basic_chat

Basic Chat Example

This example demonstrates the simplest way to use the xAI ESP32 SDK to send a message to Grok and receive a response.

What This Example Does

1. Connects to WiFi
2. Creates an xAI client with your API key
3. Sends a simple text prompt to Grok
4. Prints the response
5. Cleans up and restarts

Hardware Required

• ESP32 development board
• WiFi network connection

Configuration

1. Get Your xAI API Key

Visit console.x.ai to get your API key.

2. Configure WiFi and API Key

Run idf.py menuconfig and set:

• WiFi SSID: Example Configuration → WiFi SSID
• WiFi Password: Example Configuration → WiFi Password
• xAI API Key: xAI Configuration → Default xAI API Key

Alternatively, edit the values directly in main.c:

#define EXAMPLE_ESP_WIFI_SSID      "YourWiFiSSID"
#define EXAMPLE_ESP_WIFI_PASS      "YourWiFiPassword"
#define XAI_API_KEY                "xai-your-api-key-here"

3. Increase main task stack size

Run idf.py menuconfig and set: Component config → ESP System Settings → Main task stack size to 12288

Build and Flash

idf.py build
idf.py flash monitor

Expected Output

I (12345) xai_example: === xAI ESP32 SDK - Basic Chat Example ===
I (12350) xai_example: WiFi init complete. Connecting to YourWiFi...
I (13000) xai_example: Got IP:192.168.1.100
I (13100) xai_example: Starting xAI chat example...
I (13120) xai_example: xAI client created successfully
I (15890) xai_example: === Response ===
I (15895) xai_example: The ESP32 is a powerful microcontroller with built-in WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities, making it perfect for IoT projects!
I (15900) xai_example: ================
I (15910) xai_example: xAI client destroyed
I (15915) xai_example: Example complete. Restarting in 10 seconds...

Troubleshooting

"Failed to create xAI client"

• Check that your API key is valid
• Ensure you're connected to WiFi before creating the client

"Chat completion failed: Authentication failed"

• Your API key is invalid or expired
• Get a new API key from console.x.ai

"Chat completion failed: HTTP request failed"

• Check your internet connection
• Verify DNS is working (try pinging api.x.ai)
• Check firewall settings

Memory Issues

• Reduce XAI_MAX_RESPONSE_SIZE in menuconfig if needed
• Use a smaller model like grok-3-mini-fast-latest

Next Steps

• Try the streaming example to see real-time responses
• Try the conversation example for multi-turn dialogues
• Try the web_search example for grounded responses with citations

Code Overview

The key functions used:

// Create client (simple version)
xai_client_t client = xai_create(api_key);

// Send message and get response
xai_err_t err = xai_text_completion(
    client,
    "Your prompt here",
    &response_text,
    &response_len
);

// Check for errors
if (err != XAI_OK) {
    ESP_LOGE(TAG, "Error: %s", xai_err_to_string(err));
}

// Clean up
free(response_text);
xai_destroy(client);

More Information

See the main README.md for full API documentation.