home / skills / vercel / ai / develop-ai-functions-example

develop-ai-functions-example skill

/skills/develop-ai-functions-example

This skill helps validate and demonstrate AI SDK functions by providing structured examples, tests, and fixtures across providers.

npx playbooks add skill vercel/ai --skill develop-ai-functions-example

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (1)
SKILL.md
7.7 KB
---
name: develop-ai-functions-example
description: Develop examples for AI SDK functions. Use when creating, running, or modifying examples under examples/ai-functions/src to validate provider support, demonstrate features, or create test fixtures.
metadata:
  internal: true
---

## AI Functions Examples

The `examples/ai-functions/` directory contains scripts for validating, testing, and iterating on AI SDK functions across providers.

## Example Categories

Examples are organized by AI SDK function in `examples/ai-functions/src/`:

| Directory          | Purpose                                              |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| `generate-text/`   | Non-streaming text generation with `generateText()`  |
| `stream-text/`     | Streaming text generation with `streamText()`        |
| `generate-object/` | Structured output generation with `generateObject()` |
| `stream-object/`   | Streaming structured output with `streamObject()`    |
| `agent/`           | `ToolLoopAgent` examples for agentic workflows       |
| `embed/`           | Single embedding generation with `embed()`           |
| `embed-many/`      | Batch embedding generation with `embedMany()`        |
| `generate-image/`  | Image generation with `generateImage()`              |
| `generate-speech/` | Text-to-speech with `generateSpeech()`               |
| `transcribe/`      | Audio transcription with `transcribe()`              |
| `rerank/`          | Document reranking with `rerank()`                   |
| `middleware/`      | Custom middleware implementations                    |
| `registry/`        | Provider registry setup and usage                    |
| `telemetry/`       | OpenTelemetry integration                            |
| `complex/`         | Multi-component examples (agents, routers)           |
| `lib/`             | Shared utilities (not examples)                      |
| `tools/`           | Reusable tool definitions                            |

## File Naming Convention

Examples follow the pattern: `{provider}-{feature}.ts`

| Pattern                                  | Example                                    | Description                |
| ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------- |
| `{provider}.ts`                          | `openai.ts`                                | Basic provider usage       |
| `{provider}-{feature}.ts`                | `openai-tool-call.ts`                      | Specific feature           |
| `{provider}-{sub-provider}.ts`           | `amazon-bedrock-anthropic.ts`              | Provider with sub-provider |
| `{provider}-{sub-provider}-{feature}.ts` | `google-vertex-anthropic-cache-control.ts` | Sub-provider with feature  |

## Example Structure

All examples use the `run()` wrapper from `lib/run.ts` which:

- Loads environment variables from `.env`
- Provides error handling with detailed API error logging

### Basic Template

```typescript
import { providerName } from '@ai-sdk/provider-name';
import { generateText } from 'ai';
import { run } from '../lib/run';

run(async () => {
  const result = await generateText({
    model: providerName('model-id'),
    prompt: 'Your prompt here.',
  });

  console.log(result.text);
  console.log('Token usage:', result.usage);
  console.log('Finish reason:', result.finishReason);
});
```

### Streaming Template

```typescript
import { providerName } from '@ai-sdk/provider-name';
import { streamText } from 'ai';
import { printFullStream } from '../lib/print-full-stream';
import { run } from '../lib/run';

run(async () => {
  const result = streamText({
    model: providerName('model-id'),
    prompt: 'Your prompt here.',
  });

  await printFullStream({ result });
});
```

### Tool Calling Template

```typescript
import { providerName } from '@ai-sdk/provider-name';
import { generateText, tool } from 'ai';
import { z } from 'zod';
import { run } from '../lib/run';

run(async () => {
  const result = await generateText({
    model: providerName('model-id'),
    tools: {
      myTool: tool({
        description: 'Tool description',
        inputSchema: z.object({
          param: z.string().describe('Parameter description'),
        }),
        execute: async ({ param }) => {
          return { result: `Processed: ${param}` };
        },
      }),
    },
    prompt: 'Use the tool to...',
  });

  console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
});
```

### Structured Output Template

```typescript
import { providerName } from '@ai-sdk/provider-name';
import { generateObject } from 'ai';
import { z } from 'zod';
import { run } from '../lib/run';

run(async () => {
  const result = await generateObject({
    model: providerName('model-id'),
    schema: z.object({
      name: z.string(),
      items: z.array(z.string()),
    }),
    prompt: 'Generate a...',
  });

  console.log(JSON.stringify(result.object, null, 2));
  console.log('Token usage:', result.usage);
});
```

## Running Examples

From the `examples/ai-functions` directory:

```bash
pnpm tsx src/generate-text/openai.ts
pnpm tsx src/stream-text/openai-tool-call.ts
pnpm tsx src/agent/openai-generate.ts
```

## When to Write Examples

Write examples when:

1. **Adding a new provider**: Create basic examples for each supported API (`generateText`, `streamText`, `generateObject`, etc.)

