Follow up AI Plugin for Moodle: StdIO OpenAI Compatible plugin #79

freshystar · 2025-10-13T08:10:39Z

Implement Rust Sidecar and Enhanced PHP Communication for OpenAI Assistant

Rust Sidecar Implementation:

Built openai-moodle-sidecar using Actix-web and Tokio for async HTTP server functionality
Implemented dual-mode architecture: HTTP server (port 8081) with automatic stdio fallback
Added shared OpenAI client instances using Arc for memory efficiency
Created comprehensive CLI argument parsing with environment variable support
Integrated health check endpoint (/health) and main API endpoint (/amplement Rust Sidecar and Enhanced PHP Communication for OpenAI Assistant

PHP Plugin Enhancements:

Developed

stdio_communicator.php: class with intelligent communication strategy
Implemented HTTP-first approach with CURL-based requests and configurable timeouts
Added robust stdio fallback using proc_open() for process spawning
Created environment variable mapping for seamless configuration
Added comprehensive error handling, logging, and sensitive data masking
Integrated binary existence and permission validation

- Added chat interface for interacting with OpenAI API in chat.php. - Created api_client class for handling API requests and responses. - Developed stdio_communicator class to manage communication with the Rust sidecar. - Defined database schema for storing AI conversations in install.xml. - Added language strings for plugin localization in local_openai_assistant.php. - Implemented navigation integration for the OpenAI Assistant in lib.php. - Included CSS styles for improved UI in styles.css. - Specified plugin versioning and requirements in version.php.

…d status checks

- Removed the openai crate dependency and replaced it with direct reqwest calls in OpenAIClient. - Updated OpenAIClient to include api_key and base_url as fields. - Refactored message handling in the chat and summarize handlers to use JSON directly. - Enhanced error handling for API responses to provide clearer feedback. - Updated argument parsing to use environment variables for configuration. - Added a new chat widget with a welcome message and improved UI interactions. - Implemented a simple Markdown-like renderer for AI responses in the chat widget. - Improved logging and error handling in the PHP API client and communicator classes. - Added new JavaScript and CSS files for the chat widget functionality and styling.

…_footer function feat: Add modal HTML structure and improve message handling in OpenAIChatWidget

…esponse Handling - Added custom CSS for AI response formatting in chat interface. - Refactored API client to handle empty responses and validate response structure. - Implemented HTTP request handling in stdio communicator with fallback to stdio mode. - Improved AI response rendering with client-side sanitization and server-side markdown processing. - Introduced a simple markdown renderer for assistant responses, ensuring safety and compatibility. - Updated styles for AI responses, including syntax highlighting for code blocks. - Created deployment documentation for the Rust sidecar, detailing setup and configuration. - Added a startup script for the Rust sidecar to streamline deployment.

Removed the build/ from the gitignore

Removed init script in rust-sidecar and README file

marcjazz · 2025-10-13T08:42:07Z

Please resolve merge conflicts.

marcjazz

I still dont't get it. This implementation seems to still process binary per request...

marcjazz · 2025-10-13T08:55:12Z

build/openai-moodle-sidecar

Is this supposed to be committed?

Please remove this file

marcjazz · 2025-10-13T08:57:28Z

packages/rust-sidecar/src/client/openai_client.rs

+    pub async fn send_chat_request(&self, messages: Vec<serde_json::Value>, max_tokens: Option<u32>) -> Result<String, Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>> {
+        // Accept either a full completions endpoint or a base URL and normalize it.
+        let base = self.base_url.trim_end_matches('/');
+        let url = if base.ends_with("/chat/completions") || base.ends_with("chat/completions") {


You are been redundant here.

marcjazz · 2025-10-13T08:59:45Z

packages/rust-sidecar/src/client/openai_client.rs

+        let payload = json!({
+            "model": self.model,
+            "messages": messages,
+            "max_tokens": tokens
+        });


I don't like this because it is error prone. Use serde struct instead.

marcjazz · 2025-10-13T09:07:24Z

packages/rust-sidecar/src/main.rs

+    client: Arc<OpenAIClient>, 
+    args: Args
+) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    info!("Starting OpenAI Moodle Sidecar in HTTP mode on 127.0.0.1:{}", args.port);


It makes more sense to print after the server was successfully started

marcjazz · 2025-10-13T09:07:53Z

packages/rust-sidecar/src/main.rs

+            .route("/ai", web::post().to(process_request_http))
+            .route("/health", web::get().to(health_check))
+    })
+    .bind(("127.0.0.1", args.port))?


does it not make sense to bind it to any address!?

