Enhancement: Perplexity Completion response incl. citations

[djuillard]

What features would you like to see added?

Las week, Perplexity announced that citations (= url sources) are by default returned with chat completions. This is included into a citations object within the completion output response. I would like to be able to display the citations directly in the chat window, like it is in the perplexity web app.

More details

Exemple of API query towards perplexity :

{
"id": "5db80598-305a-473e-98ba-eb9dbca8a62d",
"model": "llama-3.1-sonar-small-128k-online",
"created": 1731340613,
"usage": {
"prompt_tokens": 7,
"completion_tokens": 497,
"total_tokens": 504
},
"citations": [
"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/10/meaning-life-macronutrients-purpose-search/620440/",
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meaning_of_life",
"https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/three_ways_to_see_meaning_in_your_life",
"https://philosophynow.org/issues/147/Why_Youre_Probably_Wrong_About_The_Meaning_of_Life",
"https://iankoniak.com/what-is-the-meaning-of-life/"
],
"object": "chat.completion",
"choices": [
{
"index": 0,
"finish_reason": "stop",
"message": {
"role": "assistant",
"content": "The meaning of life is a deeply personal and complex question that has been explored by philosophers, theologians, and psychologists across various cultures and ideologies. There is no consensus on a definitive answer, and the search for meaning continues to be a significant aspect of human existence.\n\n### Key Dimensions of Meaning\n\n1. Coherence: This dimension involves the understanding that events in life fit together for a reason. It is the belief that things happen in your life for a purpose, even if you may not fully comprehend it at the moment[1][3].\n\n2. Purpose: This refers to the existence of goals and aims. It is the belief that you are alive to do something specific, such as sharing secrets to happiness or spreading love abundantly[1][3].\n\n3. Significance: This dimension involves the sense that your life matters. It is the confidence that the world would be poorer if you didn't exist, giving your life inherent value[1][3].\n\n### Philosophical Perspectives\n\n1. Subjective vs. Objective Meaning: Some philosophers argue that meaning in life is subjective, derived from personal experiences and goals. Others propose that there are objective criteria for what constitutes meaningful life, such as fulfilling goals and contributing to society[2][4].\n\n2. Creating vs. Detecting Meaning: While some argue that meaning must be actively constructed through deep self-reflection or significant life events, research suggests that most people find meaning in their daily lives through their relationships, work, and spiritual beliefs[3][4].\n\n3. Activities and Experiences: Philosophers identify various activities and experiences as meaningful, including loving relationships, creativity, personal excellence, moral goodness, altruism, knowledge, transcendence, and achievement[4].\n\n### Practical Approaches\n\n1. Pursuing Full Potential: One practical approach is to pursue your full potential and become the best version of yourself in all areas of life. This philosophy emphasizes the joy in the journey rather than just the destination[5].\n\n2. Cultivating Coherence and Purpose: By focusing on coherence (making sense of life) and purpose (orienting towards fulfilling goals), individuals can enhance their experience of meaning. This involves detecting the meaning already present in daily life and actively pursuing fulfilling goals[3].\n\nIn summary, the meaning of life is multifaceted and highly individualized. It involves a combination of coherence, purpose, and significance, which can be cultivated through various activities and experiences."
},
"delta": {
"role": "assistant",
"content": ""
}
}
]
}

Which components are impacted by your request?

No response

Pictures

UI and completion processing.

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[Dombom123]

@danny-avila Hey! im also super interested in this Enhancement. Any chances that this will be implemented?

[Shura1oplot]

That addition would be fantastic!

[sbogeFS]

I completeley agree that this addition wouldb e great. Moreover self hosted open ai instances, for instance in azure, allow vector/semantic seach on uploaded data which in turn are automatically evaluated and returned as text summary with citations regarding the content of the files. The file content is then cited with short text, the JSON format is as follows:

  role: "assistant",
  content: "The Nice App is a usefull app for everyone who likes apps.",
  end_turn: true,
  context: {
    citations: [
      {
        content: "Text... cited...for...nice app..part 1.",
        title: "Nice App documentation",
        url: "/documentation.pdf",
        filepath: "./res/documentation.pdf",
        chunk_id: "0",
      },
            {
        content: "Text... cited...for...nice app..part 2.",
        title: "Nice App User Guide",
        url: "/guide.pdf",
        filepath: "./res/guide.pdf",
        chunk_id: "1",
      },
    ],
    intent: "[\"What ist the nice app?\"]",
  },
}```

[sbogeFS]

Also mentioned in #1207 regarding selfhosted azure instances and in #734 regarding usage of plugins. In context of the latter, I wonder where I can find documentation with respect to the topic of plugins and if these are supported in the future? Is there da new update on that topic?

