Table of Contents

Interface IChatModel<T>

Namespace
AiDotNet.Interfaces
Assembly
AiDotNet.dll

Defines an interface for chat-based language models that can generate responses to prompts. This interface abstracts the underlying implementation, allowing agents to work with different LLM providers. Extends ILanguageModel to provide unified language model capabilities across the AiDotNet ecosystem.

public interface IChatModel<T> : ILanguageModel<T>

Type Parameters

T

The numeric type used for model parameters and operations (e.g., double, float).

Inherited Members

Remarks

For Beginners: A chat model is like having a conversation partner that can understand and respond to text. Think of it as the "brain" of an AI agent - it reads prompts (questions or instructions) and generates intelligent responses.

This interface allows the AiDotNet library to work with different language model providers (like OpenAI's GPT, Anthropic's Claude, or local models) without changing the agent code. The generic type parameter T allows the model to work with different numeric precision levels.

This interface extends ILanguageModel, which means it inherits:

  • GenerateAsync() - Primary async method for text generation
  • Generate() - Sync version for simple scripts
  • ModelName - Model identifier
  • MaxContextTokens - Context window size
  • MaxGenerationTokens - Maximum response length

Example usage:

IChatModel<double> model = new OpenAIChatModel<double>(apiKey);

// Using the base ILanguageModel method
string response1 = await model.GenerateAsync("What is 2 + 2?");

// Using the IChatModel alias method (same as GenerateAsync)
string response2 = await model.GenerateResponseAsync("What is 2 + 2?");

// Both produce: "2 + 2 equals 4."

Methods

GenerateResponseAsync(string, CancellationToken)

Generates a text response to the given prompt asynchronously. This is an alias for GenerateAsync() provided for backward compatibility and clarity in chat contexts.

Task<string> GenerateResponseAsync(string prompt, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)

Parameters

prompt string

The input text prompt to send to the language model. This can be a question, instruction, or any text that requires a response.

cancellationToken CancellationToken

Optional cancellation token to cancel the operation.

Returns

Task<string>

A task that represents the asynchronous operation. The task result contains the model's generated response as a string.

Remarks

For Beginners: This method is the core of how we communicate with a language model. You give it a prompt (what you want to ask or tell the model), and it generates a response.

This method is identical to GenerateAsync() from ILanguageModel - it's provided as an alias because "GenerateResponseAsync" is clearer in chat/agent contexts.

The method is asynchronous (uses async/await) because communicating with language models can take time, especially when calling external APIs. This prevents your application from freezing while waiting for a response.

Example:

string prompt = "Explain what a neural network is in simple terms.";
string response = await chatModel.GenerateResponseAsync(prompt);
Console.WriteLine(response);

Implementation notes for developers:

  • Most implementations just call GenerateAsync() internally
  • Handle API errors gracefully and return meaningful error messages
  • Consider implementing retry logic for transient failures
  • Respect rate limits and timeouts
  • Sanitize sensitive information from logs
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