--- name: perplexity-security-basics-580eb53827eb description: | Apply Perplexity security best practices for secrets and access control. Use when securing API keys, implementing least privilege access, or auditing Perplexity security configuration. Trigger with phrases like "perplexity security", "perplexity secrets", "secure perplexity", "perplexity API key security". allowed-tools: Read, Write, Grep version: 1.0.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore --- # Perplexity Security Basics ## Overview Security best practices for Perplexity API keys, tokens, and access control. ## Prerequisites - Perplexity SDK installed - Understanding of environment variables - Access to Perplexity dashboard ## Instructions ### Step 1: Configure Environment Variables ```bash # .env (NEVER commit to git) PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=sk_live_*** PERPLEXITY_SECRET=*** # .gitignore .env .env.local .env.*.local ``` ### Step 2: Implement Secret Rotation ```bash # 1. Generate new key in Perplexity dashboard # 2. Update environment variable export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY="new_key_here" # 3. Verify new key works curl -H "Authorization: Bearer ${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}" \ https://api.perplexity.com/health # 4. Revoke old key in dashboard ``` ### Step 3: Apply Least Privilege | Environment | Recommended Scopes | |-------------|-------------------| | Development | `read:*` | | Staging | `read:*, write:limited` | | Production | `Only required scopes` | ## Output - Secure API key storage - Environment-specific access controls - Audit logging enabled ## Error Handling | Security Issue | Detection | Mitigation | |----------------|-----------|------------| | Exposed API key | Git scanning | Rotate immediately | | Excessive scopes | Audit logs | Reduce permissions | | Missing rotation | Key age check | Schedule rotation | ## Examples ### Service Account Pattern ```typescript const clients = { reader: new PerplexityClient({ apiKey: process.env.PERPLEXITY_READ_KEY, }), writer: new PerplexityClient({ apiKey: process.env.PERPLEXITY_WRITE_KEY, }), }; ``` ### Webhook Signature Verification ```typescript import crypto from 'crypto'; function verifyWebhookSignature( payload: string, signature: string, secret: string ): boolean { const expected = crypto.createHmac('sha256', secret).update(payload).digest('hex'); return crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(signature), Buffer.from(expected)); } ``` ### Security Checklist - [ ] API keys in environment variables - [ ] `.env` files in `.gitignore` - [ ] Different keys for dev/staging/prod - [ ] Minimal scopes per environment - [ ] Webhook signatures validated - [ ] Audit logging enabled ### Audit Logging ```typescript interface AuditEntry { timestamp: Date; action: string; userId: string; resource: string; result: 'success' | 'failure'; metadata?: Record; } async function auditLog(entry: Omit): Promise { const log: AuditEntry = { ...entry, timestamp: new Date() }; // Log to Perplexity analytics await perplexityClient.track('audit', log); // Also log locally for compliance console.log('[AUDIT]', JSON.stringify(log)); } // Usage await auditLog({ action: 'perplexity.api.call', userId: currentUser.id, resource: '/v1/resource', result: 'success', }); ``` ## Resources - [Perplexity Security Guide](https://docs.perplexity.com/security) - [Perplexity API Scopes](https://docs.perplexity.com/scopes) ## Next Steps For production deployment, see `perplexity-prod-checklist`. --- Source attribution: Dicklesworthstone Original project: https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/pi_agent_rust/blob/f28fc46ee0db8e710d95b8b55592cd38d60f2b26/tests/ext_conformance/artifacts/plugins-community/plugins/saas-packs/perplexity-pack/skills/perplexity-security-basics/SKILL.md License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI. ## Upstream license notice MIT License (with OpenAI/Anthropic Rider) Copyright (c) 2026 Jeffrey Emanuel Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: ADDITIONAL RIDER / RESTRICTION (OpenAI / Anthropic): This rider is part of the "conditions" of this License. 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IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Dave AI resource metadata Creator / publisher: Dicklesworthstone Original project: https://github.com/Dicklesworthstone/pi_agent_rust/blob/f28fc46ee0db8e710d95b8b55592cd38d60f2b26/tests/ext_conformance/artifacts/plugins-community/plugins/saas-packs/perplexity-pack/skills/perplexity-security-basics/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Development & Engineering Roles: Backend Developer, DevOps / SRE, Security Engineer Specialties: API, Backend Tools: Perplexity Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: da8c22a37ebead2c819ce9940a95873d93cf1b0f8db31dc3b95cd16b3d5a7178