Installing the compound-pplx executable
Assuming you have Rust/Cargo installed , run this command in a terminal:
cargo install compound-perplexity
It will make the compound-pplx command available in your PATH if you've allowed the PATH to be modified when installing Rust . cargo uninstall compound-perplexity uninstalls.
Back to the crate overview .
Readme
compound-perplexity
CLI for the Perplexity API. Search, ask, research, and reason from your terminal.
Install
cargo install compound-perplexity
The binary is called compound-pplx .
Commands
Command
What it does
Model
Est. cost
compound- pplx search < query>
Quick web search
sonar
~$0.006
compound- pplx ask < query>
Pro search with analysis
sonar-pro
~$0.01
compound- pplx research < query>
Deep research
sonar-deep-research
~$0.40
compound- pplx reason < query>
Reasoning with thinking
sonar-reasoning-pro
~$0.01
compound- pplx log
Show recent queries
—
—
compound- pplx log - - stats
Usage and cost breakdown
—
—
Features
Four modes matching Perplexity's model tiers — from quick lookups to deep research
Cited sources extracted and displayed inline
Cost tracking — every query logged with timestamp, model, estimated cost, and duration
Color-coded output — each mode has a distinct colour for easy scanning
--raw flag for JSON output, --no-log to skip history
Requires PERPLEXITY_API_KEY in your environment.
License
MIT