# Decisions API returns near-uniform probabilities for every question, including the quickstart example

**URL:** <https://community.perplexity.ai/t/decisions-api-returns-near-uniform-probabilities-for-every-question-including-the-quickstart-example/6348>\
**Category:** Bug Reports\
**Tags:** api\
**Created:** [October 13, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://community.perplexity.ai/t/decisions-api-returns-near-uniform-probabilities-for-every-question-including-the-quickstart-example/6348 "2026-10-13T12:47:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Urs\_de\_Swardt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.perplexity.ai/urs_de_swardt/32/3668_2.png) [@Urs\_de\_Swardt](https://community.perplexity.ai/u/Urs_de_Swardt)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://community.perplexity.ai/t/decisions-api-returns-near-uniform-probabilities-for-every-question-including-the-quickstart-example/6348/1 "2026-10-13T12:47:48Z")

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## Pre-flight checklist

- This is about the Perplexity API, not the Perplexity app, Computer, Comet, or web UI.
- I have removed API keys, secrets, and private data.
- I have included enough information for someone else to reproduce the issue.

## Bug type

- Incorrect or unexpected model output

## Affected API area

- Decisions API (`POST /v1/decisions`)

## Summary

`pplx-decider-v1.1-27b` returns near-uniform probabilities for every question we send, including the quickstart example. The same request shapes returned confident, correct answers for us on 2026-10-08.

## Expected behavior

For the quickstart review, `defect` close to 1 and `sentiment` clearly weighted toward `negative`.

## Actual behavior

`sentiment` is an even three-way split and `defect` is 0.73. Every question sits near the uniform prior, e.g. a noul “Is the sky green?” returns 0.41.

## Minimal reproduction

The quickstart example, unchanged:

```bash
curl -s https://api.perplexity.ai/v1/decisions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PERPLEXITY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "pplx-decider-v1.1-27b",
    "state": {
      "title": "Battery died after two weeks",
      "review": "The headphones sound great, but the battery stopped charging after two weeks."
    },
    "questions": {
      "defect": {"type": "noul", "instructions": "Does the review report a product defect?"},
      "sentiment": {
        "type": "choice",
        "instructions": "What is the overall sentiment of the review?",
        "criteria": {"positive": null, "mixed": null, "negative": null}
      }
    }
  }'

```

## Response or error

HTTP 200:

```json
{"model":"pplx-decider-v1.1-27b","answers":{"defect":{"type":"noul","noul":0.7316924307587059},"sentiment":{"type":"choice","choice":"negative","confidence":0.003439309703517079,"probabilities":{"positive":0.33112626029180947,"mixed":0.3332475332391792,"negative":0.33562620646901137}}},"usage":{"input_tokens":235,"output_tokens":2}}

```

## Request details

- Endpoint: `POST https://api.perplexity.ai/v1/decisions`
- Model or preset: `pplx-decider-v1.1-27b` (`pplx-decider-v1-27b` returns byte-identical numbers)
- SDK/language/version: raw HTTP (Python `httpx`)
- Request ID: `ccbfbc6c-3c97-4289-a935-129d8da8af0f`, `9ddeaecc-8138-4fe9-88d4-cf4a160073c0`
- Approximate time and timezone: 2026-10-13 around 11:35 UTC; first seen around 10:47 UTC
- Consistent or intermittent: consistent; repeated calls return identical numbers

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![andrewmadson-pplx](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.perplexity.ai/andrewmadson-pplx/32/3428_2.png) [@andrewmadson-pplx](https://community.perplexity.ai/u/andrewmadson-pplx)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 2:57pm UTC](https://community.perplexity.ai/t/decisions-api-returns-near-uniform-probabilities-for-every-question-including-the-quickstart-example/6348/2 "2026-10-13T14:57:52Z")

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Thank you for the report. I connected with the engineering team and they’ve made some updates. Can you please try again?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Urs\_de\_Swardt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/community.perplexity.ai/urs_de_swardt/32/3668_2.png) [@Urs\_de\_Swardt](https://community.perplexity.ai/u/Urs_de_Swardt)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:33pm UTC](https://community.perplexity.ai/t/decisions-api-returns-near-uniform-probabilities-for-every-question-including-the-quickstart-example/6348/3 "2026-10-13T16:33:14Z")

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Thanks Andrew! Looks like it’s behaving normally again.