Quickstart

This guide will help you get started with Mixlayer by guiding a model to provide simple horoscopes and then deploying it to an API.

To complete this quickstart, you'll need to have a basic understanding of Javascript and know how to run commands in your terminal.

Create an account

If you haven't already, create and sign-in to a Mixlayer account. You can sign up at console.mixlayer.com/sign-up (opens in a new tab).

Open the Playground

Once you're signed in, navigate to the Playground by clicking on the "Playground" tab in the sidebar.

This will allow you to start writing and executing code against a model.

Run your first program

Mixlayer uses two simple functions to interact with the underlying model: prompt and gen.

prompt appends the tokens you specify to the model's context window.
gen instructs the model to produce a completion based on what is already in the context window.

prompt.js

const sign = "capricorn"; 
prompt(`I am a ${sign}, can you tell me a horoscope?\n`, {role: 'user'}); 
gen({ limit: 1000, role: 'assistant' });

Copy and paste the code above into the left editor pane of Playground and run it.

output.txt

I am a capricorn, can you tell me a horoscope?

You are a Capricorn. Here's your horoscope for today:

"Capricorn (December 22 - January 19)

Today, you may feel a sense of restlessness and discontent with your current situation. This could be due to feeling stuck in a rut or not seeing the progress you desire. However, this is also an opportunity for growth and change.

Take some time to reflect on what's holding you back and make a plan to overcome these obstacles. Focus on building your skills and knowledge, and don't be afraid to take calculated risks.

Remember that success rarely happens overnight, but with persistence and hard work, you can achieve your goals."

Deploy

Create an App

Let's make this simple prompt available to users and other apps on the internet. Start by going to the "Apps" tab in the Console and clicking "New App". Enter a name for your app select the llama3.1-instruct-shared model.

Deploy your code

Once the app is created, go to the app's "Deployments" tab and press "New Deployment". Paste the code in from above and click "Deploy".

Make a Request

Mixlayer apps are protected by app tokens. To make a request we have to create a new token:

Click "Auth Tokens" and then click "New Token".
Once the token is created copy it to your clipboard or save it somewhere you can refer to it later.

Go back to the "Settings" screen for the app. At the bottom there is a form that will help you with building a cURL request to access your app from the terminal. Click the $MIXLAYER_APP_TOKEN placeholder and paste in the token you just created.

Press the "Copy" button. Navigate to your terminal and paste the command in:

curl.sh

curl -XPOST -d "{}" \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer app_sk_********' \
  https://app-bwdy9p-kpywgp.a.mixlayer.ai

I am a capricorn, can you tell me a horoscope?

As a Capricorn (December 22 - January 19), here's your horoscope:

The current planetary positions suggest that you're in a period of growth and transformation. With Saturn, your ruling planet, in a harmonious aspect with the Sun, you're likely to feel motivated and driven to achieve your goals.

ℹ️

The request may take a while to complete. By default, Mixlayer will buffer the entire model's output before returning it to you. If you require lower latency, you can instruct the API to stream the response back to you by setting the stream option to true.

Add Parameters

What use is a horoscope API that only works for Capricorns? Let's add a parameter to let it be used for any sign. Mixlayer allows you to pass in a JSON object accessed via request.params:

prompt.js

const sign = request.params.sign || "capricorn"; 
prompt(`I am a ${sign}, can you tell me a horoscope?\n`, {role: 'user'}); 
gen({ limit: 1000, role: 'assistant' });

Paste this code into a new deployment the same way you did in Deploy your Code.

Let's try a new request with the sign param (you can use the cURL helper on the app's tab to help you):

curl.sh

curl -XPOST -d "{ \"params\": {\"sign\":\"sagittarius\"} }" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json'\
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer app_sk_********' \
  https://app-bwdy9p-kpywgp.a.mixlayer.ai

output.txt

I am a sagittarius, can you tell me a horoscope?

As a Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21), here's your horoscope:

**Current Astrological Influences:**

The current planetary positions suggest that you're in a period of growth and exploration. Jupiter, your ruling planet, is in a harmonious trine with Uranus, indicating a sense of freedom and adventure. This aspect can bring new opportunities for travel, learning, and personal expansion.

Going Further

In just a few minutes, we've been able to build an AI API that can generate horoscopes for any sign. Try enhancing this API even further by:

Specifying a system prompt at the beginning to customize the output and personality of the model to your liking (try getting the model to read horoscopes as a pirate 🏴‍☠️)
Adding more parameters to customize the horoscope further
Using hidden tokens to mask out any prompting that isn't directly relevant to the response
Enabling streaming to reduce the latency of the output

Introduction prompt