Implement perplexity login/render modules and harden OAuth search flow

src/auth/login.ts

@@ -10,8 +10,15 @@ const DESKTOP_AUTH_HELP =
 const OTP_AUTH_HELP =
   "Provide credentials via PI_PERPLEXITY_EMAIL and PI_PERPLEXITY_OTP, or run interactively to enter email and OTP.";
 const AUTH_BASE_URL = "https://www.perplexity.ai/api/auth";
+const AUTH_SESSION_URL = `${AUTH_BASE_URL}/session`;
 const PERPLEXITY_USER_AGENT = "Perplexity/641 CFNetwork/1568 Darwin/25.2.0";
 const PERPLEXITY_API_VERSION = "2.18";
+const SESSION_COOKIE_NAMES = [
+  "__Secure-next-auth.session-token",
+  "next-auth.session-token",
+  "__Secure-authjs.session-token",
+  "authjs.session-token",
+] as const;
 
 const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
 
@@ -26,26 +33,162 @@ function normalizeInput(value: string | null | undefined): string | null {
   return trimmed ? trimmed : null;
 }
 
-function buildAuthHeaders(includeJsonContentType = false): Record<string, string> {
+function decodeCookieValue(value: string): string {
+  try {
+    return decodeURIComponent(value);
+  } catch {
+    return value;
+  }
+}
+
+function isLikelyPerplexityToken(value: unknown): value is string {
+  if (typeof value !== "string") {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const token = value.trim();
+  if (!token || token === "(null)") {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return token.includes(".") && token.length >= 20;
+}
+
+function buildAuthHeaders(
+  includeJsonContentType = false,
+  cookieHeader?: string,
+): Record<string, string> {
   return {
     Accept: "application/json",
     ...(includeJsonContentType ? { "Content-Type": "application/json" } : {}),
+    ...(cookieHeader ? { Cookie: cookieHeader } : {}),
     "User-Agent": PERPLEXITY_USER_AGENT,
     "X-App-ApiVersion": PERPLEXITY_API_VERSION,
   };
 }
 
+function getSetCookieValues(headers: Headers): string[] {
+  const withSetCookie = headers as Headers & {
+    getSetCookie?: () => string[];
+    raw?: () => Record<string, string[]>;
+  };
+
+  if (typeof withSetCookie.getSetCookie === "function") {
+    return withSetCookie.getSetCookie();
+  }
+
+  if (typeof withSetCookie.raw === "function") {
+    const raw = withSetCookie.raw();
+    const setCookies = raw["set-cookie"];
+    if (Array.isArray(setCookies)) {
+      return setCookies;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const single = headers.get("set-cookie");
+  return single ? [single] : [];
+}
+
+class CookieJar {
+  #cookies = new Map<string, string>();
+
+  capture(headers: Headers): void {
+    for (const setCookie of getSetCookieValues(headers)) {
+      const firstPart = setCookie.split(";")[0]?.trim();
+      if (!firstPart) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      const eqIndex = firstPart.indexOf("=");
+      if (eqIndex <= 0) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      const name = firstPart.slice(0, eqIndex).trim();
+      const value = firstPart.slice(eqIndex + 1).trim();
+      if (!name || !value) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      this.#cookies.set(name, decodeCookieValue(value));
+    }
+  }
+
+  toHeader(): string | undefined {
+    if (this.#cookies.size === 0) {
+      return undefined;
+    }
+
+    return [...this.#cookies.entries()].map(([name, value]) => `${name}=${value}`).join("; ");
+  }
+
+  get(name: string): string | undefined {
+    return this.#cookies.get(name);
+  }
+}
+
+function extractTokenFromCookies(headers: Headers, jar?: CookieJar): string | null {
+  for (const cookieName of SESSION_COOKIE_NAMES) {
+    const fromJar = jar?.get(cookieName);
+    if (isLikelyPerplexityToken(fromJar)) {
+      return fromJar;
+    }
+  }
+
+  for (const setCookie of getSetCookieValues(headers)) {
+    for (const cookieName of SESSION_COOKIE_NAMES) {
+      const pattern = new RegExp(`(?:^|[;,]\\s*)${cookieName.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, "\\$&")}=([^;]+)`);
+      const match = setCookie.match(pattern);
+      if (!match) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      const decoded = decodeCookieValue(match[1] ?? "");
+      if (isLikelyPerplexityToken(decoded)) {
+        return decoded;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  return null;
+}
+
 function extractTokenFromPayload(payload: unknown): string | null {
   if (!payload || typeof payload !== "object") {
     return null;
   }
 
