vichat

README

vichat

A simple LLM chat cli that uses openai compatible apis.

Why

I find it easier to use text files to test different system prompts on the same user input than a Web UI.

Installation

go install github.com/JackKCWong/vichat@latest

# install vim plugin
vichat i 

Usage

export OPENAI_API_KEY=<your LLM api key>
export OPENAI_API_BASE=<your LLM api base>

Chat directly on cli:

vichat chat [options] tell me a joke about Go
# or
vichat chat -t 0.1 -m 100
tell me a joke about Golang
^D

Chat with history:

cat <<_EOF | vichat chat
SYSTEM: You are a professional joke writer

USER: tell me a joke about goose

AI: Why did the goose go to the doctor? Because he was feeling a little down!

USER: Why did it feel down?
_EOF

Use in Vim:

cat <<_EOF > test.chat
SYSTEM: You are a professional joke writer

USER: tell me a joke about goose
_EOF

vim test.chat

When in Vim (normal mode or insert mode):

• ctrl+s to send the full chat, the result will be appended to the end of the current buffer, just like a usual chat experience.

• ctrl+t to send the full chat, but the result will be put to a new buffer, useful when you want to ask many simple questions that doesn't require context. Saves token usages.

Vim tips:

• put this line in your ~/.vimrc to enable code block highlight in markdown

let g:markdown_fenced_languages = ['html', 'js=javascript', 'rust', 'go', 'java']