Minimal AI chat

Source: examples/panels/ai/chat_min.py Test: tests/panels/ai/examples/test_chat_min.py

The shortest path to a working LLM chat inside panelini.

The code

from dotenv import load_dotenv
from panel import serve

from panelini import Panelini

load_dotenv()

app = Panelini(title="Panelini AI Chat", use_ai=True)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    serve(app.servable(), title="Panelini AI Chat", port=5006)

What you get

        graph LR
    subgraph dashboard [" Panelini ( use_ai=True ) "]
        direction LR
        subgraph sidebar [" Left sidebar "]
            gen(["General Setup"])
            prov(["Provider Settings"])
            model(["Model Settings"])
            tools(["Basic Tools"])
        end
        subgraph main [" Main area "]
            chat(["Chat"])
            preview(["Preview"])
        end
    end

    classDef side fill:#6366f1,stroke:#4f46e5,color:#ffffff
    classDef main fill:#0d7377,stroke:#095c5f,color:#ffffff
    class gen,prov,model,tools side
    class chat,preview main

  • Left sidebar — provider/model pickers, temperature slider, tool toggles, chat export/clear.

  • Main area — a chat window on the left, a live markdown preview pane on the right that the update_preview tool can write to.

Configuration

panelini reads provider credentials from environment variables. Drop a .env file next to your script:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
ANTHROPIC_ENDPOINT=https://api.anthropic.com

The bundled default_config.yml covers Anthropic and Azure OpenAI. Point at a custom config with ai_config_path="config.yml" or the PANELINI_AI_CONFIG_PATH env var.

How the test exercises it

@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
def panel_server(mock_langchain):
    p1, p2 = mock_langchain
    with p1, p2:
        module = importlib.reload(importlib.import_module("examples.panels.ai.chat_min"))
        server = pn.serve(module.app.servable(), port=_PORT, threaded=True, show=False)
        ...

The fixture imports the real example module under a LangChain mock, so a regression in chat_min.py immediately fails the test. See tests/panels/ai/examples/conftest.py for the shared mock_langchain fixture.

See also