orchardcore-ai-chat-interactions

name	orchardcore-ai-chat-interactions
description	Skill for configuring AI Chat Interactions in Orchard Core using the CrestApps module. Covers ad-hoc chat sessions, prompt routing with intent detection, document upload with RAG support, image and chart generation, and custom processing strategies.
license	Apache-2.0
metadata	{"author":"CrestApps Team","version":"1.0"}

Orchard Core AI Chat Interactions - Prompt Templates

Configure AI Chat Interactions

You are an Orchard Core expert. Generate code, configuration, and recipes for adding ad-hoc AI chat interactions with document upload, RAG, and intent-based prompt routing to an Orchard Core application using CrestApps modules.

Guidelines

• The AI Chat Interactions module (CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions) provides ad-hoc chat without predefined AI profiles.
• Users can configure temperature, TopP, max tokens, frequency/presence penalties, and past messages count per session.
• Users can select agents from the Capabilities tab to enhance interaction capabilities. Agent selection is saved via the SignalR hub.
• The Capabilities tab is organized: MCP Connections first, then Agents, then Tools.
• All chat messages are persisted and sessions can be resumed later.
• Prompt routing uses intent detection to classify user prompts and route them to specialized processing strategies.
• Intent detection can use a dedicated lightweight AI model or fall back to keyword-based detection.
• The Documents extension adds document upload with RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) support.
• Document indexing requires Elasticsearch or Azure AI Search as the embedding/search provider.
• Install CrestApps packages in the web/startup project.
• Always secure API keys using user secrets or environment variables.

Enabling AI Chat Interactions

{
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Feature",
      "enable": [
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.OpenAI"
      ],
      "disable": []
    }
  ]
}

Getting Started

1. Enable the AI Chat Interactions feature in the Orchard Core admin under Configuration → Features.
2. Navigate to Artificial Intelligence → Chat Interactions.
3. Click + New Chat and select an AI provider connection.
4. Configure chat settings (model, temperature, tools) and start chatting.

Built-in Intents

The AI Chat Interactions module ships with default intents for image and chart generation:

Intent	Description	Example Prompts
GenerateImage	Generate an image from a text description	"Generate an image of a sunset", "Create a picture of a cat"
GenerateImageWithHistory	Generate an image using conversation context	"Based on the above, draw a diagram"
GenerateChart	Generate a chart or graph specification	"Create a bar chart of sales data", "Draw a pie chart"

Configuring Image Generation

To enable image generation, add a deployment with Type: Image in the Deployments array on your provider connection, or create an Image deployment through the admin UI.

Via Admin UI: Navigate to Artificial Intelligence → Provider Connections, edit your connection, and add an Image deployment (e.g., dall-e-3).

Via appsettings.json:

{
  "OrchardCore": {
    "CrestApps_AI": {
      "Providers": {
        "OpenAI": {
          "Connections": {
            "default": {
              "Deployments": [
                { "Name": "gpt-4o", "Type": "Chat", "IsDefault": true },
                { "Name": "dall-e-3", "Type": "Image", "IsDefault": true }
              ]
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  

Configuring Intent Detection Model

Use a lightweight model for intent classification to optimize costs:

{
  "OrchardCore": {
    "CrestApps_AI": {
      "Providers": {
        "OpenAI": {
          "Connections": {
            "default": {
              "Deployments": [
                { "Name": "gpt-4o", "Type": "Chat", "IsDefault": true },
                { "Name": "gpt-4o-mini", "Type": "Utility", "IsDefault": true },
                { "Name": "dall-e-3", "Type"    
              
            
          
        
      
    
  

If no Utility deployment is configured, the system falls back to the Chat deployment or keyword-based intent detection.

Enabling Document Upload and RAG

The Documents extension (CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.Documents) adds document upload and document-aware prompt processing. It requires a search/indexing provider.

{
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Feature",
      "enable": [
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.Documents.AzureAI",
        "OrchardCore.Search.AzureAI",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.OpenAI"
      ],
      "disable": []
    }
  ]
}

Or for Elasticsearch:

{
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Feature",
      "enable": [
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.Documents.Elasticsearch",
        "OrchardCore.Search.Elasticsearch",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.OpenAI"
      ],
      "disable": []
    }
  ]
}

Setting Up Document Indexing

1. Enable a search provider feature (Elasticsearch or Azure AI Search).
2. Navigate to Search → Indexing and create a new index (e.g., "ChatDocuments").
3. Navigate to Settings → Chat Interaction and select the new index as the default document index.
4. Enable the AI Chat Interactions - Documents feature.

