Perplexity Computer for Buyside Professionals
See a live demo of how Buyside Professionals use Perplexity Computer
Webinar FAQs
Computer examples shared in session
Research Analyst
Market / sector / company research (public)
Sourcing & ideation (private)
Personal Market Map / Tracking Dashboards
Product & Platform
What is Perplexity Computer?
Computer is an independent "digital worker" available to Perplexity users. Instead of just answering questions, it takes action — synthesizing information across the web and your work context through hundreds of app connectors, then executing multi-step workflows on your behalf (creating assets, managing emails, conducting research, and more), all in the background (Perplexity Help Center).
Does my browser/computer need to stay open for tasks to run?
No. Computer runs each task autonomously in the cloud, so your laptop doesn't need to be open (Perplexity Help Center).
Is it better to start with Computer or Search when starting a task?
Search is for quick reports; Computer is for deeper dives plus artifact creation. A common credit-efficient pattern is to refine in Search, then move to Computer (confirmed live by the hosts).
Are there courses / training on how to use these features?
For Enterprise, there is a resource hub with how-to videos, demos, and guides at perplexity.ai/enterprise/resources. General documentation is in the Perplexity Help Center. Perplexity also runs a monthly webinar series on these topics (confirmed live).
Finance Data Coverage
Is FactSet data already connected without my own subscription?
You have access to select FactSet data already included in your Perplexity subscription (company fundamentals, M&A, transcripts) as cited sources. You can connect your own FactSet license to access more (confirmed live; Perplexity Help Center).
What live finance data does Computer pull from?
Computer has access to 40+ live finance tools pulling directly from SEC filings, FactSet, Coinbase, Quartr, and other authoritative sources, plus Plaid for brokerage/portfolio data and Polymarket for prediction markets (Everything is Computer — Perplexity).
Can I bring my own licensed data providers (Morningstar, PitchBook, FactSet, etc.)?
Yes. You can connect your own licensed datasets from providers like Morningstar, PitchBook, FactSet, Daloopa, and Carbon Arc (via MCP), then analyze them in natural language alongside your own knowledge base (Perplexity for Finance; Computer for Professional Finance Guide).
Can Computer work with an Excel model (e.g., for equity research)?
Yes, this is a strong Computer use case, and there's also an Excel plugin to work directly in Excel. The Excel plugin is available to both Pro and Max subscribers (confirmed live by the hosts).
Usage and Credits
Does Search use credits, or only Computer?
Only Computer (and other premium, compute-intensive features) consumes credits. Standard searches and Perplexity Ask do not require credits (Perplexity Help Center).
How many credits do Pro users get? Do Pro users get free credits to try Computer?
Pro/Enterprise Pro seats include 500 credits per month; Enterprise Max includes 15,000 monthly credits (plus access to the organization's shared pool). Unused credits expire and do not roll over (Perplexity Help Center).
Is Computer usage included in my subscription, or charged separately like API calls?
You get an allocated amount of credits with your monthly subscription. Beyond that, it's paid, you can purchase more if you run out (Perplexity Help Center).
What happens when I run out of credits mid-task?
Active tasks pause (they don't cancel) and resume automatically when credits become available, either at the monthly reset or when an admin adds credits. New credit-consuming tasks are blocked until credits are available (Perplexity Help Center).
How can I see exactly how many credits a task used, and check my balance?
Click the ellipsis (⋮) after running a Computer query to see the exact credits used for that task. View your overall balance, usage, limits, and next refresh date in Settings → Usage (Perplexity Help Center).
How do I use credits more efficiently / keep costs under control?
Best practices confirmed by the hosts: choose the right orchestration model, use Skills for repeatable processes to give context and reduce re-prompting, and refine your prompt in Search first before moving it to Computer. Dashboard refreshes consume credits only for the update activity, not a full regeneration. You can also track usage in Settings → Usage (Perplexity Help Center; Perplexity Help Center).
Models & Orchestration
How does the agent decide the "optimal" model?
The agent analyzes each task's complexity and requirements and automatically selects the most appropriate, capable model for the job. Computer can orchestrate across 20+ specialized models, matching each subtask to the best model.
Can I see which model was used, and can I choose the model?
Yes, Perplexity shows you which model handled your task, and you can specify which model acts as the orchestrator for a given Computer task. In the omnibox you can select the model.
If a model I'm using is later turned off, what happens?
Perplexity automatically routes to the next-best model for the task.
As models evolve, do I need to re-optimize my workflows?
No. Perplexity automatically updates and routes the right model for you.
Does Perplexity host the models, and how fast are new models integrated?
New models are generally integrated within hours of release.
Can I set a model preference and use a secondary model to double-check?
Yes, you can select the model in the search box. Max subscribers also have the Model Council feature, which runs multiple frontier models at once so you can compare answers.
Skills
What exactly is a Skill?
Skills are reusable instruction sets that teach Computer how to perform specific tasks, think of them as specialized playbooks. When a skill is active, Computer follows its instructions to produce consistent, high-quality output for that type of task (Perplexity Help Center).
Are skills preloaded in Computer?
Yes. Computer includes a suite of built-in skills out of the box, available on the Skills page (the "Perplexity Skills" tab) or activated automatically when relevant. You can also create custom skills for your own workflows (Perplexity Help Center).
