growth-agents: Command for Claude Code

When the user triggers this command, walk them through setting up the Perplexity API for this project. Run each step automatically. Speak in plain, friendly language.

What is the Perplexity API?

Perplexity's API gives you access to their Sonar models — AI that answers questions with live web search built in. Unlike standard LLMs, every response is grounded in real-time web results with citations. It's great for research tasks, lead enrichment, competitive intelligence, and anything that benefits from up-to-date information.

Steps

1. Get the API key

Ask the user:

"Do you already have a Perplexity API key? If not, you can grab one at perplexity.ai/settings/api — you'll need to sign up and add a payment method. Once you have it, paste it here."

Wait for them to paste the key before continuing.

2. Add the key to .env

Add the key to the .env file in the repo root:

PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=<their key>

Also add the placeholder to .env.example if it's not already there, under the # Web scraping section:

PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=

3. Install the SDK

This project uses the Vercel AI SDK, so install the Perplexity provider:

pnpm add @ai-sdk/perplexity

4. Smoke-test

Run a quick test to confirm the key works:

pnpm start scripts/perplexity-example.ts

Create the script if it doesn't exist:

import { config } from 'dotenv'
import { createPerplexity } from '@ai-sdk/perplexity'
import { generateText } from 'ai'

config()

async function main() {
  const perplexity = createPerplexity({ apiKey: process.env.PERPLEXITY_API_KEY })

  const { text, sources } = await generateText({
    model: perplexity('sonar'),
    prompt: 'What is the current valuation of SpaceX? Answer in one sentence.',
  })

  console.log('Answer:', text)
  console.log('\nSources:')
  sources?.forEach((s, i) => console.log(`  [${i + 1}] ${s.url}`))
}

main().catch(console.error)