Can You Connect Perplexity to Public?
Last updated November 2026
Short answer
For a Public account, yes. Public's own official AI connector names Perplexity as a supported assistant, and it covers Public accounts only. We have not verified that Perplexity can hold other custom connectors, so for anything beyond Public the routes are an assistant that does support them, such as Claude or ChatGPT, or Walnut's own built-in assistant. Perplexity's built-in Portfolio feature can also read linked accounts through Plaid, read-only. Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser.
Perplexity is built mainly for search and citation, with a read-only Portfolio feature added in March 2026 that links brokerage accounts through Plaid. That gives it one route to a Public account, a read-only link, and leaves custom connectors unverified. This page covers both, and what to use if you want more than reading.
What actually works today
For a Public account, the simplest route is Public's own connector, set up from Public's side. It reaches nothing else, so if you also hold accounts at other brokers, Perplexity still cannot see them through it, only through its read-only Portfolio feature (where Plaid supports them) or another connector, which we have not verified.
The other routes are Perplexity's own Portfolio feature (read-only, through Plaid), an assistant that supports custom connectors, or Walnut's own built-in assistant, which reads a connected Public account without needing Perplexity or any other client.
Walnut reads Public and places buys you approve there. Public enforces a $5 minimum per fractional order, so each leg of a small basket has to clear that. Public also hosts its own connector at mcp.public.com/mcp for Public accounts only; Walnut adds analysis across your other brokers and baskets with target weights.
If you paste your Public holdings in instead
Pasting needs no setup, and it works for a single question. If Public has no positions download you can find, a screenshot of the positions screen works, because Perplexity reads images. Keep the symbol, the number of shares and the current value of each position. Remove account numbers and your name first: the assistant needs none of them to answer.
Pasting has limits. The numbers are out of date as soon as prices change. Perplexity cannot say how a holding has performed over time unless you also give it past prices. If it misreads a row, nothing catches the mistake. It also sees only the accounts you paste, so it cannot spot the same stock held at two brokers unless you paste both.
If you paste the same account every week, a live connection through Claude, ChatGPT or Walnut's built-in assistant saves that step.
Public's own AI connector
Public hosts its own official MCP server at mcp.public.com/mcp, part of the Agentic Brokerage it launched on March 31, 2026. Its setup docs list Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Perplexity, Grok and Meta Muse, and it can read a Public account and place orders. It works with Public accounts only.
That makes it the direct route if Public is the only account you want an assistant to see. Walnut covers a different case: one connection across several brokers, including brokers with no connector of their own, read-only by default, with baskets of target weights on top, and buys placed only when you approve each one.
Perplexity Portfolio, the built-in option
In March 2026 Perplexity launched a Portfolio feature that links investment accounts through Plaid. Plaid's own announcement says it reads holdings, transactions, balances and securities data across linked accounts, and shows positions and performance in a dashboard you can ask questions about.
It is read-only: Plaid states it does not place trades or move funds. Whether Public appears depends on Plaid's coverage, so check the list when you link, and check which Perplexity plans include the feature. What Walnut adds is buys you approve at Public (and at E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull and other brokers), baskets with target weights and a suggested rebalance, each holding framed against the S&P 500, and the same connection inside Claude and ChatGPT.
What it can and cannot see
| Data | Available? |
|---|---|
| Positions and quantities | Yes, once connected. This is the base of any analysis |
| Average cost per position | Not through Walnut, which receives no cost basis from brokers, so returns are measured as price change over a period |
| Account balances | Yes |
| Placing an order | Buys, yes, with your approval on each order, from Walnut's app and assistant |
| Your tax position and goals | No. Nothing knows this unless you say it |
| Accounts at other providers | Only if you connect those too |
Whether orders can be placed depends on the broker and on Walnut, not on the assistant. Walnut places buys you approve at Public, and at E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull and other brokers, and reads every other connected broker in full, so the analysis can cover all your accounts while each buy goes to a broker that takes them.
Get a recommendation for your situation
Walnut is the AI that knows your portfolio: ask anything in plain English, research any fund, and get an honest second opinion. On the broker you already use, read-only, and you approve every trade. Walnut is not a registered investment adviser.