-  const candidate = payload as Record<string, unknown>;
-  const possible = [candidate.token, candidate.accessToken, candidate.jwt];
+  const tokenKeyPattern = /(token|jwt|access)/i;
+  const queue: unknown[] = [payload];
+  const seen = new Set<object>();
 
-  for (const token of possible) {
-    if (typeof token === "string" && token.split(".").length === 3) {
-      return token;
+  while (queue.length > 0) {
+    const current = queue.shift();
+    if (!current || typeof current !== "object") {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (seen.has(current)) {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    seen.add(current);
+
+    if (Array.isArray(current)) {
+      for (const value of current) {
+        queue.push(value);
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(current as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+      if (tokenKeyPattern.test(key) && isLikelyPerplexityToken(value)) {
+        return value.trim();
+      }
+
+      if (value && typeof value === "object") {
+        queue.push(value);
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -64,12 +207,16 @@ async function loginWithEmailOtp(
   email: string,
   options: AuthenticateOptions,
 ): Promise<string> {
+  const cookieJar = new CookieJar();
+
   const csrfResponse = await fetch(`${AUTH_BASE_URL}/csrf`, {
     method: "GET",
-    headers: buildAuthHeaders(),
+    headers: buildAuthHeaders(false, cookieJar.toHeader()),
     signal: options.signal,
   });
 
+  cookieJar.capture(csrfResponse.headers);
+
   if (!csrfResponse.ok) {
     throw new Error(`Failed to fetch CSRF token (HTTP ${csrfResponse.status}).`);
   }
@@ -84,11 +231,13 @@ async function loginWithEmailOtp(
 
   const emailResponse = await fetch(`${AUTH_BASE_URL}/signin-email`, {
     method: "POST",
-    headers: buildAuthHeaders(true),
+    headers: buildAuthHeaders(true, cookieJar.toHeader()),
     body: JSON.stringify({ email, csrfToken }),
     signal: options.signal,
   });
 
+  cookieJar.capture(emailResponse.headers);
+
   if (!emailResponse.ok) {
     throw new Error(`Failed to send OTP email (HTTP ${emailResponse.status}).`);
   }
@@ -106,23 +255,58 @@ async function loginWithEmailOtp(
 
   const otpResponse = await fetch(`${AUTH_BASE_URL}/signin-otp`, {
     method: "POST",
-    headers: buildAuthHeaders(true),
+    headers: buildAuthHeaders(true, cookieJar.toHeader()),
     body: JSON.stringify({ email, otp, csrfToken }),
     signal: options.signal,
   });
 
+  cookieJar.capture(otpResponse.headers);
+
   if (!otpResponse.ok) {
     throw new Error(`OTP verification failed (HTTP ${otpResponse.status}).`);
   }
 
   const otpPayload = await readJsonResponse(otpResponse);
-  const token = extractTokenFromPayload(otpPayload);
-
-  if (!token) {
-    throw new Error("Perplexity OTP response did not include a JWT token.");
+  const directToken = extractTokenFromPayload(otpPayload);
+  if (directToken) {
+    return directToken;
   }
 
