Perplexity: Sonar
Perplexity’s Sonar combines web search with concise answer generation for fact lookups, definitions and quick summaries. It is useful when an application needs a researched answer to a focused question.
- Ailoot Ultra · OpenAI Chat
POST /v1/chat/completionsperplexity/sonar - Ailoot Ultra · Anthropic Messages
POST /v1/messagesperplexity/sonar
About the model
This description covers the model’s capabilities. Available in Ailoot inputs, outputs and options are listed for the selected method below.
Sonar is Perplexity’s lightweight Sonar-family selection for focused information requests. Its manufacturer describes single-fact lookups, definitions and quick summaries as the main tasks. It combines web search with a textual answer so that an application can present the relevant information in conversational form.
A good query identifies exactly what needs to be resolved. Name the entity or concept and include a location or period when those change the answer. For example, ask which documented requirement applies to a specified product version, or request a brief explanation of a named technical term. A focused question gives the search a clearer target than an open-ended request to explain an entire field.
When the answer depends on a source, ask for the key fact and the evidence supporting it. Perplexity’s documented Sonar response provides the answer together with citations and search-result details. Keep the answer connected to those supporting results in the application’s presentation, so a reader can inspect the original material rather than receiving an unattributed statement.
For a quick summary, specify the subject, the period and the length of the result. A useful output can identify the main development, why it matters to the stated question and the source that establishes it. If several facts are needed, list them explicitly and ask for a compact response organized around that list.
A follow-up can clarify an ambiguous term or narrow a condition. Preserve the original question and the relevant finding while adding the new constraint. If the assignment grows into a wide investigation with several dependent searches, keep the distinction between a focused lookup and the more extensive Sonar research selections visible when choosing the task.
Sonar’s answer-and-search role provides information for an application to use. It does not make a resulting business decision or execute a change in another system by itself. The surrounding application determines how the researched answer is presented, which private material is supplied and what action follows from the finding.
Practical task
Explain a term from supplied documentation
Technical example in English
Explain a term from supplied documentation
Using only this glossary excerpt, explain write-through caching in two sentences for a junior developer: “A write-through cache updates the cache and backing store during a write. A write-back cache delays the backing-store update.” End with one concise distinction between the two terms. Do not add performance claims absent from the excerpt.Expected result
A compact definition and a source-grounded distinction, in two sentences.Check the result
Check that the timing of the backing-store update is preserved and that no unsupported speed or reliability promise is added.Ailoot Ultra · OpenAI Chat POST /v1/chat/completions perplexity/sonar
perplexity/sonarOverview
Perplexity’s Sonar combines web search with concise answer generation for fact lookups, definitions and quick summaries. It is useful when an application needs a researched answer to a focused question.
- Accepted inputs
- Text
- Results
- Text
Available in Ailoot · inputs & methods
Ailoot Ultra · OpenAI Chat POST /v1/chat/completions
- Input types
text- Output types
text- Output format
- json or SSE
| Field | Type | Requirement | Values & limits | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fieldmodel | Typestring | RequirementRequired | Values & limits perplexity/sonar | Default— |
Fieldmessages | Typemessage[] | RequirementRequired | Values & limits Minimum items: 1 | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].role | Typestring | RequirementRequired | Values & limits Examples: system, user, assistant, tool, function Conditions: These roles are explicitly represented by Source compatibility types; the exact model role set remains model-specific. Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].content | Typestring|content_part[]|null | RequirementOptional | Values & limits | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].tool_calls | Typetool_call[] | RequirementOptional | Values & limits | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].tool_call_id | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Applies when: role=tool; use actual returned ID | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].name | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].reasoning_content | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Applies when: Round-trip actual returned reasoning where this model uses it | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].reasoning_details | Typeobject|array | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldmax_tokens | Typeinteger | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Minimum: 1 Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldmax_completion_tokens | Typeinteger | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Minimum: 1 Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldstream | Typeboolean | RequirementOptional | Values & limits | Defaultfalse |
Fieldstream_options.include_usage | Typeboolean | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldtemperature | Typenumber | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldtop_p | Typenumber | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldstop | Typestring|string[] | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldtools | Typefunction_tool[] | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldtools[].type | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits function Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldtools[].function.name | Typestring | RequirementRequired | Values & limits Applies when: function tool supplied | Default— |
