perplexity-search

Grounded web search & research via Perplexity, keyless and pay-per-call over SELAT. Use when asked to "search the web for <topic>", "what's the latest on <topic>", "research <topic> with sources", "do a deep-research report on <X>", or "give me a grounded answer with citations". Runs Perplexity's cheap web Search by default, and can escalate to a one-shot Agent answer or an async deep-research report when a plain search isn't enough. Paid per call in USDC (on Base) from the user's own self-custody Circle Agent Wallet — no Perplexity API key, no signup. Dry-run first to see live prices; every price the CLI shows already includes SELAT's ~5% routing markup.

A keyless Perplexity research toolkit over SELAT. The default action is a cheap web Search — ranked results with page content and source URLs that you (the agent) synthesize into a cited answer. When a search-and-synthesize pass isn't enough, the skill also documents two escalations — a one-shot Agent answer and an async deep-research report — that you run per the installed skill's own guidance, always confirming the cost first.

It wraps a SELAT skill: a declarative, vetted recipe of paid API calls (no API keys, no signups) settled in USDC — routed x402 on Base through the SELAT Router. The selat CLI resolves the vetted endpoints and prints a receipt.

Cost — read this first

• Every call is real USDC from the user's own Circle Agent Wallet (MPC self-custody — SELAT never holds keys or funds).
• Prices and spend limits live in the underlying SELAT skill, not here — the live 402 quote from selat skill verify/run is the price source of truth, so this wrapper doesn't restate dollar figures (they'd only drift).
• The quote the CLI shows already includes SELAT's ~5% routing markup — it's the final settled charge; nothing is added on top.
• The default Web Search is the wired selat skill run step. Agent answer and deep research are separate, agent-run paid calls — each its own spend, so tell the user the cost (from its live quote) and get a yes before every escalation.
• Always dry-run first (Step 1 — free, no wallet) for the default step, show the user the real quoted price, and get their OK before any wallet setup or paid run.
• Never ask for, paste, or handle a private key. Wallet auth is the CLI's Circle integration.

Step 0 — get the CLI (free, no account)

bash

selat --version || npm install -g @selat-ai/selat-cli

Installing the CLI creates nothing money-related — no wallet, no account, no keys.

Step 1 — dry run first, before any wallet setup

Do this before creating a wallet or asking the user to fund anything. The dry run probes the default step's live price and reachability for free — no wallet, no funds, no account, no selat init:

bash

selat skill install perplexity-search
SELAT_ROUTER_URL=https://router.selat.ai \
  selat skill verify ~/.config/selat/skills/perplexity-search

(verify takes the installed skill's directory — $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/selat/skills/<name>, which defaults to the path above. The SELAT_ROUTER_URL prefix is only needed before selat init has written config.)

This prints the default Search's real quoted price (markup included). Show the user the price and get their OK before wallet setup. If they don't want to proceed, stop here — nothing has been spent or created.

Step 2 — wallet setup (only after the user opts in)

bash

selat init     # creates the self-custody Circle Agent Wallet + config
selat fund     # deposit USDC into Circle Gateway (user action)
selat doctor   # verify wallet, router, and balance are ready

selat init is safe to re-run — it detects an existing wallet and asks before changing anything.

Step 3 — run the default web search

bash

selat skill run perplexity-search \
  --query "latest x402 / agentic payments adoption" \
  --recency month

Param	Required	Default	What it steers
query	yes	latest x402 / agentic payments adoption	The web search query.
recency	no	month	Publication recency filter — one of hour / day / week / month / year.

The step returns ranked web results with page content and source URLs. Your job: synthesize a concise answer with inline citations to the source URLs, note the recency window, and flag if results are thin or stale. Keep raw JSON out of what you relay — lead with the answer, the sources, and the dollar cost the CLI reported.

Escalating beyond a plain search

When one search pass isn't enough, the installed skill documents two higher-tier moves — Agent answer (a one-shot synthesized answer) and deep research (an async sonar-deep-research report, kicked off once then polled for free until it completes). These are agent-run, not part of the default selat skill run. To use them:

1. Get the live price for the call, tell the user, and get a yes before spending.
2. Follow the exact request shapes and steps in the installed skill's own docs — its SKILL.md ("Escalations") and references/endpoints.md — which carry the pinned schemas and the poll loop. Don't guess the request body.
3. Synthesize the result into a cited brief, same as the default step.

Why this is safe to install

• The skill is a declarative JSON manifest — no executable code. Installing this wrapper only ever writes text.
• Endpoints are https-only and pre-vetted; each publish is gated on a machine-checked live verification receipt.
• Each paid call's spend limit is defined by the underlying SELAT skill and enforced by the runner; escalations are each their own cost-confirmed call, and the runner surfaces the wallet's spending policy at every money moment.
• Funds stay in the user's own wallet. No Perplexity API key, no platform balance, no custodian.

Beyond this skill

SELAT is a general capability layer for paid agent actions. If the user's ask doesn't fit this skill:

bash

selat search "<intent>"          # FREE federated discovery + ranking
selat skill list --available     # other vetted multi-step skills

Docs: https://github.com/SELAT-AI/selat-skills