bx-ai: Models & Providers

aiModel() BIF

// Signature
aiModel( provider="", params={}, apiKey="" )

Returns a reusable model object used in pipelines, agents, and direct calls.

// Basic — uses default provider from module config
model = aiModel()

// Specific provider
model = aiModel( provider: "openai" )
model = aiModel( provider: "claude" )
model = aiModel( provider: "gemini" )
model = aiModel( provider: "ollama" )

// With default parameters (applied to every call on this model)
model = aiModel(
    provider: "openai",
    params  : {
        model      : "gpt-4o",
        temperature: 0.7,
        max_tokens : 2000
    }
)

Available Providers

Provider	Key Name	Notes
OpenAI	openai	GPT-4o, GPT-4-turbo, o1, etc.
Anthropic Claude	claude	Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Haiku, Opus
Google Gemini	gemini	Gemini 1.5 Pro, Flash
Grok (xAI)	grok	Grok-2
Groq	groq	Ultra-fast inference; Llama, Mixtral
DeepSeek	deepseek	DeepSeek-R1, DeepSeek-V3
Ollama	ollama	Local models — no API key needed
Mistral	mistral	Mistral Large, Pixtral
Perplexity	perplexity	Online search-augmented

Module-Level Provider Config (Recommended)

Configure providers once in ModuleConfig.bx or boxlang.json rather than repeating API keys in every call:

// ModuleConfig.bx
moduleSettings = {
    "bx-ai": {
        defaultProvider: "openai",
        providers: {
            openai: {
                apiKey: server.system.environment.OPENAI_API_KEY,
                model : "gpt-4o"
            },
            claude: {
                apiKey: server.system.environment.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY,
                model : "claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022"
            }
        }
    }
}

With pre-configured providers you can omit apiKey everywhere:

// No apiKey needed — resolved from module config
result = aiChat( "Hello" )
model  = aiModel( provider: "claude" )
agent  = aiAgent( name: "Bot", model: aiModel( provider: "openai" ) )

aiService() — Service-Level Access

// Get the global AI service
service = aiService()

// List configured providers
providers = service.getProviders()

// Get a specific provider instance
openaiProvider = service.getProvider( "openai" )

// Set the default provider at runtime
service.setDefaultProvider( "claude" )

Switching Models per Call

// Override model on a per-request basis via params
result = aiChat(
    "Complex reasoning task",
    { model: "o1-preview", temperature: 1 },
    { provider: "openai" }
)

// Use a cheaper model for simple tasks
simple = aiChat(
    "Is this email spam? Yes or No.",
    { model: "gpt-4o-mini", temperature: 0.0 },
    { provider: "openai" }
)

Common Pitfalls

• ❌ aiModel( "gpt-4o" ) is WRONG — gpt-4o is a model name, not provider
• ✅ aiModel( provider: "openai", params: { model: "gpt-4o" } ) is correct
• ❌ Never hardcode API keys in source code — use environment variables
• ✅ Configure all providers in module settings for centralized management