marcjazz · 2025-10-13T09:41:28Z

packages/rust-sidecar/src/main.rs

+async fn run_stdio_mode(client: Arc<OpenAIClient>) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
+    info!("Starting OpenAI Moodle Sidecar in STDIO mode");
+
+    let stdin = io::stdin();
+    let reader = BufReader::new(stdin.lock());
+
+    for line in reader.lines() {
+        match line {
+            Ok(input) => {
+                if input.trim().is_empty() {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
+                match serde_json::from_str::<Request>(&input) {
+                    Ok(request) => {
+                        let response = match request.action.as_str() {
+                            "chat" => handlers::chat::handle(&client, web::Json(request)).await,
+                            "summarize" => handlers::summarize::handle(&client, web::Json(request)).await,
+                            "analyze" => handlers::analyze::handle(&client, web::Json(request)).await,
+                            _ => {
+                                warn!("Unknown action: {}", request.action);
+                                Response::error("Unknown action")
+                            },
+                        };
+
+                        match serde_json::to_string(&response) {
+                            Ok(json) => {
+                                println!("{}", json);
+                                io::stdout().flush()?;
+                            }
+                            Err(e) => {
+                                error!("Failed to serialize response: {}", e);
+                            }
+                        }
+                    }
+                    Err(e) => {
+                        error!("Failed to parse request: {}", e);
+                        let error_response = Response::error("Invalid JSON request");
+                        if let Ok(json) = serde_json::to_string(&error_response) {
+                            println!("{}", json);
+                            io::stdout().flush()?;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            Err(e) => {
+                error!("Error reading from stdin: {}", e);
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}


Could be improved if you break it down.

marcjazz · 2025-10-13T09:44:57Z

plugins/local/openai_assistant/classes/stdio_communicator.php

+
+    public function __construct() {
+        // Path to the mounted binary in Docker
+        $this->binary_path = '/bitnami/moodle/openai-sidecar/openai-moodle-sidecar';


You should also get it from env

stephane-segning

Let's have a demo ;)

stephane-segning · 2025-10-16T08:09:59Z

compose.yaml

+      MAX_TOKENS: ${MAX_TOKENS}
+      SUMMARIZE_THRESHOLD: ${SUMMARIZE_THRESHOLD}
    entrypoint: /bin/bash
    command: # This script was removed from https://github.com/bitnami/containers/blob/main/bitnami/moodle/5.0/debian-12/rootfs/opt/bitnami/scripts/moodle/entrypoint.sh


The ticket demanded that I should add summarization to optimize API calls. So I placed a summarize threshold, which is the limit at which summarization starts.

stephane-segning · 2025-10-16T08:10:25Z

compose.yaml

        . /opt/bitnami/scripts/mysql-client/setup.sh
        . /opt/bitnami/scripts/postgresql-client/setup.sh
        . /opt/bitnami/scripts/moodle/setup.sh
-        . /post-init.sh


Why removing this?

stephane-segning · 2025-10-16T08:15:30Z

packages/rust-sidecar/src/config/args.rs

+    pub port: u16,
+}
+
+impl Args {


Do you need this implementation while using clap?

Yes sir, because I am equally getting my configurations from env (as stated It should configure credentials only using ENV params only. Not Credentials configuration from the dashboard.) and clap only supports command line arguments.

freshystar added 7 commits September 23, 2025 17:15

feat: Enhance OpenAI Assistant plugin with improved error handling an…

0652a4a

…d status checks

fix: Include missing global variable in local_openai_assistant_before…

fdbfc18

…_footer function feat: Add modal HTML structure and improve message handling in OpenAIChatWidget

refactor: Created readme file

e4fa531

Removed the build/ from the gitignore

refactor: updated version of the moodle

2f47d83

Removed init script in rust-sidecar and README file

freshystar requested review from leghadjeu-christian, marcjazz and stephane-segning October 13, 2025 08:13

marcjazz requested changes Oct 13, 2025

View reviewed changes

Merge branch 'main' into feat/stdio-ai-plugin

47c8a84

freshystar self-assigned this Oct 14, 2025

stephane-segning approved these changes Oct 16, 2025

View reviewed changes

freshystar marked this pull request as draft October 22, 2025 06:10

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Follow up AI Plugin for Moodle: StdIO OpenAI Compatible plugin #79

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freshystar commented Oct 13, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Implement Rust Sidecar and Enhanced PHP Communication for OpenAI Assistant

Rust Sidecar Implementation:

PHP Plugin Enhancements:

Developed

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marcjazz commented Oct 13, 2025

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freshystar commented Oct 13, 2025 •

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