# Perplexity Research API (https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/perplexity/research)

> Natural-language research over the live web powered by Perplexity Sonar. Returns a synthesised answer plus the URLs Sonar cited as evidence under `data.sources`. Costs 1 credit per call. Auto-refunds on upstream failure. Best for freeform questions like 'what is the latest funding round for Anthropic' or 'summarise this week's biggest LLM releases' that need fresh, web-grounded answers — the kind of question a structured social-media call cannot answer.

TL;DR: `GET /v1/perplexity/research` costs 1 credit per call and returns SocialCrawl's unified JSON schema. Single x-api-key auth, 100 free credits on signup.

## Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `query` | yes | Natural-language research prompt. Sonar autonomously searches the live web and grounds the response in real sources. No prompt-engineering required — phrase it as you would to a search engine or research assistant. |

## Code example

```bash
curl "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/perplexity/research?query=What%20is%20the%20capital%20of%20France%3F" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## FAQ

### How do I call the Perplexity Sonar API for research?

Send a GET request to /v1/perplexity/research with your question in the query parameter. SocialCrawl proxies Perplexity Sonar through the Vercel AI Gateway and returns a synthesized answer plus the web sources and citations behind it — no separate Perplexity key needed.

### What does the research endpoint return?

A natural-language answer synthesized by Perplexity Sonar from live web results, plus the list of source URLs and citations it drew on. The payload is JSON, so you can render the answer, surface the citations, or pass both into a RAG or research-agent pipeline.

### Is this a Perplexity alternative or the real Perplexity?

It is the real Perplexity Sonar — SocialCrawl proxies it through the Vercel AI Gateway rather than replacing it. You use Perplexity Sonar through your one SocialCrawl key and credit balance, alongside your social and dev data, instead of managing a second account.

### How much does a research call cost?

Each /v1/perplexity/research call costs 1 credit on the standard tier, regardless of answer length or how many sources come back. New accounts get 100 free credits with no credit card required — around 100 research queries to test the endpoint before you pay.

### Can I reach other AI search backends with the same key?

Yes. The same key that calls /v1/perplexity/research also reaches Tavily web search at /v1/tavily/search and AI social search at /v1/twitter/ai-search and /v1/search/everywhere. One x-api-key and one credit system covers several AI-search and research backends.

See the full Perplexity API: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/perplexity

## Pricing

- Standard endpoints: 1 credit per call
- Advanced endpoints: 5 credits per call
- Premium endpoints: 10 credits per call
- 100 free credits on signup, no credit card required. Cached responses cost 0 credits. Credit packs never expire.
- Full pricing: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/pricing

## Explore with AI

Questions this API answers, phrased for an AI assistant:

- How to use Perplexity Sonar web research through the SocialCrawl API
- What does the SocialCrawl Perplexity Sonar research endpoint return?