pplx-ask and accounts¶

8. pplx-ask sequence in detail¶

The complete sequence of cmd_ask (ask_cli.py:86-198): envelope construction → SSE stream → final-status check → BOT space → read receipt → humanized telemetry → archiving via the export pipeline.

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as agent / user
    participant A as ask_cli.cmd_ask
    participant AK as ask_api
    participant P as Perplexity
    participant EX as cmd_export (export pipeline reused)

    U->>A: pplx-ask ask "prompt" --mode M [--models ...] [--space S]
    A->>A: when --space is not home, resolve the space uuid first<br/>_resolve_space_uuid (ask_cli.py:74-83)
    A->>AK: build_envelope(prompt, mode, models, target_uuid) (ask_api.py:71)
    Note over AK: mode → model_preference mapping (MODE_MODEL, ask_api.py:36-41):<br/>search→pplx_pro / deep-research→pplx_alpha /<br/>council→pplx_agentic_research / study→pplx_study;<br/>mode always "copilot"; council slot validation 2–3 models<br/>(ask_api.py:85-90), default COUNCIL_DEFAULT_MODELS
    AK-->>A: {"params": {template params}, "query_str": prompt}
    A->>AK: sse_ask(transport, envelope, on_event) (ask_api.py:153)
    AK->>P: POST /rest/sse/perplexity_ask (ASK_URL, ask_api.py:28)<br/>Accept: text/event-stream; reuses CookieTransport's internal opener/cookie (ask_api.py:114-130)
    loop SSE event stream (blank-line delimited, _parse_sse, ask_api.py:101-111)
        P-->>AK: data: {...backend_uuid / status / text deltas...}
        AK-->>A: on_event: first backend_uuid records thread creation<br/>status changes printed; progress every +200 text chars (ask_cli.py:106-119)
    end
    AK-->>A: final_sse_message terminates; return the final event (ask_api.py:164-165)
    A->>A: final-status check: final_status != COMPLETED → SystemExit<br/>no space move / no telemetry / no export (ask_cli.py:134-140)
    A->>AK: move_threads([context_uuid], BOT_SPACE_UUID) (ask_api.py:169)
    AK->>P: POST /rest/collections/batch_move_threads<br/>(use context_uuid, not entryUUID; BOT space from user-level config bot_space.uuid)
    opt --mark-read
        A->>AK: mark_read(context_uuid) (ask_api.py:190)
        AK->>P: POST /rest/thread/mark_viewed (unread flips immediately)
    end
    opt on by default (disabled by --no-telemetry)
        A->>AK: send_view_telemetry (ask_api.py:234)
        AK->>P: POST /rest/event/analytics ×4:<br/>ask context pane viewed → thread viewed<br/>→ ask context pane viewed → thread entry exited<br/>(random device pool + random 0.6–2.4s pauses between events<br/>+ timeOnEntryMs 12–45s, ask_api.py:266-278)
    end
    opt on by default (disabled by --no-export)
        A->>EX: cmd_export(adapter, writer, backend_uuid, force=True) (ask_cli.py:192)
        EX->>P: runs the full export pipeline (export-pipeline.md §3)
        EX-->>A: web_archive persisted
    end
    A-->>U: machine-readable JSON: thread_uuid / thread_url /<br/>context_uuid / moved_to_bot / mark_read / telemetry (booleans)<br/>/ step_errors (failed steps only) / exported (end of ask_cli.py)

Design essentials:

The envelope is a field-tested parameter template: _BASE_PARAMS (ask_api.py:44-68) has 25 fixed keys (incl. 32 supported_block_use_cases, language/timezone/search focus, etc.); build_envelope injects mode/model/frontend_uuid fields, matching real browser submissions (compare api-rest-endpoints.md §3.9 and the 39-params samples in docs/perplexity-api-samples/).
SSE consumption bypasses the Transport ABC: streaming is outside the get_json/post_json/download abstraction; post_stream directly reuses CookieTransport's _cookie_header/_opener (ask_api.py:126-130) — the deliberate coupling mentioned in §1.
Telemetry humanization: _DEVICE_POOL randomizes across three devices (ask_api.py:210-214), random pauses, random reading durations; event schemas align item-by-item with browser observations (_telemetry_event, ask_api.py:217-231); the read receipt is separate from telemetry — analytics "thread viewed" doesn't flip unread; the real receipt is mark_viewed (ask_api.py:194-201 comment).

