How do I integrate and choose the right tools with the Assistants API?

Below is an overview of how you can work with the Assistants API and some of the tools provided by our libraries to help you integrate it into your application.

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Using the Assistants API

The primary way to interact with the OpenAI Assistants API is via the provided React hook. For example, the Vercel AI SDK offers a hook called useAssistant that abstracts the connection and interaction with the Assistants API. With useAssistant, you can initialize an assistant, send data, and handle responses within your React components. The basic usage is as follows:

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import { useAssistant } from "@assistant-ui/react-ai-sdk";

const MyComponent = () => {
  const assistant = useAssistant();

  const handleSend = async () => {
    const response = await assistant.send({
      prompt: "Hello, assistant!",
      // additional configuration can be provided here
    });
    console.log(response);
  };

  return <button onClick={handleSend}>Talk to Assistant</button>;
};

This hook manages the state and streamlines the process of communicating with the API, making it the central tool for many AI-driven interactions.

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Frequently Used Tools

• useAssistant Hook:
  This is the core integration point for interacting with the Assistants API. It’s typically the most used tool because it provides all the necessary helpers to manage the assistant’s state, send prompts, and receive responses.
  (Return type: UseAssistantHelpers from ai/react)

• Form Integration with useAssistantForm and formTools:
  In cases where you're building form-driven interfaces (especially in environments that don’t support client‑side tool definitions, such as the Vercel AI SDK), the useAssistantForm hook elevates the functionality of React Hook Form. When combined with formTools from @assistant-ui/react-hook-form, it allows for seamless integration of the Assistants API with your form logic. For example:

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  import { formTools } from "@assistant-ui/react-hook-form";
  import { streamText } from "@assistant-ui/react-ai-sdk";
  
  const runTextStream = async () => {
    const result = await streamText({
      prompt: "Process form submission",
      tools: {
        ...formTools,
      },
    });
    console.log(result);
  };

  This integration is particularly useful when dealing with dynamic tools that are defined server-side or when additional capabilities are needed in form handling.

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Tools Used Less Frequently

While the documentation provides multiple integrations to cater to different scenarios, some integrations or specialized tool configurations are generally used less often. For instance:

• Custom REST API Integrations or External Store Runtimes:
  For developers who need custom solutions beyond the provided hooks (like when a highly tailored backend interaction is required), these integrations exist but typically see less usage compared with the out-of-the-box convenience provided by useAssistant and its associated form tools.

• Specialized Client-Side Tool Configurations:
  In environments where client-side tool definitions are fully supported, developers might not need to use the provided server-side solutions such as formTools—making these use cases a bit more specialized.

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Summary

• How to Use the Assistants API:
  Use the useAssistant hook to integrate with the OpenAI Assistants API and manage assistant interactions in your React app.

• Most Used and Useful Tools:
  • The useAssistant hook is the most common and crucial tool.
  • For form-based interactions, the combination of useAssistantForm with formTools enhances functionality in environments that have certain constraints (like the Vercel AI SDK).

• Least Used Tools:
  • Custom integrations (like custom REST API endpoints, external store runtimes, or specialized client-side configurations) tend to be more niche and are used less frequently by the average developer.

Each of these tools is designed to address a different use case, so the “most useful” tool will depend on your specific requirements. The useAssistant hook stands out as the primary entry point for most standard interactions with the API.