-  return token;
+  const cookieToken = extractTokenFromCookies(otpResponse.headers, cookieJar);
+  if (cookieToken) {
+    return cookieToken;
+  }
+
+  const sessionResponse = await fetch(AUTH_SESSION_URL, {
+    method: "GET",
+    headers: buildAuthHeaders(false, cookieJar.toHeader()),
+    signal: options.signal,
+  });
+
+  cookieJar.capture(sessionResponse.headers);
+
+  if (sessionResponse.ok) {
+    const sessionPayload = await readJsonResponse(sessionResponse);
+    const sessionToken = extractTokenFromPayload(sessionPayload);
+    if (sessionToken) {
+      return sessionToken;
+    }
+
+    const sessionCookieToken = extractTokenFromCookies(sessionResponse.headers, cookieJar);
+    if (sessionCookieToken) {
+      return sessionCookieToken;
+    }
+  }
+
+  const otpBodyHint = otpPayload ? JSON.stringify(otpPayload).slice(0, 300) : "(empty or non-JSON)";
+  const otpKeys =
+    otpPayload && typeof otpPayload === "object"
+      ? Object.keys(otpPayload as Record<string, unknown>).join(", ")
+      : "N/A";
+
+  throw new Error(
+    `Perplexity OTP response did not include an access token. OTP keys: ${otpKeys}. OTP body preview: ${otpBodyHint}. Session status: ${sessionResponse.status}.`,
+  );
 }
 
 /** Extract JWT from macOS Perplexity desktop app via `defaults read`. Returns null if app not installed or not logged in. */
@@ -133,8 +317,8 @@ export async function extractFromDesktopApp(): Promise<string | null> {
 
   try {
     const { stdout } = await execFileAsync("defaults", ["read", "ai.perplexity.mac", "authToken"]);
-    const token = stdout.trim();
-    if (!token || token.split(".").length !== 3) {
+    const token = normalizeInput(stdout);
+    if (!token || token === "(null)") {
       return null;
     }
 
@@ -150,6 +334,10 @@ export async function authenticate(options: AuthenticateOptions = {}): Promise<s
   let sawExpiredToken = false;
 
   if (cached) {
+    if (cached.expires > Date.now()) {
+      return cached.access;
+    }
+
     if (!isJwtExpired(cached.access)) {
       return cached.access;
     }
@@ -173,13 +361,14 @@ export async function authenticate(options: AuthenticateOptions = {}): Promise<s
     }
 
     if (desktopToken) {
-      if (isJwtExpired(desktopToken)) {
+      const desktopExpiry = decodeJwtExpiry(desktopToken);
+      if (desktopExpiry <= Date.now()) {
         sawExpiredToken = true;
       } else {
         await saveToken({
           type: "oauth",
           access: desktopToken,
-          expires: decodeJwtExpiry(desktopToken),
+          expires: desktopExpiry,
         });
 
         return desktopToken;
@@ -220,7 +409,8 @@ export async function authenticate(options: AuthenticateOptions = {}): Promise<s
     );
   }
 
-  if (isJwtExpired(otpToken)) {
+  const otpExpiry = decodeJwtExpiry(otpToken);
+  if (otpExpiry <= Date.now()) {
     throw new AuthError(
       "EXPIRED",
       `Perplexity returned an expired token from OTP login. Re-run login and verify OTP freshness. ${OTP_AUTH_HELP}`,
@@ -230,7 +420,7 @@ export async function authenticate(options: AuthenticateOptions = {}): Promise<s
   await saveToken({
     type: "oauth",
     access: otpToken,
-    expires: decodeJwtExpiry(otpToken),
+    expires: otpExpiry,
     email,
   });
 

