chap - A Python interface to chatgpt, including a terminal user interface (tui)

System requirements

Chap is developed on Linux with Python 3.11. Due to use of the list[int] style of type hints, it is known not to work on 3.8 and older; the target minimum Python version is 3.9 (debian oldstable).

installation

Install with e.g., pipx install chap

configuration

Put your OpenAI API key in the platform configuration directory for chap, e.g., on linux/unix systems at ~/.config/chap/openai_api_key

commandline usage

• chap ask "What advice would you give a 20th century human visiting the 21st century for the first time?"

• chap render --last

• chap import chatgpt-style-chatlog.json (for files from pionxzh/chatgpt-exporter)

interactive terminal usage

• chap tui

Sessions & Commandline Parameters

Details of session handling & commandline arguments are in flux.

By default, a new session is created. It is saved to the user's state directory (e.g., ~/.local/state/chap on linux/unix systems).

You can specify the session filename for a new session with -n or to re-open an existing session with -s. Or, you can continue the last session with --last.

You can set the "system message" with the -S flag.

You can select the text generating backend with the -b flag:

• openai_chatgpt: the default, paid API, best quality results
• llama_cpp: Works with (llama.cpp's http server)[https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp/blob/master/examples/server/README.md] and can run locally with various models. Set the server URL with -B url:....
• textgen: Works with https://github.com/oobabooga/text-generation-webui and can run locally with various models. Needs the server URL in $configuration_directory/textgen_url.
• lorem: local non-AI lorem generator for testing

Environment variables

The backend can be set with CHAP_BACKEND. Backend settings can be set with CHAP_<backend_name>_<parameter_name>, with backend_name and parameter_name all in caps. For instance, CHAP_LLAMA_CPP_URL=http://server.local:8080/completion changes the default server URL for the llama_cpp back-end.

Importing from ChatGPT

The userscript https://github.com/pionxzh/chatgpt-exporter can export chat logs from chat.openai.com in a json format. This format is different than chap's, especially since chap currently only represents a single branch of conversation in one log. You can use the chap import command to import all the branches of a chatgpt-style chatlog in json format into a series of chap-style chat logs.