Perplexity Common Errors

Overview

Quick reference for the most common Perplexity Sonar API errors, their root causes, and fixes. All Perplexity errors follow the OpenAI error format since the API is OpenAI-compatible.

Prerequisites

• PERPLEXITY_API_KEY environment variable set
• curl available for diagnostic commands

Error Reference

401 Unauthorized — Invalid API Key

{"error": {"message": "Invalid API key", "type": "authentication_error", "code": 401}}

Causes: Key missing, expired, revoked, or doesn't start with pplx-.