src/commands/login.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+import type { ExtensionAPI } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";
+
+import { authenticate } from "../auth/login.js";
+import { clearToken } from "../auth/storage.js";
+import { AuthError } from "../search/types.js";
+
+const LOGIN_COMMAND_NAME = "perplexity-login";
+
+interface ParsedCommandArgs {
+  forceRefresh: boolean;
+  showHelp: boolean;
+  unknown: string[];
+}
+
+function parseCommandArgs(args: string): ParsedCommandArgs {
+  const tokens = args
+    .split(/\s+/)
+    .map((token) => token.trim())
+    .filter((token) => token.length > 0);
+
+  let forceRefresh = false;
+  let showHelp = false;
+  const unknown: string[] = [];
+
+  for (const token of tokens) {
+    if (token === "--force" || token === "--refresh" || token === "-f") {
+      forceRefresh = true;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (token === "--help" || token === "-h") {
+      showHelp = true;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    unknown.push(token);
+  }
+
+  return { forceRefresh, showHelp, unknown };
+}
+
+function usageText(): string {
+  return `Usage: /${LOGIN_COMMAND_NAME} [--force]\n\nFlags:\n  --force, --refresh, -f   Clear cached token before login\n  --help, -h               Show this help`;
+}
+
+export function registerPerplexityCommands(pi: ExtensionAPI): void {
+  pi.registerCommand(LOGIN_COMMAND_NAME, {
+    description: "Authenticate Perplexity and persist token",
+    handler: async (args, ctx) => {
+      const parsed = parseCommandArgs(args);
+
+      if (parsed.showHelp) {
+        ctx.ui.notify(usageText(), "info");
+        return;
+      }
+
+      if (parsed.unknown.length > 0) {
+        ctx.ui.notify(
+          `Unknown arguments: ${parsed.unknown.join(" ")}\n\n${usageText()}`,
+          "warning",
+        );
+        return;
+      }
+
+      if (parsed.forceRefresh) {
+        await clearToken().catch(() => undefined);
+      }
+
+      let canceledAtEmailPrompt = false;
+      let canceledAtOtpPrompt = false;
+
+      const promptForEmail = async (): Promise<string | undefined> => {
+        const value = await ctx.ui.input("Perplexity email", "you@example.com");
+        if (!value?.trim()) {
+          canceledAtEmailPrompt = true;
+          return undefined;
+        }
+
+        return value;
+      };
+
+      const promptForOtp = async (email: string): Promise<string | undefined> => {
+        const value = await ctx.ui.input(`Enter OTP sent to ${email}`, "123456");
+        if (!value?.trim()) {
+          canceledAtOtpPrompt = true;
+          return undefined;
+        }
+
+        return value;
+      };
+
+      try {
+        await authenticate({
+          promptForEmail,
+          promptForOtp,
+        });
+
+        ctx.ui.notify("Perplexity login successful. Token saved.", "info");
+      } catch (error) {
+        if (canceledAtEmailPrompt || canceledAtOtpPrompt) {
+          ctx.ui.notify(
+            "Perplexity login canceled. Re-run /perplexity-login and provide email + OTP, or set PI_PERPLEXITY_EMAIL and PI_PERPLEXITY_OTP.",
+            "warning",
+          );
+          return;
+        }
+
+        if (error instanceof AuthError) {
+          ctx.ui.notify(`Perplexity login failed: ${error.message}`, "error");
+          return;
+        }
+
+        ctx.ui.notify(`Perplexity login failed: ${(error as Error).message || "Unknown error"}`, "error");
+      }
+    },
+  });
+}

src/index.ts

@@ -2,13 +2,18 @@ import { StringEnum } from "@mariozechner/pi-ai";
 import type { ExtensionAPI } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";
 import { Type } from "@sinclair/typebox";
 
