Package Metadata and Scripts

This page documents the fields and scripts declared in the root package.json1-71 of the @perplexity-ai/mcp-server repository. It covers package identity, the published file set, the binary entry point, and the full set of npm scripts used for building, running, and testing the server.

For documentation on runtime dependencies and their roles, see Core Dependencies. For development tooling (TypeScript, vitest, tsx, shx), see Development Tooling. For build output and TypeScript configuration details, see Building and Testing and TypeScript Configuration.

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Package Identity

package.json1-25

Field	Value	Purpose
name	@perplexity-ai/mcp-server	npm registry package name
mcpName	ai.perplexity/mcp-server	Reverse-domain identifier used by the MCP registry
version	0.8.3	Semantic version published to npm
description	Real-time web search, reasoning, and research through Perplexity's API	Short description shown on npm
license	MIT	—
type	module	All .js files in the package are ES modules
main	dist/index.js	Default module entry when required programmatically
engines.node	>=18	Minimum supported Node.js version
publishConfig.access	public	Ensures the scoped package is published publicly

The mcpName field is a non-standard extension to the npm manifest. It is read by the mcp-publisher tool during MCP Registry publication (see MCP Registry Publishing Workflow and MCP Registry Publication).

Sources: package.json1-25

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Binary Entry Point

package.json27-29

The bin entry registers the command perplexity-mcp, which maps to the compiled stdio entry point dist/index.js. When the package is installed globally or invoked via npx, this binary is what runs. The target file is the compiled output of src/index.ts.

When clients invoke the server in stdio mode, they typically use npx @perplexity-ai/mcp-server or the explicit binary name perplexity-mcp. Both resolve to dist/index.js. See Local STDIO Deployment and STDIO Entry Point (src/index.ts) for details on what that file does.

Sources: package.json27-29

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Published Files

package.json30-36

The files array controls what is included in the npm tarball:

dist/*.js — All compiled JS files
!dist/*.test.js — Exclude compiled test files
!dist/vitest.config.js — Exclude vitest config artifact
README.md — Package readme
.claude-plugin — Claude plugin manifest directory

Diagram: Published File Manifest

Sources: package.json30-36

Key points:

• Test files (*.test.js) compiled by TypeScript are excluded so they do not inflate the published package.
• The vitest.config.js artifact is similarly excluded.
• The .claude-plugin directory (containing marketplace.json) is included so that Claude Desktop can discover the plugin manifest after installation. See Server Configuration Files and Claude Desktop and Plugin Marketplace for details on what is inside .claude-plugin.

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npm Scripts

package.json37-50

All scripts are defined in the scripts object. They divide into four functional groups: build, run, development, and test.

Diagram: npm Script Dependency Flow

Sources: package.json37-50

Build Scripts

Script	Command	Notes
build	tsc && shx chmod +x dist/*.js	Compiles TypeScript to dist/, then marks all .js files executable for use as binaries
prepare	npm run build	Runs automatically on npm install in the repo; ensures dist/ is always populated
watch	tsc --watch	Incremental TypeScript compilation in watch mode

The shx chmod +x step is required so that the perplexity-mcp binary declared in bin is executable on POSIX systems after compilation. shx provides cross-platform compatibility for this step.

Run Scripts

These scripts invoke the compiled output in dist/ and require npm run build to have been run first.

Script	Command	Notes
start	node dist/index.js	Starts the stdio server
start:http	node dist/http.js	Starts the HTTP/Express server
start:http:public	BIND_ADDRESS=0.0.0.0 ALLOWED_ORIGINS=* node dist/http.js	Convenience variant that binds on all interfaces and allows all CORS origins

Development Scripts

These use tsx to run TypeScript source files directly, bypassing the build step. Useful during active development.

Script	Command	Notes
dev	tsx src/index.ts	Runs the stdio entry point without compiling
dev:http	tsx src/http.ts	Runs the HTTP server without compiling
dev:http:public	BIND_ADDRESS=0.0.0.0 ALLOWED_ORIGINS=* tsx src/http.ts	HTTP server with open bind/CORS for local testing

Test Scripts

Script	Command	Notes
test	vitest run	Single-pass test run; used in CI
test:watch	vitest	Interactive watch mode
test:coverage	vitest run --coverage	Runs tests and emits a V8 coverage report

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Script-to-Source File Mapping

Diagram: Script to Source File Mapping

Sources: package.json37-50 package.json26-29

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The perplexity-ask Legacy Subdirectory

The repository contains a perplexity-ask/ subdirectory with its own perplexity-ask/package.json1-51 This is a legacy artifact from an earlier version of the project (version 0.2.0) when the server was a simpler, single-tool implementation. Key differences between the legacy package and the current root package:

Field	Root package.json	perplexity-ask/package.json
version	0.8.3	0.2.0
Dependencies	@modelcontextprotocol/sdk, express, cors, undici, zod	@modelcontextprotocol/sdk, axios, dotenv
Scripts	Full build + test + dev + run set	Only build, prepare, watch
files	dist/*.js with exclusions + .claude-plugin	dist, README.md
mcpName	ai.perplexity/mcp-server	Not present

The perplexity-ask/ subdirectory is not published as part of the current package; it is not referenced by any CI workflow or the root package.json. It serves as historical context only.

Sources: perplexity-ask/package.json1-51 package.json1-71