How to turn on Live Research

Short version: go to console.perplexity.ai, sign in, add a card and buy a few dollars of credit on the Billing page, then click API keys and + Generate API Key. Copy the key, paste it in Agents HQ under Settings > Live Research and click Test.

What Live Research does

• Looks things up when a task needs current information. When an agent is allowed to and the task needs current facts (prices, trends, competitors, news, suppliers, rules), it runs a quick web lookup or two first, then writes its answer. Writing-only tasks, like replies, thank-you notes, rewrites and translations, skip the lookup.
• Shows its sources. Results in your inbox get a Sources list with each page's title and website. Click one to open it in your web browser and check it yourself.
• Print help. In the 3D Workshop, click Ask print help and describe a printing problem in plain words. You get step-by-step fixes with sources.
• Find me a model. In the Library and My models, search free printable models on sites like Printables, Thingiverse, MakerWorld and Thangs. Where the site's license clearly allows it, it says you may sell prints; otherwise it says to check the license on the page. You open the page and download the file yourself, then click I downloaded it - open it.
• Weekly research report. A ready-made job in the Schedule tab (off until you turn it on): pick a topic and a day, and a report with sources lands in your inbox every week.

What you need

• Agents HQ on your Windows PC.
• A free Perplexity account. Perplexity is the research service that does the lookups.
• A card to buy prepaid credit. A few dollars goes a long way: $5 covers several hundred lookups.

Already use a Gemini key in Agents HQ? You can skip the Perplexity key, tick one box and click Save instead; see Using your Gemini key instead below.

Step 1: Open the Perplexity API console

Go to console.perplexity.ai and sign in, or create an account. This is the developer console for Perplexity's API. It's separate from a Perplexity Pro subscription, which you don't need.

Step 2: Add prepaid credit

The API runs on credit you buy in advance, and keys don't work without it.

1. Click Billing in the left sidebar.
2. Click Add payment method and enter your card. Adding a card doesn't charge it.
3. Use Buy more credits to add a small amount, such as $5. Your balance shows at the top of the Billing page.

Tip: Perplexity offers Auto reload, which tops up your credit when it runs low. Leave it off if you'd rather never spend more than you added. If your credit runs out, Perplexity pauses the key until you add more; your agents keep working without lookups.

Step 3: Create your API key

Click API keys in the left sidebar, then + Generate API Key. Copy the key. Treat it like a password: anyone with it can spend your credit. You can delete it in the console any time and make a new one.

Step 4: Paste it into Agents HQ and test it

1. In Agents HQ, open Settings and go to Live Research.
2. Paste your key in the box.
3. Click Test. Agents HQ runs one small lookup to check the key works.
4. Click Save. Saving the key switches Live Research on.
5. Choose which agents can use it in the Team tab with Can look things up on the web.

These agents start with it turned on, depending on your business template. All others start with it off, and you can change any of them:

• 3D printing: Print Estimator, Listing Writer, Print Troubleshooter, Materials Advisor, B2B Outreach, Licensing Checker, Supplier Scout, Social Media and Market Researcher.
• Contractors: Estimator, Researcher, Permits & Paperwork and Supplier Scout.
• Real estate: Listing Writer, Market Researcher, CMA & Offer Writer, Social Media and Local Guide.
• Online stores: Market Researcher, Social Media, Influencer Outreach, SEO Specialist and Product Scout.
• Agencies: Research Analyst and Trend Scout.

That's it. The next time one of those agents gets a task that needs current information, it looks it up first and lists its sources under the result.

What it costs

• About a cent per lookup. Perplexity charges a small fee for each search plus a little for the text it reads and writes, so a typical lookup costs around a cent, often less.
• A few cents of research per task at most. An agent makes up to 2 lookups for a task that needs them (you can set 1 to 3). Writing the answer still uses your normal AI, at its normal cost.
• You stay in control. Lookups show in the cost meter as an estimate and count toward your monthly limits, so agents pause at your budget like they do today. There's also a daily limit (20 lookups to start) you can change in Settings > Live Research.
• No fee from us. You pay Perplexity directly. Check Perplexity's pricing page for current rates.

Privacy

• Your key stays on your PC. Agents HQ stores it encrypted and sends it only to Perplexity.
• What's sent: Only a short research question is sent: the task's wording, cut to 300 characters, with email addresses, phone numbers and web links removed first, plus your business type (and service area, if you filled it in). Never your files, attachments, keys, customer list or other agents' work. Find me a model sends only the words you type, with the same removals, cut to 120 characters.
• What Perplexity does with it: Perplexity says it doesn't use API customers' content to train its AI models. Its API terms and privacy policy apply.
• We never see it. Lookups go straight from your PC to Perplexity, not through us. Web pages are only shown to you as sources; they can't change your files, settings or other agents' work.

More detail is in our Privacy Policy.

Using your Gemini key instead

If you don't add a Perplexity key but already use a Gemini key, agents that are allowed to look things up can use Google Search through Gemini instead. In Settings > Live Research, tick Use my Gemini key when there's no research key and click Save. That turns Live Research on. It's off until you tick it. A few things to know:

• Google sets its own limits and prices for searches. Check Google AI Studio for current numbers.
• Google's free Gemini tier may use what you send to improve its products.
• If you add a Perplexity key later, Agents HQ uses it first.

If it doesn't work

• Test fails right away: copy the key again from the API keys page. A missing character or an extra space is the usual cause.
• "Your research key has run out of credit": add credit on Perplexity's Billing page, then try again.
• An agent says "I couldn't look this up right now": the lookup failed or you reached your daily limit. The agent still finishes the task without it.
• No Sources list on a result: that agent may not be allowed to look things up, or the task didn't need it. Check Can look things up on the web for that agent.