+import { registerPerplexityCommands } from "./commands/login.js";
+
 import { authenticate } from "./auth/login.js";
 import { clearToken } from "./auth/storage.js";
 import { formatForLLM } from "./search/format.js";
 import { searchPerplexity } from "./search/client.js";
+import { renderPerplexityCall } from "./render/call.js";
+import { renderPerplexityResult } from "./render/result.js";
 import { AuthError, SearchError } from "./search/types.js";
 
 export default function (pi: ExtensionAPI) {
+  registerPerplexityCommands(pi);
   pi.registerTool({
     name: "perplexity_search",
     label: "Perplexity Search",
@@ -24,6 +29,8 @@ export default function (pi: ExtensionAPI) {
         Type.Number({ description: "Max sources to return", minimum: 1, maximum: 50 }),
       ),
     }),
+    renderCall: renderPerplexityCall,
+    renderResult: renderPerplexityResult,
     async execute(toolCallId, params, signal, onUpdate, ctx) {
       const start = Date.now();
       let sourceCount = 0;

src/render/call.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+import type { Theme } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";
+import { Text } from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
+
+interface PerplexityCallArgs {
+  query?: unknown;
+  recency?: unknown;
+  limit?: unknown;
+}
+
+const RECENCY_VALUES = new Set(["hour", "day", "week", "month", "year"] as const);
+
+function asString(value: unknown): string | undefined {
+  return typeof value === "string" ? value : undefined;
+}
+
+function asPositiveNumber(value: unknown): number | undefined {
+  if (typeof value !== "number" || !Number.isFinite(value) || value <= 0) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  return value;
+}
+
+function truncate(text: string, maxLength: number): string {
+  if (text.length <= maxLength) {
+    return text;
+  }
+
+  return `${text.slice(0, Math.max(1, maxLength - 1))}…`;
+}
+
+export function renderPerplexityCall(args: PerplexityCallArgs, theme: Theme): Text {
+  const query = asString(args?.query)?.trim();
+  const recencyRaw = asString(args?.recency)?.trim().toLowerCase();
+  const recency = recencyRaw && RECENCY_VALUES.has(recencyRaw as (typeof RECENCY_VALUES extends Set<infer T> ? T : never))
+    ? recencyRaw
+    : undefined;
+  const limit = asPositiveNumber(args?.limit);
+
+  let text = theme.fg("toolTitle", theme.bold("perplexity_search "));
+  text += query ? theme.fg("muted", truncate(query, 90)) : theme.fg("warning", "(missing query)");
+
+  if (recency) {
+    text += theme.fg("dim", ` • ${recency}`);
+  }
+
+  if (typeof limit === "number") {
+    text += theme.fg("dim", ` • limit ${Math.round(limit)}`);
+  }
+
+  return new Text(text, 0, 0);
+}

