Abstract: Pyrolysis, an economically viable method, thermochemically converts solid fuel into transportation fuels and value-added chemicals, such as clean gas, liquid fuels, and chemicals, alongside undesirable by-products. Photoionization mass spectrometry (PIMS) is a versatile technique for real-time process analysis, offering ‘soft’ ionization for complex analytes, detecting and analyzing ions during in-situ pyrolysis. This review focuses on recent applications of PIMS during pyrolysis of solid fuels (i.e. coal, biomass and energetic materials). It summarizes studies on mass spectrometric analysis combined with different reactors and highlights the benefits through online PIMS as a diagnostic tool for in-situ analysis. It provides an overview of interplay between experimental advancements and models and discusses future perspectives, potential applications in support of mechanistic studies.