perplexity-performance-tuning
Installation
SKILL.md
Perplexity Performance Tuning
Overview
Optimize Perplexity Sonar API for latency, throughput, and cost. Key insight: every Perplexity call performs a live web search, so response times are inherently variable. Typical latencies: sonar 1-3s, sonar-pro 3-8s, sonar-deep-research 10-60s.
Latency Benchmarks
| Model | Typical Latency | Max Tokens | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
sonar |
1-3s | 4096 | Quick answers, simple facts |
sonar-pro |
3-8s | 8192 | Deep research, many citations |
sonar-reasoning-pro |
5-15s | 8192 | Multi-step analysis |
sonar-deep-research |
10-60s | 8192 | Comprehensive reports |
Prerequisites
- Perplexity API key configured
- Understanding of search-augmented generation latency patterns
- Cache infrastructure (Redis or in-memory LRU)