src/render/result.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+import type { AgentToolResult, Theme, ToolRenderResultOptions } from "@mariozechner/pi-coding-agent";
+import { Text } from "@mariozechner/pi-tui";
+
+interface PerplexityResultDetails {
+  model?: unknown;
+  sourceCount?: unknown;
+  queryMs?: unknown;
+  uuid?: unknown;
+  toolCallId?: unknown;
+  error?: unknown;
+}
+
+function asString(value: unknown): string | undefined {
+  return typeof value === "string" ? value : undefined;
+}
+
+function asNumber(value: unknown): number | undefined {
+  return typeof value === "number" && Number.isFinite(value) ? value : undefined;
+}
+
+function truncate(text: string, maxLength: number): string {
+  if (text.length <= maxLength) {
+    return text;
+  }
+
+  return `${text.slice(0, Math.max(1, maxLength - 1))}…`;
+}
+
+function extractTextContent(result: AgentToolResult<PerplexityResultDetails>): string | undefined {
+  if (!Array.isArray(result?.content)) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  for (const item of result.content) {
+    if (
+      item &&
+      typeof item === "object" &&
+      "type" in item &&
+      item.type === "text" &&
+      "text" in item &&
+      typeof item.text === "string"
+    ) {
+      const text = item.text.trim();
+      if (text.length > 0) {
+        return text;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  return undefined;
+}
+
+function isErrorText(text: string | undefined): boolean {
+  if (!text) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return text.startsWith("Authentication failed:") || text.startsWith("Perplexity search failed:");
+}
+
+export function renderPerplexityResult(
+  result: AgentToolResult<PerplexityResultDetails>,
+  options: ToolRenderResultOptions,
+  theme: Theme,
+): Text {
+  const details = (result?.details ?? {}) as PerplexityResultDetails;
+  const contentText = extractTextContent(result);
+
+  if (options?.isPartial) {
+    let partial = theme.fg("warning", "Perplexity: searching…");
+
+    if (contentText) {
+      partial += `\n${theme.fg("dim", truncate(contentText.replace(/\s+/g, " "), 140))}`;
+    }
+
+    return new Text(partial, 0, 0);
+  }
+
+  const error = asString(details.error)?.trim();
+  if (error) {
+    return new Text(theme.fg("error", `Perplexity error: ${error}`), 0, 0);
+  }
+
+  if (isErrorText(contentText)) {
+    return new Text(theme.fg("error", truncate(contentText ?? "Perplexity request failed", 200)), 0, 0);
+  }
+
+  const sourceCount = asNumber(details.sourceCount);
+  const queryMs = asNumber(details.queryMs);
+  const model = asString(details.model)?.trim();
+  const uuid = asString(details.uuid)?.trim();
+
+  let text = theme.fg("success", "✓ Perplexity");
+  if (typeof sourceCount === "number") {
+    text += theme.fg("muted", ` • ${sourceCount} source${sourceCount === 1 ? "" : "s"}`);
+  }
+  if (typeof queryMs === "number") {
+    text += theme.fg("dim", ` • ${(queryMs / 1000).toFixed(queryMs < 1000 ? 2 : 1)}s`);
+  }
+
+  if (!options?.expanded) {
+    if (contentText) {
+      const oneLine = contentText.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
+      if (oneLine.length > 0) {
+        text += `\n${theme.fg("dim", truncate(oneLine, 160))}`;
+      }
+    }
+
+    return new Text(text, 0, 0);
+  }
+
+  if (model) {
+    text += `\n${theme.fg("dim", `model: ${model}`)}`;
+  }
+  if (uuid) {
+    text += `\n${theme.fg("dim", `id: ${uuid}`)}`;
+  }
+
+  if (contentText) {
+    text += `\n\n${truncate(contentText, 2400)}`;
+  }
+
+  return new Text(text, 0, 0);
+}

src/search/client.ts

@@ -1,9 +1,16 @@
+import { execFile } from "node:child_process";
+import { promisify } from "node:util";
+
 import { mergeEvent, readSseEvents } from "./stream.js";
 import type { SearchResult, StreamEvent, WebResult } from "./types.js";
 import { SearchError } from "./types.js";
 
 const PERPLEXITY_ENDPOINT = "https://www.perplexity.ai/rest/sse/perplexity_ask";
 const PERPLEXITY_USER_AGENT = "Perplexity/641 CFNetwork/1568 Darwin/25.2.0";
+const MAX_BUN_STDOUT_BYTES = 50 * 1024 * 1024;
+const CLOUDFLARE_HINTS = ["just a moment", "cloudflare", "cf-chl", "cf-ray"];
+
+const execFileAsync = promisify(execFile);
 
 export interface SearchParams {
   query: string;
@@ -11,6 +18,12 @@ export interface SearchParams {
   limit?: number;
 }
 
+interface BunFetchResult {
+  status: number;
+  contentType: string | null;
+  bodyText: string;
+}
+
 function normalizeUrl(url: string): string {
   return url.trim().replace(/\/$/, "").toLowerCase();
 }
@@ -127,8 +140,45 @@ function buildRequestBody(params: SearchParams): Record<string, unknown> {
   };
 }
 