Fieldtools[].function.description | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits | Default— |
Fieldtools[].function.parameters | TypeJSON_schema | RequirementOptional | Values & limits | Default— |
Fieldtool_choice | Typestring|object | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldparallel_tool_calls | Typeboolean | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldresponse_format | Typeobject | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldreasoning_effort | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldreasoning | Typeobject | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldservice_tier | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldinstructions | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Compatibility field | Default— |
Fieldfunctions | Typefunction[] | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldfunction_call | Typestring|object | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldprompt_cache_options | Typeobject | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Model-specific | Default— |
Fieldmodalities | Typestring[] | RequirementOptional | Values & limits text | Default— |
Fieldprovider | Typeobject | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Conditions: provider.options is rejected on this Ultra text route | Default— |
Fieldcache_control.ttl | Typestring | RequirementOptional | Values & limits Conditions: 1h is rejected in actual prompt-cache locations | Default— |
Input material combinations
Text · UTF8 text
messages[].content
Method parameters and lifecycle
| Parameter | Contract |
|---|---|
Parametercontent_type | Contractapplication/json |
Parameterrequired | Contractmodel, messages |
Parametermaterial_types | Contracttext |
Parametermessages | Contractmessage array with role/content shape |
Parameterfile_material | Contractactual UTF-8 document inserted as literal text; no file ID inferred |
Parameteroptional_controls | Contractstream, temperature, top_p, stop, max_tokens, max_completion_tokens, reasoning, response_format, tools, tool_choice |
Parametercontrol_scope | Contractmodel-specific; user function tools differ from hosted tools |
Parameteroutput_modalities | Contracttext |
Parameterhosted_operations | Contractfalse |
Parametermultimodal_input_binding | Contractnull |
Lifecycle: synchronous_or_streamed
Send exact model ID with messages.
Context length is not an output cap.
A text file may supply literal text; image/audio/file-object inputs need exact binding.
Pricing
Tariff references do not add request options. Supported parameters are listed for the selected method.
- Fast mode
- Standard rate When fast mode is selected
- Flex mode
- Standard rate When flex mode is selected
- Maximum reasoning effort
- Standard rate When maximum reasoning effort uses the default adjustment
Ailoot rates
Prices by configuration
Match each charge to the conditions shown. Use one rate for each set of alternative configurations.
| Configuration | Rate schedule | Context tokens, more than | Context tokens, up to and including | Billing quantity | Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ConfigurationBase token rates | Rate scheduleBase rate | Context tokens, more than— | Context tokens, up to and includingNo upper bound | Billing quantity— | Charge Input · Input tokens $0.002 / 1K tokens Output · Output tokens $0.002 / 1K tokens Input · Cache read — / 1K tokens Input · Cache write — / 1K tokens Input · Cache write, 1 hour — / 1K tokens |
| ConfigurationRequest-length tier 1 | Rate schedule— | Context tokens, more than0 | Context tokens, up to and includingNo upper bound | Billing quantity— | Charge Input · Input tokens $0.002 / 1K tokens Output · Output tokens $0.002 / 1K tokens Input · Cache read — / 1K tokens Input · Cache write — / 1K tokens Input · Cache write, 1 hour — / 1K tokens |
| ConfigurationPer request | Rate schedule— | Context tokens, more than— | Context tokens, up to and includingNo upper bound | Billing quantityone request | Charge Input $0.01 per request |
Ailoot reserves an estimated amount before a request. After the result, it settles the final charge from measured usage. Streaming settlement uses the final usage record. How reservation and settlement work →
Example requests
Ailoot Ultra · OpenAI Chat
set -eu
: "${AILOOT_API_KEY:?Set your Ailoot API key}"
python3 - <<'PY_REQUEST'
import json,os
from pathlib import Path
p=json.loads('{"model": "perplexity/sonar", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Explain the difference between an observation and a hypothesis in three sentences."}]}')
Path("request.json").write_text(json.dumps(p,ensure_ascii=False))
PY_REQUEST
curl --fail-with-body --silent --show-error https://api.ailoot.ai/v1/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AILOOT_API_KEY" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-binary @request.json -D response-headers.txt -o result.json
python3 - <<'PY_RESULT'
import json
from pathlib import Path
r=json.loads(Path("result.json").read_text())
for x in r.get("choices",[]):
if x.get("message",{}).get("content"): print(x["message"]["content"])
PY_RESULT
from openai import OpenAI
import os
if not os.environ.get("AILOOT_API_KEY", "").strip(): raise SystemExit("Set AILOOT_API_KEY before making a request")
client=OpenAI(base_url="https://api.ailoot.ai/v1",api_key=os.environ["AILOOT_API_KEY"],max_retries=0)
result=client.chat.completions.create(model='perplexity/sonar',messages=[{"role":"user","content":"Explain observations and hypotheses in three sentences."}])
import base64, json
from pathlib import Path
def save_result(data, stem="result"):
