Spring AI Prompts with Example

In this tutorial, we will set up a Spring Boot application, configure Spring AI, and create prompts manually to interact with AI models via ChatClient.

Introduction

Prompts are essential for directing AI models to generate specific outputs. In this tutorial, we will create and use prompts directly without relying on the PromptTemplate class, giving you more control over the prompt creation process. We will use Spring AI to interact with OpenAI's GPT models through the ChatClient abstraction.

You can use the PromptTemplate class to dynamically generate prompts for AI model interactions via ChatClient.

1. Setting Up the Project

Step 1: Create a New Spring Boot Project

Use Spring Initializr to create a new Spring Boot project. Include dependencies for Spring Web and Spring AI.

Using Spring Initializr:

• Go to start.spring.io
• Select:
  • Project: Maven Project
  • Language: Java
  • Spring Boot: 3.0.0 (or latest)
  • Dependencies: Spring Web
• Generate the project and unzip it.

Step 2: Add Dependencies

In your project's pom.xml, add the necessary dependencies for Spring AI.

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.ai</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-ai-openai-spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.0</version>
</dependency>

2. Configuring Spring AI

Step 1: Add API Key to Configuration

Add your OpenAI API key to application.properties or application.yml.

For application.properties:

openai.api.key=your_openai_api_key

For application.yml:

openai:
  api:
    key: your_openai_api_key

Step 2: Configure Spring Beans

Create a configuration class to set up all necessary Spring beans, including the OpenAiClient and ChatClient.

package com.example.demo.config;

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.ai.openai.OpenAiClient;
import org.springframework.ai.openai.OpenAiChatClient;
import org.springframework.ai.openai.ChatClient;

@Configuration
public class AppConfig {

    @Bean
    public OpenAiClient openAiClient() {
        return new OpenAiClient();
    }

    @Bean
    public ChatClient chatClient(OpenAiClient openAiClient) {
        return new OpenAiChatClient(openAiClient);
    }
}

3. Creating and Using Prompts

Step 1: Create a Service to Use Prompts

Create a service to manually create prompts and interact with the AI model through ChatClient.

package com.example.demo.service;

import org.springframework.ai.openai.ChatClient;
import org.springframework.ai.openai.model.ChatRequest;
import org.springframework.ai.openai.model.ChatResponse;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

@Service
public class PromptService {

    private final ChatClient chatClient;

    @Autowired
    public PromptService(ChatClient chatClient) {
        this.chatClient = chatClient;
    }

    public String generateJoke(String adjective, String topic) {
        // Manually create the prompt
        String prompt = "Tell me a " + adjective + " joke about " + topic;

        // Create a ChatRequest with the generated prompt
        ChatRequest request = new ChatRequest();
        request.setMessage(prompt);

        // Get the response from the ChatClient
        ChatResponse response = chatClient.sendMessage(request);
        return response.getReply();
    }
}

Step 2: Create a Controller to Expose the Service

Create a controller to expose an endpoint for generating jokes.

package com.example.demo.controller;

import com.example.demo.service.PromptService;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;

@RestController
public class PromptController {

    private final PromptService promptService;

    @Autowired
    public PromptController(PromptService promptService) {
        this.promptService = promptService;
    }

    @GetMapping("/joke")
    public String getJoke(@RequestParam String adjective, @RequestParam String topic) {
        return promptService.generateJoke(adjective, topic);
    }
}

4. Testing the Integration

Step 1: Run the Application

Run your Spring Boot application. Ensure the application starts without errors.

Step 2: Access the Joke Endpoint

Use Postman, curl, or your browser to test the endpoint. For example:

http://localhost:8080/joke?adjective=funny&topic=technology

You should receive a joke response generated by the AI model based on the manually created prompt.

Conclusion

This tutorial demonstrated how to set up and use prompts directly in a Spring Boot application with Spring AI, without using the PromptTemplate class. You learned how to manually create prompts, use them in a service, and expose an endpoint to interact with the AI model. 

You can use the PromptTemplate class to dynamically generate prompts for AI model interactions via ChatClient.

For more detailed information, refer to the Spring AI documentation.