-function mapHttpError(status: number): SearchError {
+function buildRequestHeaders(jwt: string, requestId: string): Record<string, string> {
+  return {
+    Authorization: `Bearer ${jwt}`,
+    "Content-Type": "application/json",
+    Accept: "text/event-stream",
+    Origin: "https://www.perplexity.ai",
+    Referer: "https://www.perplexity.ai/",
+    "User-Agent": PERPLEXITY_USER_AGENT,
+    "X-App-ApiClient": "default",
+    "X-App-ApiVersion": "2.18",
+    "X-Perplexity-Request-Reason": "submit",
+    "X-Request-ID": requestId,
+  };
+}
+
+function isCloudflareChallenge(status: number, contentType: string | null, bodyText: string): boolean {
+  if (status !== 403) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const contentTypeLower = (contentType ?? "").toLowerCase();
+  const bodyLower = bodyText.toLowerCase();
+
+  if (!contentTypeLower.includes("text/html")) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return CLOUDFLARE_HINTS.some((hint) => bodyLower.includes(hint));
+}
+
+function mapHttpError(status: number, bodyText = "", contentType: string | null = null): SearchError {
   if (status === 401 || status === 403) {
+    if (isCloudflareChallenge(status, contentType, bodyText)) {
+      return new SearchError(
+        "NETWORK",
+        "Perplexity request was blocked by Cloudflare challenge in this runtime. Retry via Bun runtime fallback or desktop app token path.",
+      );
+    }
+
     return new SearchError(
       "AUTH",
       "Perplexity rejected authentication (401/403). Sign in to Perplexity desktop app and retry.",
@@ -148,6 +198,100 @@ function mapHttpError(status: number): SearchError {
   );
 }
 
+function streamFromText(text: string): ReadableStream<Uint8Array> {
+  const bytes = new TextEncoder().encode(text);
+
+  return new ReadableStream<Uint8Array>({
+    start(controller) {
+      controller.enqueue(bytes);
+      controller.close();
+    },
+  });
+}
+
+async function fetchViaBunRuntime(
+  requestBody: Record<string, unknown>,
+  jwt: string,
+  requestId: string,
+  signal?: AbortSignal,
+): Promise<BunFetchResult> {
+  const script = `
+const endpoint = process.env.PI_PPLX_ENDPOINT;
+const token = process.env.PI_PPLX_TOKEN;
+const body = JSON.parse(process.env.PI_PPLX_BODY || "{}");
+const requestId = process.env.PI_PPLX_REQUEST_ID || crypto.randomUUID();
+try {
+  const response = await fetch(endpoint, {
+    method: "POST",
+    headers: {
+      Authorization: \`Bearer \${token}\`,
+      "Content-Type": "application/json",
+      Accept: "text/event-stream",
+      Origin: "https://www.perplexity.ai",
+      Referer: "https://www.perplexity.ai/",
+      "User-Agent": "${PERPLEXITY_USER_AGENT}",
+      "X-App-ApiClient": "default",
+      "X-App-ApiVersion": "2.18",
+      "X-Perplexity-Request-Reason": "submit",
+      "X-Request-ID": requestId,
+    },
+    body: JSON.stringify(body),
+  });
+  const text = await response.text();
+  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({
+    status: response.status,
+    contentType: response.headers.get("content-type"),
+    bodyText: text,
+  }));
+} catch (error) {
+  process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({
+    status: 0,
+    contentType: null,
+    bodyText: String(error && error.message ? error.message : error),
+  }));
+}
+`;
+
+  const { stdout } = await execFileAsync(
+    "bun",
+    ["-e", script],
+    {
+      encoding: "utf8",
+      maxBuffer: MAX_BUN_STDOUT_BYTES,
+      signal,
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        PI_PPLX_ENDPOINT: PERPLEXITY_ENDPOINT,
+        PI_PPLX_TOKEN: jwt,
+        PI_PPLX_BODY: JSON.stringify(requestBody),
+        PI_PPLX_REQUEST_ID: requestId,
+      },
+    },
+  );
+
+  let parsed: unknown;
+  try {
+    parsed = JSON.parse(stdout);
+  } catch {
+    throw new Error("Bun fallback returned non-JSON output.");
+  }
+
+  if (!parsed || typeof parsed !== "object") {
+    throw new Error("Bun fallback returned invalid payload.");
+  }
+
+  const result = parsed as Partial<BunFetchResult>;
+  if (typeof result.status !== "number" || typeof result.bodyText !== "string") {
+    throw new Error("Bun fallback response missing required fields.");
+  }
+
+  return {
+    status: result.status,
+    contentType: typeof result.contentType === "string" ? result.contentType : null,
+    bodyText: result.bodyText,
+  };
+}
+
 /** Execute a Perplexity search: POST SSE, stream/merge events, extract answer + sources. Throws SearchError on failure. */
 export async function searchPerplexity(
   params: SearchParams,
@@ -155,24 +299,15 @@ export async function searchPerplexity(
   signal?: AbortSignal,
 ): Promise<SearchResult> {
   const requestId = crypto.randomUUID();
+  const requestBody = buildRequestBody(params);
+  const requestHeaders = buildRequestHeaders(jwt, requestId);
 