[larryb821]

would love to see the citations appear in librechat UI. +1 will buy coffee for devs!

[rubentalstra]

Sounds good 😌 I will work next on this then. 🤓

[ion-elgreco]

@rubentalstra curious to know the OpenAI assistants api returns citations in their response, is this currently used by any chance?

[sbogeFS]

@ion-elgreco OpenAi does and it would be perfectly fine if this would be reconginzed.

[Varial17]

anyone know if we can do this?

[anphex]

I am also very interested in this citations feature since Perplexity gets a lot of love lately. Sonar Pro and Sonar Reasoning Pro feel really good. but I can't see the links. Also there is currently really no cheap chat title summary model in the current Perplexity API, would love to just use gpt4o-mini for all of my endpoints, even the custom ones.

[aleibovici]

One more vote for any support for citations with the complexity endpoint. Thanks!

[Dombom123]

I'm still waiting for feedback from @danny-avila but in the meantime im using this workaround:

Put something like this into the System message for perplexity endpoints:

Additional Rules:
- Always print the full URL instead of just the Citation Number
- Include a List of References with the full URL in your answer
- Always cite the sources of your web search

[aleibovici]

Thanks @Dombom123 .. works like a charm!

[larryb821]

Put something like this into the System message for perplexity endpoints:

Hi @Dombom123 can you share the yaml for system message? I tried with the code below and i dont think its working. TIA

custom:
# Preplexity AI Example
- name: "Perplexity"
apiKey: "${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY}"
baseURL: "https://api.perplexity.ai/"
models:
default: [
"sonar-reasoning-pro",
"sonar-reasoning",
"sonar-pro",
"sonar"
]
fetch: false # fetching list of models is not supported
titleConvo: true
titleModel: "current_model"
forcePrompt: false
titleMessageRole: "user"
modelDisplayLabel: "Perplexity"
dropParams: ["stop", "user", "frequency_penalty", "presence_penalty"]
promptPrefix: |
Additional Rules:
- Always print the full URL instead of just the Citation Number
- Include a List of References with the full URL in your answer
- Always cite the sources of your web search

[Dombom123]

im not using librechat.yaml to set my system message. im using the agents endpoint. you can set custom system messages just by using the ui.

[voelspriet]

intendation

[marlonka]

+1 a fix is really appreciated that shows sources without system message change

[dannykorpan]

@larryb821
This workaround is working. I'm using Perplexity over OpenRouter, but I think it's also working via Perplexity API.

librechat.yaml

...
endpoints:
  custom:
    - name: "Perplexity"
      apiKey: "..."
      baseURL: "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
      models:
        default: ["perplexity/sonar-reasoning-pro","perplexity/sonar-pro","perplexity/sonar-deep-research"]
        fetch: false
      titleConvo: true
      titleModel: "openai/gpt-4.1-nano"
      summarize: false
      forcePrompt: false
      modelDisplayLabel: "Perplexity"
      dropParams:
        - "stop"
modelSpecs:
  enforce: false
  list:
    - name: "perplexity-sonar-pro"
      label: "Perplexity: Sonar Pro"
      preset:
        endpoint: "Perplexity"
        model: "perplexity/sonar-pro"
        temperature: 0.3
        promptPrefix: "Additional Rules: 1. Always print the full URL in brackets after the Cititation Number instead of just the Citation Number; 2. Ensure responses are concise and relevant; 3. Always cite the sources of your web search"
    - name: "perplexity-reasoning-sonar-pro"
      label: "Perplexity: Sonar Reasoning Pro"
      preset:
        endpoint: "Perplexity"
        model: "perplexity/sonar-pro"
        temperature: 0.3
        promptPrefix: "Additional Rules: 1. Always print the full URL in brackets after the Cititation Number instead of just the Citation Number; 2. Ensure responses are concise and relevant; 3. Always cite the sources of your web search"
    - name: "perplexity-deep-research"
      label: "Perplexity: Deep Research"
      preset:
        endpoint: "Perplexity"
        model: "perplexity/sonar-deep-research"
        temperature: 0.3
        promptPrefix: "Additional Rules: 1. Always print the full URL in brackets after the Cititation Number instead of just the Citation Number; 2. Ensure responses are concise and relevant; 3. Always cite the sources of your web search"

[guygud]

+1 for this feature

[jgdub]

I would like to see this as well.

[voelspriet]

Me too

[enieuwy]

Also hope to see this!