Perplexica/docs/architecture

Perplexica Architecture

Perplexica is a Next.js application that combines an AI chat experience with search.

For a high level flow, see WORKING.md. For deeper implementation details, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Key components

1. User Interface

   • A web based UI that lets users chat, search, and view citations.

2. API Routes

   • POST /api/chat powers the chat UI.
   • POST /api/search provides a programmatic search endpoint.
   • GET /api/providers lists available providers and model keys.

3. Agents and Orchestration

   • The system classifies the question first.
   • It can run research and widgets in parallel.
   • It generates the final answer and includes citations.

4. Search Backend

   • A meta search backend is used to fetch relevant web results when research is enabled.

5. LLMs (Large Language Models)

   • Used for classification, writing answers, and producing citations.

6. Embedding Models

   • Used for semantic search over user uploaded files.

7. Storage

   • Chats and messages are stored so conversations can be reloaded.