   let response: Response;
   try {
     response = await fetch(PERPLEXITY_ENDPOINT, {
       method: "POST",
-      headers: {
-        Authorization: `Bearer ${jwt}`,
-        "Content-Type": "application/json",
-        Accept: "text/event-stream",
-        Origin: "https://www.perplexity.ai",
-        Referer: "https://www.perplexity.ai/",
-        "User-Agent": PERPLEXITY_USER_AGENT,
-        "X-App-ApiClient": "default",
-        "X-App-ApiVersion": "2.18",
-        "X-Perplexity-Request-Reason": "submit",
-        "X-Request-ID": requestId,
-      },
-      body: JSON.stringify(buildRequestBody(params)),
+      headers: requestHeaders,
+      body: JSON.stringify(requestBody),
       signal,
     });
   } catch (error) {
@@ -186,18 +321,53 @@ export async function searchPerplexity(
     );
   }
 
+  let eventStream: ReadableStream<Uint8Array> | null = null;
+
   if (!response.ok) {
-    throw mapHttpError(response.status);
+    let bodyText = "";
+    try {
+      bodyText = await response.text();
+    } catch {
+      bodyText = "";
+    }
+
+    const contentType = response.headers.get("content-type");
+
+    if (isCloudflareChallenge(response.status, contentType, bodyText)) {
+      let bunResult: BunFetchResult;
+      try {
+        bunResult = await fetchViaBunRuntime(requestBody, jwt, requestId, signal);
+      } catch (error) {
+        throw new SearchError(
+          "NETWORK",
+          `Perplexity request hit Cloudflare challenge and Bun fallback failed: ${(error as Error).message || "unknown error"}`,
+        );
+      }
+
+      if (bunResult.status !== 200) {
+        throw mapHttpError(bunResult.status, bunResult.bodyText, bunResult.contentType);
+      }
+
+      eventStream = streamFromText(bunResult.bodyText);
+    } else {
+      throw mapHttpError(response.status, bodyText, contentType);
+    }
+  } else {
+    if (!response.body) {
+      throw new SearchError("STREAM", "Perplexity returned an empty stream body.");
+    }
+
+    eventStream = response.body;
   }
 
-  if (!response.body) {
-    throw new SearchError("STREAM", "Perplexity returned an empty stream body.");
+  if (!eventStream) {
+    throw new SearchError("STREAM", "Perplexity returned no readable stream.");
   }
 
   let snapshot: StreamEvent = {};
 
   try {
-    for await (const event of readSseEvents(response.body, signal)) {
+    for await (const event of readSseEvents(eventStream, signal)) {
       snapshot = mergeEvent(snapshot, event);
       if (event.final || event.status === "COMPLETED") {
         break;