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EdgeScholar API Setup Guide

⚠️ Security Notice

NEVER commit your API keys to Git! This project uses environment variables to keep your keys secure.

Quick Setup

Step 1: Get Your Perplexity API Key

  1. Go to https://www.perplexity.ai/
  2. Sign up or log in to your account
  3. Navigate to API settings
  4. Generate a new API key
  5. Copy the key (it starts with pplx-)

Step 2: Configure Your API Key

Option A: For Running the App (Recommended)

Run the app with your API key:

flutter run --dart-define=PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=pplx-your-actual-key-here

Option B: For Local Development Only

Warning: Don't commit these changes!

  1. Open lib/services/api_service.dart
  2. Find line ~10: defaultValue: 'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE',
  3. Replace YOUR_API_KEY_HERE with your actual API key
  4. Do the same in lib/screens/perplexity_insights_dialog.dart around line 30

⚠️ Important: Add these files to your local git ignore before making changes:

git update-index --assume-unchanged lib/services/api_service.dart
git update-index --assume-unchanged lib/screens/perplexity_insights_dialog.dart

Option C: VS Code Launch Configuration

Create/update .vscode/launch.json:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "EdgeScholar",
      "request": "launch",
      "type": "dart",
      "args": [
        "--dart-define=PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=pplx-your-actual-key-here"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Step 3: Build the App

For iOS:

flutter build ios --dart-define=PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=pplx-your-actual-key-here

For Android:

flutter build apk --dart-define=PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=pplx-your-actual-key-here

Current API Model

EdgeScholar uses the sonar model from Perplexity AI for:

  • Research paper search
  • AI-powered comparisons
  • Insights generation

Troubleshooting

"API key not set" warning

If you see this warning, make sure you're passing the --dart-define flag or have set the default value locally.

API returns 401 Unauthorized

Your API key is invalid or expired. Generate a new one from Perplexity.

API returns 400 Bad Request

Check that you're using the correct model name (sonar).

Security Best Practices

✅ Use environment variables or build-time defines
✅ Add sensitive files to .gitignore
✅ Rotate API keys regularly
✅ Use different keys for development and production

❌ Never commit API keys to version control
❌ Don't share keys in public repositories
❌ Don't hardcode keys in source files (without using environment variables)

Need Help?

Check the Perplexity AI documentation: https://docs.perplexity.ai/