Can skills be reused on other projects?
Yes, skills are reusable. Once a custom skill is created, it's available in future conversations and activates automatically whenever its description matches what you're asking (Perplexity Help Center).
How do I build / can I build custom workflows and skills for my firm?
Yes. On the Skills page, click Create skill, then either Create with Perplexity (describe the task and Perplexity builds it through a conversation) or Upload a skill (a .zip with a SKILL.md at root, or a .md file; max 10 MB, with a name and description in YAML frontmatter) (Perplexity Help Center).
Can I replace an existing skill with a modified version?
Yes. You can ask Computer to pull and edit an existing skill and replace it with the modified version, or do it manually in the UI by finding the skill and uploading the new version (confirmed live by the hosts; Perplexity Help Center).
Can I turn a shared playbook into an authoritative source for skills/spaces? Org-wide skills?
Yes, you can turn a playbook into an organization-wide skill. When a query runs, Computer pulls from the submitter's skills, and admins can create org-wide skills available to everyone (confirmed live by the hosts).
How do I control the formatting of reports Perplexity produces?
You can prompt Computer to follow specific formatting. A durable approach is to create a Skill that specifies your required formatting and reuse it across future workflows (confirmed live; Perplexity Help Center).
Connectors & Data Integrations
Can I connect to custom data via MCP?
Yes. Using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), you can integrate Perplexity with virtually any compatible service — local or remote. For remote custom connectors, go to Account settings → Connectors (or, for admins, Enterprise settings → Permissions → Connector permissions), click + Custom connector, choose Remote, and provide a name and HTTPS MCP server URL (Perplexity Help Center).
How do I access FactSet, and do I need my own license?
Computer's built-in finance tools already pull select FactSet data (company fundamentals, M&A, transcripts) as cited sources automatically, included in your Perplexity subscription. To access more, you can connect your own FactSet license via the FactSet connector, which requires separate FactSet MCP access (not included by default with FactSet Workstation). To enable it, go to Settings → Connectors, search for FactSet, click Add/Enable, and sign in with FactSet; then use @FactSet or select FactSet under Connectors and sources in a query (confirmed live; Perplexity Help Center).
Can Perplexity email the result of its work?
Yes. Connect Gmail or Outlook and ask Computer to draft a note with the link for you (Perplexity Help Center).
Where do I see all available connectors?
In the Computer sidebar select Connectors to view all available apps and services, then click Enable next to the ones you want (Perplexity Help Center; Perplexity Help Center).
Spaces
What are Spaces, and what are the limits (file types, file size, total size)?
Spaces are dedicated workspaces for organizing, collaborating, and managing research, powered by custom AI instructions, file search, and Computer task management. File limits per Space: Pro = up to 50 files; Enterprise Pro and Max = up to 500 files; Enterprise Max = up to 5,000 files. Paid users can upload files up to 50 MB each; cloud-synced connector files count toward these limits (Perplexity Help Center).
What sources can a Space use?
Web search (internet, academic papers, social threads), Health records, file attachments, premium data sources (CB Insights, PitchBook, Statista), and app connectors (Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, SharePoint, and more) (Perplexity Help Center).
Where are Space instructions stored / can I configure them?
Spaces let you configure custom instructions that apply to every interaction within the Space, so the assistant matches your tone, domain, or reasoning style. Computer tasks created inside a Space inherit its instructions, files, and linked context (Perplexity Help Center).
Can a small team collaborate / multiple people edit in the same Space?
Yes. Share a Space and invite others as viewers or contributors; contributors can create new threads or ask follow-ups, and thread sharing within collaborative Spaces defaults to "shared." Threads and files can be pinned to make them visible to all members (Perplexity Help Center).
Scheduled Tasks, Dashboards, and Artifacts
Can I run scheduled tasks with Computer?
Yes. Scheduled Tasks let Computer run recurring work in the background — reports, alerts, monitoring, briefings, inbox checks, and more — on a schedule you set. Find them at Computer → Tasks (perplexity.ai/computer/tasks) (Perplexity Help Center).
How do I set the update frequency / cadence for a dashboard or task?
Describe the cadence in plain language when you create the task (e.g., hourly, daily at a set time, weekly, monthly, or custom). The minimum frequency is once per hour, and Computer converts your local time into the schedule and shows the next run time. You can also update it directly in the query thread or via the "scheduled" section at the top of the Perplexity panel (confirmed live; Perplexity Help Center).
Does updating a dashboard cost credits, does it regenerate the whole thing?
Credit usage is based only on the update activity, not a full dashboard regeneration. You set the refresh schedule you want (confirmed live by the hosts).
How do I feed data into the artifact, live web, connectors, or my files?
You choose your sources for the artifact you're creating: live data from the open web, your connectors, or your own data stores. Cadence and source flexibility are up to you (confirmed live by the hosts).
How do I get a dashboard out of the thread into a permanent, live, shareable location for my team?
You can export the Computer artifact and "promote" it to a more permanent location. Files can be exported from the top-right of both the thread and the artifact itself (confirmed live by the hosts). See also publishing/deployment via Computer.
Do we have version history for "living" documents?
Yes. Artifacts is where your outputs live and where versions are kept (confirmed live by the hosts).