# Keep every field, including usage, IDs, reasoning and tool requests.
Path(stem + ".json").write_text(json.dumps(data, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2), encoding="utf-8")
print(json.dumps(data, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2))
def save_blob(encoded, suffix, label):
raw = base64.b64decode(encoded, altchars=b"-_", validate=True)
ext = "png" if raw.startswith(b"\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n") else "jpg" if raw.startswith(b"\xff\xd8") else "webp" if raw[:4] == b"RIFF" and raw[8:12] == b"WEBP" else suffix
file = Path(stem + "-" + label + "." + ext)
file.write_bytes(raw)
print("Saved", file)
for index, block in enumerate(data.get("content") or []):
print("Content", index, json.dumps(block, ensure_ascii=False))
for choice in data.get("choices") or []:
print("Choice", choice.get("index"), json.dumps(choice.get("message", choice.get("delta", {})), ensure_ascii=False))
for index, item in enumerate(data.get("output") or []):
print("Output", index, json.dumps(item, ensure_ascii=False))
if item.get("type") == "image_generation_call" and item.get("result"):
save_blob(item["result"], item.get("output_format") or "bin", "output-" + str(index))
for ci, candidate in enumerate(data.get("candidates") or []):
for pi, part in enumerate((candidate.get("content") or {}).get("parts") or []):
print("Candidate/part", ci, pi, json.dumps(part, ensure_ascii=False))
blob = part.get("inlineData") or part.get("inline_data")
if blob and blob.get("data"):
mime = blob.get("mimeType") or blob.get("mime_type")
suffix = {"image/png":"png", "image/jpeg":"jpg", "image/webp":"webp", "audio/wav":"wav", "audio/mpeg":"mp3", "video/mp4":"mp4"}.get(mime, "bin")
save_blob(blob["data"], suffix, "candidate-" + str(ci) + "-part-" + str(pi))
save_result(result.to_dict(mode="json"))
from openai import OpenAI
import os
from pathlib import Path
if not os.environ.get("AILOOT_API_KEY", "").strip(): raise SystemExit("Set AILOOT_API_KEY before making a request")
client=OpenAI(base_url="https://api.ailoot.ai/v1",api_key=os.environ["AILOOT_API_KEY"],max_retries=0)
import base64, json
from pathlib import Path
def save_result(data, stem="result"):
# Keep every field, including usage, IDs, reasoning and tool requests.
Path(stem + ".json").write_text(json.dumps(data, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2), encoding="utf-8")
print(json.dumps(data, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2))
def save_blob(encoded, suffix, label):
raw = base64.b64decode(encoded, altchars=b"-_", validate=True)
ext = "png" if raw.startswith(b"\x89PNG\r\n\x1a\n") else "jpg" if raw.startswith(b"\xff\xd8") else "webp" if raw[:4] == b"RIFF" and raw[8:12] == b"WEBP" else suffix
file = Path(stem + "-" + label + "." + ext)
file.write_bytes(raw)
print("Saved", file)
for index, block in enumerate(data.get("content") or []):
print("Content", index, json.dumps(block, ensure_ascii=False))
for choice in data.get("choices") or []:
print("Choice", choice.get("index"), json.dumps(choice.get("message", choice.get("delta", {})), ensure_ascii=False))
for index, item in enumerate(data.get("output") or []):
print("Output", index, json.dumps(item, ensure_ascii=False))
if item.get("type") == "image_generation_call" and item.get("result"):
save_blob(item["result"], item.get("output_format") or "bin", "output-" + str(index))
for ci, candidate in enumerate(data.get("candidates") or []):
for pi, part in enumerate((candidate.get("content") or {}).get("parts") or []):
print("Candidate/part", ci, pi, json.dumps(part, ensure_ascii=False))
blob = part.get("inlineData") or part.get("inline_data")
if blob and blob.get("data"):
mime = blob.get("mimeType") or blob.get("mime_type")
suffix = {"image/png":"png", "image/jpeg":"jpg", "image/webp":"webp", "audio/wav":"wav", "audio/mpeg":"mp3", "video/mp4":"mp4"}.get(mime, "bin")
save_blob(blob["data"], suffix, "candidate-" + str(ci) + "-part-" + str(pi))
with client.chat.completions.stream(model='perplexity/sonar',messages=[{"role":"user","content":"Explain observations and hypotheses in three sentences."}]) as stream:
with Path("stream-events.jsonl").open("w",encoding="utf-8") as log:
for event in stream:
payload=event.to_dict(mode="json")
log.write(json.dumps(payload,ensure_ascii=False)+"\n"); log.flush()
print(json.dumps(payload,ensure_ascii=False))
final=stream.get_final_completion()
save_result(final.to_dict(mode="json"),"stream-result")
Receive and save results
Ailoot Ultra · OpenAI Chat
json or SSE
Keep all completed results
Keep every complete returned response, file and content part.
