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PerplexityAI

How to Use Comet Assistant

The Comet Assistant is the AI built into Perplexity’s Comet browser. It can read the page you’re on, work across your tabs, search your history and, under your supervision, click, type and fill in forms for you. Here’s how to open it, talk to it, give it tasks and stay in control.

Get Comet ↗

Comet Assistant at a glance

Open it
⌥ + A / Alt + A
Ask by
Typing or voice
Point at a tab
@tab
Can act
Click, type, fill forms
Connectors
Gmail, Calendar
Price
Free with Comet

Step 1

How to open the Comet Assistant

⌥ Option/Alt+A

Keyboard shortcut

Press Option + A on Mac or Alt + A on Windows to open the Assistant panel from any page.

Assistant button

Click Assistant in the toolbar to open the side panel.

Summarize

Use Summarize for an instant summary, translation or quick answer about the current page.

Step 2

Talk to it in plain language, and use @tab

Type or speak naturally. Comet understands context from your open tabs and browsing history. To focus it on one page, type @tab and pick the tab.

Flight searchHotel reviewsTravel blog
Using @Hotel reviews, which hotel has the fewest complaints about noise?
The Harbour View has the fewest noise complaints in those reviews: 2 of 140 mention it, mostly about construction last spring. Want me to compare its price with the other two?

Illustration only: an example of how @tab works, not a real answer.

Be specific

Say what you want, where, and in what format: “a table”, “3 bullets”, “under $200”.

Reference tabs

Use @tab to compare pages instead of copying text between them.

Set limits

Tell it where to stop: “Fill the form but don’t submit.”

Ideas

What the Comet Assistant can do: prompts to try

Many of these come straight from Perplexity’s own Comet guides.

Understand pages

  • Summarize this page in 5 bullets
  • Summarize the last video I watched
  • Translate this page into Sinhala
  • What are the key arguments on this page?

Manage tabs

  • Group my research tabs
  • Close everything I haven't touched in three days
  • Take me to my most visited page recently
  • Compare @Tab1 and @Tab2 in a table

Email and calendar

  • Who am I meeting today?
  • What's on my schedule tomorrow
  • Move my next meeting to later in the evening
  • What are my action items today

Do tasks

  • Add Caesar salad ingredients to my cart
  • Fill in this form with my details, then stop before submitting
  • Find the cheapest return flight on these dates
  • Compare these three chairs and pick the best under $200

Research and news

  • Identify today's 3 hottest news stories
  • Show interesting news from my feeds
  • Find interesting contacts in my inbound linkedin connection requests
  • Find three sources that disagree with this article

Agent tasks

Let the assistant do tasks for you

Comet “clicks, types, submits and autofills” on websites to finish multi-step jobs, working under your supervision.

You describe the goal“Add Caesar salad ingredients to my cart.”
It plans the stepsFinds a recipe, lists ingredients, opens the store.
It acts on pagesSearches, clicks and adds items while you watch.
You confirmReview the cart and approve checkout yourself.

Watch the first few tasks closely. If anything looks wrong, stop the task and take over in the browser.

Connectors

Connect Gmail and Calendar

With the Gmail and Calendar connectors, Comet can brief you on your day, find answers in your inbox, and send or schedule on your behalf.

What you can ask

  • “Who am I meeting today?”
  • “What are my action items today?”
  • “Find the email with my flight booking.”
  • “Move my next meeting to later in the evening.”

Before you connect

  • Connect only accounts you’re allowed to (check work policies)
  • Review the permissions on the consent screen
  • Ask for drafts, then send yourself, until you trust it
  • Remove access any time from your Google account’s third-party access page

Comet Assistant prompt builder

Build a clear prompt with a scope, output and safety limit, then copy it into the assistant.

Prompt

    

  


  

    
Settings
Settings that make the assistant better

    

      
Keep Perplexity as search
Settings › Search engine › make sure Perplexity AI is selected.

      
Make Comet your default
Settings › Default browser › Make Default, so links open where the assistant lives.

      
Import your browser data
Bring over bookmarks and passwords from your previous browser.

      
Block ads and trackers
Tune tracker and ad blocking in privacy settings for cleaner pages.

      
Save memory
Turn on memory saver or sleeping tabs if you keep many tabs open.

      
Pick a theme
Settings › Appearance for light, dark or system themes.

    

  


  

    

      
Stay in control of the assistant

      
An assistant that acts on websites is powerful, and pages can contain hidden instructions meant to mislead AI (prompt injection). These habits keep you safe:

      
    
        
  • Confirm money and messages yourself. Ask it to stop before paying, submitting or sending.
    • 
        
  • Keep sensitive sites out of tasks. Don’t run tasks while signed in to banking or admin dashboards.
    • 
        
  • Watch for detours. Stop the task if it visits unexpected sites or asks for codes or passwords.
    • 
        
  • Limit connectors. Connect only the accounts a task needs and review access regularly.
    • 
        
  • Update Comet. Security fixes arrive in updates.
    • 
      

    

    
More: Comet privacy and security.

  


  

    
FAQ
Comet Assistant questions

    

      
How do I open the Comet Assistant?
Press Option + A on a Mac or Alt + A on Windows. You can also click the Assistant button in Comet’s toolbar, or use the Summarize option for a quick summary of the page.

      
What does @tab do?
Typing @tab lets you point the assistant at a specific open tab, so its answer is based on that page. You can reference more than one tab to compare them.

      
Can the Comet Assistant click and type for me?
Yes. Comet can click, type, submit and autofill on websites to complete tasks, working under your supervision. Watch what it does and confirm important steps like purchases or sending messages.

      
Can I talk to the Comet Assistant?
Yes. You can type or speak natural questions and commands, and Comet uses context from your tabs and history.

      
How do I connect Gmail and Google Calendar?
Comet offers Gmail and Calendar connectors so it can brief you on your day, find answers in your inbox, and send or schedule on your behalf. Connect them when Comet prompts you or from its settings, and only grant access you’re comfortable with.

      
Does the assistant work the same on mobile?
Mobile versions focus on browsing, summaries and voice. Some agent features available on desktop may be limited on phones.

      
Is it safe to let the assistant act for me?
Use it with care. Web pages can contain hidden instructions that try to mislead AI assistants (prompt injection). Review actions before they happen, avoid running tasks while signed in to banking, and stop any task that behaves unexpectedly.

      
Why doesn’t Alt + A open the assistant?
Another app may be using the same shortcut, or Comet isn’t the active window. Click into Comet first, close conflicting apps, or open the assistant from the toolbar.

    

    
Sources

    
    
      
  1. Comet Help Center: Key settings to get you going
    2. 
      
  2. Comet Help Center: Advice and use cases
    3. 
      
  3. Perplexity: Ways to use Comet
    4. 
    

    
More about Comet

    

      Comet overviewFeatures and getting started
      Download CometEvery device
      Comet vs ChromeSide by side
      PrivacyData and security
      Comet reviewPros and cons
      Prompt libraryMore ideas
    

  


  

    

      
Try it

      
Open Comet and press Alt + A

      
Start with a summary or a tab comparison, then try a small supervised task.

      

        Get Comet free ↗
        Build a prompt