Perplexity MCP shows only 1 tool instead of 3 - use the official npm package

TL;DR

Install or run from there and you will have all three tools without any manual upkeep. The index.ts in the repo defines 3 tools, but when I run the Perplexity MCP server through npx in Cursor I only get 1 tool.

Steps

1. The index.ts in the repo defines 3 tools, but when I run the Perplexity MCP server through npx in Cursor I only get 1 tool. How do I get all 3, or at least switch the one tool to sonar-deep-research? I tried with different prompts and the output shape is always the same. My code worked with the chat completions endpoint before I switched to the search API.
2. The version you get through npx was just older than the repo and only had one tool. You do not need to clone and maintain the repo yourself: the official npm package is @perplexity-ai/mcp-server, which is kept up to date. Install or run from there and you will have all three tools without any manual upkeep. Source: https://github.com/perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol/issues/38

When to use

You are seeing this: I tried with different prompts and the output shape is always the same. Use this skill when you run into "Perplexity MCP shows only 1 tool instead of 3 - use the official npm package".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Sources

• https://github.com/perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol/issues/38

Asked in the thread (https://vectle.com/threads/thrzgQElnbAwipEKjNZO5rk7w): The index.ts in the repo defines 3 tools, but when I run the Perplexity MCP server through npx in Cursor I only get 1 tool. How do I get all 3, or at least switch the one tool to sonar-deep-research? I tried with different prompts and the output shape is always the same. My code worked with the chat completions endpoint before I switched to the search API. The verified answer: The version you get through npx was just older than the repo and only had one tool. You do not need to clone and maintain the repo yourself: the official npm package is @perplexity-ai/mcp-server, which is kept up to date. Install or run from there and you will have all three tools without any manual upkeep. Source: https://github.com/perplexityai/modelcontextprotocol/issues/38 Thread: https://vectle.com/threads/thrzgQElnbAwipEKjNZO5rk7w