What to ask about your Public account
First ask the assistant to list your positions, so you know what it can see. These questions are useful on a Public account in particular.
What trades would bring this basket back to its target weights?
Public takes buys you approve through Walnut. The assistant lists the trades, and nothing reaches Public until you approve the specific order.
Does every leg of this plan clear Public's $5 minimum?
Public requires at least $5 per fractional order, so the smallest target weight in a basket, not the number of holdings, decides the smallest amount that works.
How has each holding done against the S&P 500 over the past year?
Walnut measures each holding as price change over the period against the index, because brokers send no cost basis, so it shows how each holding performed, not your profit or loss on it.
You may not need Perplexity for this
If the goal is to ask questions about your own portfolio and get answers based on what you hold, the assistant you use is a matter of preference.
Walnut connects Public and has its own built-in assistant, so the conversation works whether or not Perplexity ever supports connectors. For people who would rather stay in the assistant they already use, Walnut also exposes an MCP connector that Claude and ChatGPT accept. Both routes read the same account.
Related: connecting Public to an AI assistant covers this broker in depth, and AI portfolio analysis covers what you can learn from reading the account alone.
FAQ
Can Perplexity connect to Public?
For a Public account, yes: Public's own official connector names Perplexity as a supported assistant, and it covers Public accounts only. We have not verified that Perplexity can hold other custom connectors, such as one that reaches several brokers at once, so for those the working route is Claude, ChatGPT or Walnut's own built-in assistant. Perplexity's Portfolio feature is a separate, read-only route that links accounts through Plaid.
Does Perplexity see my real Public holdings?
Only if you link it, through Perplexity's Portfolio feature (read-only, through Plaid, and only if Public is listed when you link) or Public's own connector. Otherwise anything Perplexity says about your holdings comes from what you typed into it, not from your account.
Can Perplexity place trades in my Public account?
Walnut's own app and built-in assistant place buys you approve at Public, and nothing reaches the broker until you approve the specific order. Approving and placing are separate steps, and each approval covers one specific order. Public's own connector is a second route for orders, limited to Public accounts. Perplexity's Portfolio feature cannot place trades either.
Is it safe to connect Public to an AI assistant?
The safe shape is the same regardless of assistant: you sign in at Public's own screen so no tool handles your password, access is scoped and revocable, and you can end it from the broker's side as well as the app's. Check those before you connect.
What can it not do?
It does not know your tax position, your goals, or any account you have not connected, so advice depending on those is guessing unless you supply them. It also cannot see accounts at other providers unless you connect those too.
Do I need Perplexity at all?
No. Walnut has its own built-in assistant that reads a connected Public account directly, so you can ask about your portfolio without Perplexity or any other client supporting connectors. Using Perplexity is optional.
Which brokers can an AI assistant actually trade?
Through Walnut, buys you approve are placed at Public first, and also at E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull (US and Canada), moomoo, Questrade, Wealthsimple, Trading 212 and Stake (Australia). Every other connected broker, including Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard and Interactive Brokers, is read in full for tracking and analysis. Separately, several brokers now run their own official AI connectors for their own accounts, including Robinhood, Interactive Brokers (which drafts orders for you to submit), Webull and Public.
How do I disconnect Public?
From the app that holds the connection. In Walnut, the brokerage screen has a disconnect that removes the authorization, so nothing can read Public through it any more, including Perplexity. You can also review and revoke connected apps from Public's own account settings.
Is connecting Public to Perplexity free?
Walnut is free to start, including connecting Public and using Walnut's built-in assistant. Walnut Plus, $9.99 a month on the web, removes the session limit on the assistant. Pricing changes, so check the current plans before you rely on this.
What should I ask once it is connected?
Ask it to list your positions and their weights, sorted by value. That shows what it can see and how concentrated the account is. Then ask how each holding has done against the S&P 500.
More on Public
Connect your broker to an AI assistant
Step-by-step guides for each major broker, plus the general setup guides for ChatGPT and Claude, which brokers have an AI assistant built in, and Walnut's MCP connector.
Related articles
Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser, and nothing here is investment advice. Assistant connector support and broker integrations both change; the positions described were checked again in October 2026 and may have changed since.