2. **Implementing a new feature**: Demonstrate the feature with at least one provider example

3. **Reproducing a bug**: Create an example that shows the issue for debugging

4. **Adding provider-specific options**: Show how to use `providerOptions` for provider-specific settings

5. **Creating test fixtures**: Use examples to generate API response fixtures (see `capture-api-response-test-fixture` skill)

## Utility Helpers

The `lib/` directory contains shared utilities:

| File                   | Purpose                                                  |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| `run.ts`               | Error-handling wrapper with `.env` loading               |
| `print.ts`             | Clean object printing (removes undefined values)         |
| `print-full-stream.ts` | Colored streaming output for tool calls, reasoning, text |
| `save-raw-chunks.ts`   | Save streaming chunks for test fixtures                  |
| `present-image.ts`     | Display images in terminal                               |
| `save-audio.ts`        | Save audio files to disk                                 |

### Using print utilities

```typescript
import { print } from '../lib/print';

// Pretty print objects without undefined values
print('Result:', result);
print('Usage:', result.usage, { depth: 2 });
```

### Using printFullStream

```typescript
import { printFullStream } from '../lib/print-full-stream';

const result = streamText({ ... });
await printFullStream({ result }); // Colored output for text, tool calls, reasoning
```

## Reusable Tools

The `tools/` directory contains reusable tool definitions:

```typescript
import { weatherTool } from '../tools/weather-tool';

const result = await generateText({
  model: openai('gpt-4o'),
  tools: { weather: weatherTool },
  prompt: 'What is the weather in San Francisco?',
});
```

## Best Practices

1. **Keep examples focused**: Each example should demonstrate one feature or use case

2. **Use descriptive prompts**: Make it clear what the example is testing

3. **Handle errors gracefully**: The `run()` wrapper handles this automatically

4. **Use realistic model IDs**: Use actual model IDs that work with the provider

5. **Add comments for complex logic**: Explain non-obvious code patterns

6. **Reuse tools when appropriate**: Use `weatherTool` or create new reusable tools in `tools/`

Overview

This skill provides a collection of concrete TypeScript examples for the AI SDK functions, organized under examples/ai-functions/src. It helps you create, run, and modify example scripts that validate provider support, demonstrate SDK features, and produce test fixtures. The examples cover text, streaming, structured outputs, embeddings, images, speech, transcription, reranking, agents, middleware, and telemetry.

How this skill works

Each example follows a consistent template that loads environment variables, wraps execution with run() for error handling, and calls a focused SDK function (generateText, streamText, generateObject, etc.). Files are named by provider and feature (e.g., provider-feature.ts) so you can quickly find or add examples. Utility helpers under lib/ provide printing, streaming visualization, saving raw chunks, and other developer conveniences used by examples.

When to use it

  • Adding a new provider: provide basic examples for core APIs (generateText, streamText, generateObject, etc.).
  • Implementing a new feature: include at least one provider example demonstrating the feature in practice.
  • Reproducing a bug: create a minimal example that reproduces the issue for debugging and CI tests.
  • Documenting provider-specific options: show how to pass providerOptions and any sub-provider configuration.
  • Creating test fixtures: generate API response fixtures or save streaming chunks for tests.

Best practices

  • Keep each example focused on a single feature or behavior to make intent and debugging clear.
  • Use descriptive prompts so outputs demonstrate the behavior being validated.
  • Leverage run() to standardize .env loading and error handling across examples.
  • Reuse tools and utilities (tools/, lib/) rather than duplicating logic across examples.
  • Use realistic model IDs and provider options to ensure examples run reliably during local testing.

Example use cases

  • Non-streaming text generation example using generateText for basic prompt testing.
  • Streaming text example using streamText and printFullStream to inspect intermediate chunks and tool calls.
  • Structured output example with generateObject and zod schema to validate parsed objects.
  • Agent/example using ToolLoopAgent to demonstrate tool calling and agent decision trace.
  • Embedding and batch embedding examples with embed() and embedMany() to validate vector output and shapes.
  • Image and speech generation examples to show media generation and saving outputs to disk.

FAQ

How are examples organized?

Examples are grouped by SDK function in src (generate-text, stream-text, generate-object, etc.) and follow a provider-feature file naming convention.

What utilities should I use in new examples?

Use the run() wrapper for env and error handling, print utilities for clean output, and printFullStream or save-raw-chunks for streaming scenarios.