<cited-url-2>", prompt="Extract implementation examples")

Use reference following when:

Initial answer is high-level and needs specifics
User asks "tell me more" or "dig deeper"
Implementing something that needs detailed guidance

Output Structure

## Summary

[Key findings - 2-3 sentences]

## Details

[Organized findings by topic]

## Recommendations

[Actionable items for the project]

## Sources

- [Source](url) - [what was learned]

Agent Skills: Web Research with Perplexity

Skill Files