Keep every choice and its content/tool calls/reasoning. In SSE assemble deltas by choice/tool index, retain the final finish reason and usage.
If the original response needs checking
Keep request/response IDs and headers. No generic text job retrieval URL is supplied.
Response fields
| Field | Type |
|---|---|
Fieldchoices[].index | Typeinteger |
Fieldchoices[].message.content | Typestring|null |
Fieldchoices[].message.tool_calls | Typetool_call[] |
Fieldchoices[].message.reasoning_content | Typestring |
Fieldchoices[].message.reasoning_details | Typeobject|array |
Fieldchoices[].finish_reason | Typestring|null |
Fieldusage | Typeobject |
Errors and next steps
| Response | Condition | Next step |
|---|---|---|
Response400 · invalid_request_error | ConditionInvalid required fields, material representation or parameter value | Next stepCorrect the indicated fields before a new creation request. |
Aliases
Model aliases
Ailoot Ultra perplexity/sonar
Method path aliases
Use the method paths shown above.
Related caller IDs
Ailoot Ultra · Anthropic Messages POST /v1/messages perplexity/sonar
perplexity/sonarOverview
Perplexity’s Sonar combines web search with concise answer generation for fact lookups, definitions and quick summaries. It is useful when an application needs a researched answer to a focused question.
- Accepted inputs
- Text
- Results
- json · sse
Available in Ailoot · inputs & methods
Ailoot Ultra · Anthropic Messages POST /v1/messages
- Input types
text- Output types
json,sse- Output format
- JSON or SSE
| Field | Type | Requirement | Values & limits | Default |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fieldmodel | Typestring | RequirementRequired | Values & limits perplexity/sonar | Default— |
Fieldmessages | Typemessage[] | RequirementRequired | Values & limits | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].role | Typestring | RequirementRequired | Values & limits user, assistant | Default— |
Fieldmessages[].content | Typestring | RequirementRequired | Values & limits | Default— |
Fieldmax_tokens | Typeinteger | RequirementRequired | Values & limits | Default— |
Fieldstream | Typeboolean | RequirementOptional | Values & limits | Defaultfalse |
Input material combinations
Text · UTF-8 text
messages[].content string
Method parameters and lifecycle
| Parameter | Contract |
|---|---|
Parametercontent_type | Contractapplication/json |
Parameterrequired | Contractmodel, messages, max_tokens |
Parameteroptional_controls | Contractstream |
Parametermaterial_types | Contracttext |
Parametertext_file_material | ContractRead the actual UTF-8 document and put its text in the indicated input or message content string. |
Lifecycle: synchronous_or_streamed
Pricing
Tariff references do not add request options. Supported parameters are listed for the selected method.
- Fast mode
- Standard rate When fast mode is selected
- Flex mode
- Standard rate When flex mode is selected
- Maximum reasoning effort
- Standard rate When maximum reasoning effort uses the default adjustment
Ailoot rates
Prices by configuration
Match each charge to the conditions shown. Use one rate for each set of alternative configurations.
| Configuration | Rate schedule | Context tokens, more than | Context tokens, up to and including | Billing quantity | Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ConfigurationBase token rates | Rate scheduleBase rate | Context tokens, more than— | Context tokens, up to and includingNo upper bound | Billing quantity— | Charge Input · Input tokens $0.002 / 1K tokens Output · Output tokens $0.002 / 1K tokens Input · Cache read — / 1K tokens Input · Cache write — / 1K tokens Input · Cache write, 1 hour — / 1K tokens |
| ConfigurationRequest-length tier 1 | Rate schedule— | Context tokens, more than0 | Context tokens, up to and includingNo upper bound | Billing quantity— | Charge Input · Input tokens $0.002 / 1K tokens Output · Output tokens $0.002 / 1K tokens Input · Cache read — / 1K tokens Input · Cache write — / 1K tokens Input · Cache write, 1 hour — / 1K tokens |
| ConfigurationPer request | Rate schedule— | Context tokens, more than— | Context tokens, up to and includingNo upper bound | Billing quantityone request | Charge Input $0.01 per request |
Ailoot reserves an estimated amount before a request. After the result, it settles the final charge from measured usage. Streaming settlement uses the final usage record. How reservation and settlement work →
Example requests
Ailoot Ultra · Anthropic Messages
{
"model": "perplexity/sonar",
"max_tokens": 128,
"messages": [
{
"role": "user",
"content": "Summarize the incident report."
