✦ PlexCode

Perplexity AI — right in your terminal.
A fast, beautiful TUI for Perplexity Pro powered by Playwright. No API key needed.

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What is PlexCode?

PlexCode is an open-source terminal UI (TUI) that brings your Perplexity Pro session to the command line. Instead of switching browser tabs, you can search, research, and write code — all without leaving the terminal.

It works by driving Perplexity's web interface via Playwright in headless mode, using your existing login session. No API key, no extra subscription.

⚡ Agentic mode teaches Perplexity to autonomously read your local files before answering — like a lightweight coding assistant that actually knows your codebase.

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Features

• Full Perplexity access — Deep Research, Model Council, Create, Learn modes
• Model switching — Sonar, Claude Sonnet/Opus, GPT-5.4, Gemini, Nemotron
• Agentic mode — AI reads local files via whitelisted shell tools (/agent)
• Session persistence — log in once, runs headless forever after
• Fast startup — uses your existing Chrome installation to dodge bot detection
• Zero API cost — your Perplexity Pro session, your data

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Quick Start

Install

npm install -g plexcode

First run (browser login)

plexcode

A Chrome window opens. Log in to Perplexity, then press Enter in the terminal. Your session is saved — future runs are fully headless.

One-shot prompt

plexcode "explain the CAP theorem in simple terms"

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Slash Commands

Command	Description
/agent	Toggle agentic mode — AI can read your local files
/mode	Switch search mode (Deep Research, Create, Learn…)
/model	Switch AI model
/new	Start a new conversation
/help	Show all commands
/logout	Clear saved session
/quit	Exit PlexCode

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
Enter	Send message
Escape	Interrupt AI generation
Ctrl+C	Quit

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Agentic Mode

Type /agent to enable the Shadow Agentic Loop — PlexCode injects a hidden system prompt teaching Perplexity how to request local file reads. As the AI answers your question, it can autonomously run whitelisted commands to gather context:

> /agent
⚡ Agentic mode ON — I can now read your local files.

> what does browser.ts do?
  [⚡ Tool 1/4: ls src/lib/]
  [⚡ Tool 2/4: cat src/lib/browser.ts]
  → Full code-aware explanation

Allowed commands: cat, ls, head, tail, grep, find, wc, pwd, file, tree

Shell injection, pipes, and write-capable commands are blocked.

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How It Works

Your prompt
    │
    ▼
PlexCode (Ink TUI)
    │  Playwright (headless Chrome)
    ▼
perplexity.ai  ←──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
    │  Response stream                                          │
    ▼                                                           │
Detect <TOOL> tag?                                             │
    ├── Yes → executeTool() → [Tool Result] message ───────────┘
    └── No  → clean response → display in TUI

PlexCode parses the Perplexity DOM response, intercepts <TOOL> XML tags emitted by the model, executes the command locally (up to 4 iterations), and feeds results back — all without any native function-calling API.

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Configuration

Settings are persisted via conf at ~/.config/plexcode/:

Setting	Description	Default
defaultModel	Model ID on startup	sonar
defaultMode	Search mode on startup	default

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Requirements

• Node.js ≥ 18
• Google Chrome installed locally (recommended — avoids bot detection)
• A Perplexity Pro account

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Development

git clone https://github.com/efekurucay/plexcode
cd plexcode
npm install
npm run dev

npm run build   # compile TypeScript → dist/

Project Structure

src/
├── cli.tsx              # CLI entry point (Commander)
├── app.tsx              # Main React/Ink app
├── types.ts             # Types, models, modes
├── theme.ts             # Color palette
├── components/
│   ├── Header.tsx
│   ├── MessageList.tsx
│   ├── Message.tsx
│   ├── InputArea.tsx
│   ├── Spinner.tsx
│   ├── ModelPicker.tsx
│   ├── ModePicker.tsx
│   └── LoginScreen.tsx
└── lib/
    ├── browser.ts       # Playwright engine + agentic loop
    ├── toolExecutor.ts  # Whitelisted local command runner
    ├── config.ts        # Persistent settings
    └── markdown.ts      # ANSI markdown renderer

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Known Limitations

Limitation	Notes
Sequential requests	One request at a time (browser-based)
Selector fragility	Perplexity UI updates may break DOM parsing
Long context	Very deep threads may get truncated by Perplexity
Rate limits	Perplexity's own web rate limits still apply
ToS	Automating the web UI may violate Perplexity's ToS — personal use only

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Contributing

PRs and issues are welcome! If Perplexity updates their UI and PlexCode breaks, the relevant selectors are in src/lib/browser.ts:

const INPUT_SELECTORS = [
  "[role='textbox']",
  'textarea#ask-input',
  'textarea',
  "[contenteditable='true']",
];

Use Chrome DevTools on perplexity.ai to find updated selectors.

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License

MIT © Efe Kurucay

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_{Built with ♥ using Ink, Playwright, and too much coffee.}