| name | ai |
| description | Use when calling the app's AI gateway from agent tools — chat completions, embeddings, listing models, configuring defaults or BYOK, reading token/cost usage |
Butterbase AI Gateway
Every app has an LLM gateway with chat, embeddings, model listing, configuration, and usage reporting. One umbrella tool: manage_ai.
| Action | What it does | Returns |
|---|
chat | Synchronous chat completion (no streaming) | OpenAI-shaped { choices: [...] } |
embed | Vector embeddings for string or string[] | OpenAI-shaped { data: [{ embedding: [...] }] } |
list_models | Available models with capabilities | { models: AiModel[] } |
get_config | Current AI config (default model, BYOK key flag, etc.) | AiConfig |
update_config | Set defaults, allowed models, max tokens, BYOK | AiConfig |
get_usage | Token + cost aggregate over a window | usage record |
1. Chat
manage_ai({
action: "chat",
app_id,
messages: [
{ role: "system", content: "You are a helpful assistant." },
{ role: "user", content: "What's RAG?" }
],
model: "openai/gpt-4o-mini", // optional — falls back to app's default
temperature: 0.2, // optional
max_tokens: 500 // optional
})
This action sets stream: false deliberately — agent tools don't stream. If you need partial-token deltas, drive the SDK's ai.chatStream(…) from inside a function or DO instead.
messages[].content can be a string or an array of content parts ({ type: "text", text }, { type: "image_url", image_url: {...} }, { type: "video_url", video_url: {...} }).
2. Embed
manage_ai({
action: "embed",
app_id,
input: "hello world", // or ["a", "b", "c"]
model: "openai/text-embedding-3-small", // optional
encoding_format: "float" // or "base64"
})
3. List models
manage_ai({ action: "list_models", app_id })
// → { models: [{ id, provider, capabilities: ["chat", "embed", ...], context_window, pricing }, ...] }
Use this to discover what the app can call — capabilities + context window matter when picking a model.
4. Configure
manage_ai({
action: "update_config",
app_id,
config: {
defaultModel: "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
allowedModels: ["openai/gpt-4o-mini", "anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5"],
maxTokensPerRequest: 4000,
byokKey: "..." // optional — rotates the customer-supplied OpenRouter / Anthropic key
}
})
maxTokensPerRequest is server-clamped to 1–100000.
allowedModels is a whitelist — empty means all models the provider exposes.
- Setting
byokKey switches the app to route through that customer key. Clear it by passing byokKey: "" (returns to platform pool).
5. Usage
manage_ai({
action: "get_usage",
app_id,
startDate: "2026-05-01",
endDate: "2026-05-31"
})
Returns aggregate token counts + cost. Useful for billing reconciliation, spending-cap diagnostics, and showing dashboards.
6. Common pitfalls
- Trying to stream from a tool —
manage_ai is synchronous. Use the SDK inside a function for streamed deltas.
- Sending
stream: true in the body — the tool ignores it; always wired to false.
- Hardcoding
model — better to omit, let the app's defaultModel win, and surface that knob via update_config.
- Skipping
list_models before suggesting one — model availability shifts; verify before recommending.
7. What this skill does NOT cover
- Streaming chat — use the SDK (
ai.chatStream) inside a function or DO.
- Vector storage / retrieval — see
butterbase-skills:rag-dev (RAG collections wrap embeddings + search together).
- AI in deployed functions — they import
@butterbase/sdk and call client.ai.* directly; no MCP needed at runtime.
If a docs/butterbase/00-state.md exists in the working directory, prefer invoking via /butterbase-skills:journey-ai so the journey orchestrator stays in sync.