}
],
"stream": false
}set -eu
: "${AILOOT_API_KEY:?Set your Ailoot API key}"
: "${AILOOT_TEXT_FILE:?Set your actual UTF-8 document}"
export AILOOT_TEXT_FILE
python3 - <<'PY_REQUEST'
import json, os
from pathlib import Path
source_file = Path(os.environ['AILOOT_TEXT_FILE'])
if not source_file.is_file():
raise SystemExit('Set AILOOT_TEXT_FILE to your actual UTF-8 document')
text = source_file.read_text(encoding='utf-8')
if not text.strip():
raise SystemExit('Choose a document containing text')
payload = {'model': 'perplexity/sonar', 'max_tokens': 128, 'messages': [{'role': 'user', 'content': 'Summarize the incident report.'}]}
payload['messages'][0]['content'] = 'Summarize this material and quote supporting source passages.\n\n' + text
Path('request.json').write_text(json.dumps(payload, ensure_ascii=False), encoding='utf-8')
PY_REQUEST
curl --fail-with-body --silent --show-error https://api.ailoot.ai/v1/messages \
-H "x-api-key: $AILOOT_API_KEY" -H 'anthropic-version: 2023-06-01' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-binary @request.json -D response-headers.txt -o result.json
python3 - <<'PY_RESULT'
import json
from pathlib import Path
result = json.loads(Path('result.json').read_text(encoding='utf-8'))
print(json.dumps(result, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2))
PY_RESULT
import json, os
from pathlib import Path
source_file = Path(os.environ['AILOOT_TEXT_FILE'])
if not source_file.is_file():
raise SystemExit('Set AILOOT_TEXT_FILE to your actual UTF-8 document')
text = source_file.read_text(encoding='utf-8')
if not text.strip():
raise SystemExit('Choose a document containing text')
payload = {'model': 'perplexity/sonar', 'max_tokens': 128, 'messages': [{'role': 'user', 'content': 'Summarize the incident report.'}]}
payload['messages'][0]['content'] = 'Summarize this material and quote supporting source passages.\n\n' + text
from urllib.request import Request, urlopen
from urllib.error import HTTPError
api_key = os.environ['AILOOT_API_KEY']
if not api_key.strip():
raise SystemExit('Set AILOOT_API_KEY before making a request')
headers = {'x-api-key': 'PLACEHOLDER_KEY', 'anthropic-version': '2023-06-01', 'Content-Type': 'application/json'}
headers['x-api-key'] = api_key
request = Request('https://api.ailoot.ai/v1/messages', data=json.dumps(payload, ensure_ascii=False).encode('utf-8'), headers=headers, method='POST')
try:
with urlopen(request, timeout=120) as response:
raw = response.read()
Path('response-headers.txt').write_text(str(response.headers), encoding='utf-8')
except HTTPError as error:
Path('result.json').write_bytes(error.read())
Path('response-headers.txt').write_text(str(error.headers), encoding='utf-8')
raise
Path('result.json').write_bytes(raw)
import json
from pathlib import Path
result = json.loads(Path('result.json').read_text(encoding='utf-8'))
print(json.dumps(result, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2))
Receive and save results
Ailoot Ultra · Anthropic Messages
JSON or SSE
Keep all completed results
Keep every complete returned response, file and content part.
Keep all content blocks, thinking signatures and actual tool-use IDs. Assemble all SSE block deltas; a first text block is not the complete output.
If the original response needs checking
Keep request/response IDs and headers. No generic text job retrieval URL is supplied.
Response fields
| Field | Type |
|---|---|
Fieldid | Typestring |
Fieldmodel | Typestring |
Fieldcontent[] | Typetext|thinking|tool_use|other content block |
Fieldstop_reason | Typestring|null |
Fieldusage | Typeobject |
Errors and next steps
| Response | Condition | Next step |
|---|---|---|
Response400 · invalid_request_error | ConditionInvalid required fields, material representation or parameter value | Next stepCorrect the indicated fields before a new creation request. |
Aliases
Model aliases
Ailoot Ultra perplexity/sonar
Method path aliases
Use the method paths shown above.
Related caller IDs
FAQ · Perplexity: Sonar
- What inputs and results are available?
POST /v1/chat/completions·perplexity/sonar:text→textPOST /v1/messages·perplexity/sonar:text→json,sse- Which fields does the request use?
POST /v1/chat/completions·perplexity/sonar:model,messages,stream,modalities,providerPOST /v1/messages·perplexity/sonar:model,messages,max_tokens,stream- What limits apply?
POST /v1/chat/completions·perplexity/sonar:messages.min_items:1