perplexity-known-pitfalls

# Perplexity Known Pitfalls ## Overview Common mistakes and anti-patterns when integrating with Perplexity. ## Prerequisites - Access to Perplexity codebase for review - Understanding of async/await patterns - Knowledge of security best practices - Familiarity with rate limiting concepts ## Pitfall #1: Synchronous API Calls in Request Path ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript // User waits for Perplexity API call app.post('/checkout', async (req, res) => { const payment = await perplexityClient.processPayment(req.body); // 2-5s latency const notification = await perplexityClient.sendEmail(payment); // Another 1-2s res.json({ success: true }); // User waited 3-7s }); ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript // Return immediately, process async app.post('/checkout', async (req, res) => { const jobId = await queue.enqueue('process-checkout', req.body); res.json({ jobId, status: 'processing' }); // 50ms response }); // Background job async function processCheckout(data) { const payment = await perplexityClient.processPayment(data); await perplexityClient.sendEmail(payment); } ``` --- ## Pitfall #2: Not Handling Rate Limits ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript // Blast requests, crash on 429 for (const item of items) { await perplexityClient.process(item); // Will hit rate limit } ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript import pLimit from 'p-limit'; const limit = pLimit(5); // Max 5 concurrent const rateLimiter = new RateLimiter({ tokensPerSecond: 10 }); for (const item of items) { await rateLimiter.acquire(); await limit(() => perplexityClient.process(item)); } ``` --- ## Pitfall #3: Leaking API Keys ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript // In frontend code (visible to users!) const client = new PerplexityClient({ apiKey: 'sk_live_ACTUAL_KEY_HERE', // Anyone can see this }); // In git history git commit -m "add API key" // Exposed forever ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript // Backend only, environment variable const client = new PerplexityClient({ apiKey: process.env.PERPLEXITY_API_KEY, }); // Use .gitignore .env .env.local .env.*.local ``` --- ## Pitfall #4: Ignoring Idempotency ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript // Network error on response = duplicate charge! try { await perplexityClient.charge(order); } catch (error) { if (error.code === 'NETWORK_ERROR') { await perplexityClient.charge(order); // Charged twice! } } ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript const idempotencyKey = `order-${order.id}-${Date.now()}`; await perplexityClient.charge(order, { idempotencyKey, // Safe to retry }); ``` --- ## Pitfall #5: Not Validating Webhooks ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript // Trust any incoming request app.post('/webhook', (req, res) => { processWebhook(req.body); // Attacker can send fake events res.sendStatus(200); }); ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript app.post('/webhook', express.raw({ type: 'application/json' }), (req, res) => { const signature = req.headers['x-perplexity-signature']; if (!verifyPerplexitySignature(req.body, signature)) { return res.sendStatus(401); } processWebhook(JSON.parse(req.body)); res.sendStatus(200); } ); ``` --- ## Pitfall #6: Missing Error Handling ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript // Crashes on any error const result = await perplexityClient.get(id); console.log(result.data.nested.value); // TypeError if missing ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript try { const result = await perplexityClient.get(id); console.log(result?.data?.nested?.value ?? 'default'); } catch (error) { if (error instanceof PerplexityNotFoundError) { return null; } if (error instanceof PerplexityRateLimitError) { await sleep(error.retryAfter); return this.get(id); // Retry } throw error; // Rethrow unknown errors } ``` --- ## Pitfall #7: Hardcoding Configuration ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript const client = new PerplexityClient({ timeout: 5000, // Too short for some operations baseUrl: 'https://api.perplexity.com', // Can't change for staging }); ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript const client = new PerplexityClient({ timeout: parseInt(process.env.PERPLEXITY_TIMEOUT || '30000'), baseUrl: process.env.PERPLEXITY_BASE_URL || 'https://api.perplexity.com', }); ``` --- ## Pitfall #8: Not Implementing Circuit Breaker ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript // When Perplexity is down, every request hangs for (const user of users) { await perplexityClient.sync(user); // All timeout sequentially } ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript import CircuitBreaker from 'opossum'; const breaker = new CircuitBreaker(perplexityClient.sync, { timeout: 10000, errorThresholdPercentage: 50, resetTimeout: 30000, }); // Fails fast when circuit is open for (const user of users) { await breaker.fire(user).catch(handleFailure); } ``` --- ## Pitfall #9: Logging Sensitive Data ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript console.log('Request:', JSON.stringify(request)); // Logs API key, PII console.log('User:', user); // Logs email, phone ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript const redacted = { ...request, apiKey: '[REDACTED]', user: { id: user.id }, // Only non-sensitive fields }; console.log('Request:', JSON.stringify(redacted)); ``` --- ## Pitfall #10: No Graceful Degradation ### ❌ Anti-Pattern ```typescript // Entire feature broken if Perplexity is down const recommendations = await perplexityClient.getRecommendations(userId); return renderPage({ recommendations }); // Page crashes ``` ### ✅ Better Approach ```typescript let recommendations; try { recommendations = await perplexityClient.getRecommendations(userId); } catch (error) { recommendations = await getFallbackRecommendations(userId); reportDegradedService('perplexity', error); } return renderPage({ recommendations, degraded: !recommendations }); ``` --- ## Instructions ### Step 1: Review for Anti-Patterns Scan codebase for each pitfall pattern. ### Step 2: Prioritize Fixes Address security issues first, then performance. ### Step 3: Implement Better Approach Replace anti-patterns with recommended patterns. ### Step 4: Add Prevention Set up linting and CI checks to prevent recurrence. ## Output - Anti-patterns identified - Fixes prioritized and implemented - Prevention measures in place - Code quality improved ## Error Handling | Issue | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | Too many findings | Legacy codebase | Prioritize security first | | Pattern not detected | Complex code | Manual review | | False positive | Similar code | Whitelist exceptions | | Fix breaks tests | Behavior change | Update tests | ## Examples ### Quick Pitfall Scan ```bash # Check for common pitfalls grep -r "sk_live_" --include="*.ts" src/ # Key leakage grep -r "console.log" --include="*.ts" src/ # Potential PII logging ``` ## Resources - [Perplexity Security Guide](https://docs.perplexity.com/security) - [Perplexity Best Practices](https://docs.perplexity.com/best-practices) ## Quick Reference Card | Pitfall | Detection | Prevention | |---------|-----------|------------| | Sync in request | High latency | Use queues | | Rate limit ignore | 429 errors | Implement backoff | | Key leakage | Git history scan | Env vars, .gitignore | | No idempotency | Duplicate records | Idempotency keys | | Unverified webhooks | Security audit | Signature verification | | Missing error handling | Crashes | Try-catch, types | | Hardcoded config | Code review | Environment variables | | No circuit breaker | Cascading failures | opossum, resilience4j | | Logging PII | Log audit | Redaction middleware | | No degradation | Total outages | Fallback systems |