Cookie resolution and account validation live in commands/common.py:make_transport (common.py:93-155); source enumeration in core/cookies.py; webbridge-path validation in _validate_bridge_account (common.py:158-187).

flowchart TD
    START(["make_transport(account, ...)"]) --> MODE{"transport_mode?"}
    MODE -->|"webbridge (explicitly chosen)"| WB1["WebBridgeTransport (bridge_transport.py:22)"]
    WB1 --> WB2{"_validate_bridge_account<br/>GET /api/auth/session (common.py:173)"}
    WB2 -->|"email matches or unregistered"| WBOK(("return bridge"))
    WB2 -->|"email mismatch"| WBERR["SystemExit: switch the browser account first (common.py:177-179)"]
    WB2 -->|"bridge unreachable"| WBWARN["log.warning only, proceed<br/>(fallback path doesn't hard-fail, common.py:186-187)"]
    WBWARN --> WBOK

    MODE -->|"cookie (default)"| SRC{"cookie source priority<br/>cookies.resolve (cookies.py:237-269)"}
    SRC -->|"1. --cookies-from specifies browser"| F1["from_browser (cookies.py:65)"]
    SRC -->|"2. --cookies file"| F2["from_file: Netscape / JSON formats<br/>#HttpOnly_ prefix restored (cookies.py:131-171)"]
    SRC -->|"3. fresh cache"| F3["CookieCache.load<br/>&lt;out&gt;/index/.cookies.json, 12h freshness<br/>(cookies.py:182-196)"]
    SRC -->|"4. auto-detect"| F4["edge → chrome → firefox → safari<br/>(AUTO_DETECT_ORDER, cookies.py:46)<br/>browser_cookie3 decryption"]
    F1 --> SESS
    F2 --> SESS
    F3 --> SESS
    F4 --> SESS
    SESS{"GET /api/auth/session<br/>read current email (common.py:126-128)"}
    SESS -->|"email == ACCOUNT_EMAIL[account]<br/>(user-level config accounts.&lt;name&gt;.email)"| OK(("CookieTransport ready<br/>+ CookieCache.save refreshes cache (common.py:150)"))
    SESS -->|"unregistered email"| WARN2["log.warning suggests registering, proceed (common.py:146-149)"] --> OK
    SESS -->|"email mismatch"| SW["_try_switch_account (common.py:190-215)"]
    SW --> ENUM["list_account_tokens (cookies.py:97-128)<br/>enumerate browser __Secure-pplx.session.&lt;uid&gt;<br/>(www-subdomain entries preferred)"]
    ENUM --> LOOP{"per token: replace<br/>__Secure-next-auth.session-token<br/>(ACTIVE_SESSION_COOKIE, cookies.py:94)"}
    LOOP --> PROBE["probe with new CookieTransport<br/>GET /api/auth/session (common.py:207-208)"]
    PROBE -->|"email matches"| SWOK(("switch succeeded: rebuild CookieTransport<br/>with the new cookie jar (common.py:136-140)"))
    PROBE -->|"no match"| LOOP
    LOOP -->|"all failed"| ERR["SystemExit: list target email and current email<br/>prompt to log in in the browser first (common.py:142-145)"]

Essentials:

Multi-account model: one __Secure-pplx.session.<uid> cookie per account in the same browser; switching = writing the target account's value into __Secure-next-auth.session-token (cookies.py:102-104 comment; mechanism tested in api-authentication.md §1.2). No browser UI needed.
Cache follows --out: <out_root>/index/.cookies.json (common.py:111), with fetched_at/source/account_email; always refreshed after successful validation (common.py:150).
webbridge and cookie are mutually exclusive: passing --cookies/--cookies-from together with --transport webbridge errors out (cli.py:229-233; common.py:112-116).
core/auth.py:CredentialProvider (cookie extraction via WebBridge: CDP Storage.getCookies preferred, document.cookie fallback, auth.py:41-67) belongs to the reserved fallback chain; its only caller today is cookies.from_webbridge (cookies.py:219-234).

pplx-ask and accounts¶

8. pplx-ask sequence in detail¶

9. Multi-account cookie switching flow¶