Configuring Embedding Model for Documents

Documents require an embedding model for RAG. Add a deployment with Type: Embedding in the Deployments array on your provider connection, or create an Embedding deployment through the admin UI:

{
  "OrchardCore": {
    "CrestApps_AI": {
      "Providers": {
        "OpenAI": {
          "Connections": {
            "default": {
              "Deployments": [
                { "Name": "gpt-4o", "Type": "Chat", "IsDefault": true },
                { "Name": "text-embedding-3-small", "Type": "Embedding", "IsDefault": true },
                { "Name": "gpt-4o-mini", "Type"    
                       
              
            
          
        
      
    
  

Supported Document Formats

Format	Extension	Required Feature
PDF	.pdf	CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.Pdf
Word	.docx	CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.OpenXml
Excel	.xlsx	CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.OpenXml
PowerPoint	.pptx	CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.OpenXml
Text	.txt	Built-in
CSV	.csv	Built-in
Markdown	.md	Built-in
JSON	.json	Built-in
XML	.xml	Built-in
HTML	.html, .htm	Built-in
YAML	.yml, .yaml	Built-in

Legacy Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt) are not supported. Convert them to newer formats.

Document Intent Types

When documents are uploaded, the intent detector routes prompts to specialized strategies:

Intent	Description	Example Prompts
DocumentQnA	Question answering using RAG	"What does this document say about X?"
SummarizeDocument	Document summarization	"Summarize this document"
AnalyzeTabularData	CSV/Excel data analysis	"Calculate the total sales"
ExtractStructuredData	Structured data extraction	"Extract all email addresses"
CompareDocuments	Multi-document comparison	"Compare these two documents"
TransformFormat	Content reformatting	"Convert to bullet points"
GeneralChatWithReference	General chat using document context	Default fallback

Adding a Custom Processing Strategy

Register a custom intent and strategy to extend prompt routing:

public sealed class Startup : StartupBase
{
    public override void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        services.AddPromptProcessingIntent(
            "TranslateDocument",
            "The user wants to translate the document content to another language.");

        services.AddPromptProcessingStrategy<TranslateDocumentStrategy>();
    }
}

Enabling PDF and Office Document Support

{
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Feature",
      "enable": [
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.Pdf",
        "CrestApps.OrchardCore.AI.Chat.Interactions.OpenXml"
      ],
      "disable": []
    }
  ]
}

Document Upload API Endpoints

Endpoint	Method	Description
/ai/chat-interactions/upload-document	POST	Upload one or more documents
/ai/chat-interactions/remove-document	POST	Remove a document

Chat Mode in Chat Interactions

Chat interactions support the same ChatMode options as AI profiles, but configured at the site level via ChatInteractionChatModeSettings (under Settings → AI Settings → Chat Interactions):

Mode	Description	Requirements
TextOnly	Standard text-only chat (default)	None
AudioInput	Adds microphone button for speech-to-text dictation	DefaultSpeechToTextDeploymentId configured
Conversation	Two-way voice conversation	Both DefaultSpeechToTextDeploymentId and DefaultTextToSpeechDeploymentId configured

Unlike AI profiles (configured per profile), chat interactions use a single site-wide setting that applies to all chat interaction sessions.

SignalR Hub Methods (ChatInteractionHub)

Method	Description
SendMessage	Sends a text message
SendAudioStream	Streams audio chunks for speech-to-text transcription
StartConversation	Starts a full two-way voice conversation
SynthesizeSpeech	Converts text to speech audio
UpdateAgents	Updates agent selection for a session
ClearHistory	Clears chat history for a session

Voice Configuration

When conversation mode is enabled, voices are populated from the configured TTS deployment. Voices are grouped by language in dropdown menus and sorted alphabetically. Each SpeechVoice includes Id, Name, Language, Gender, and VoiceSampleUrl.

Conversation Mode Behavior

In conversation mode:

1. User clicks the headset button → persistent audio stream opens
2. Microphone, send button, and textarea are hidden/disabled
3. User speaks → audio streams to server via SignalR → STT transcribes → text appears as user message
4. Transcript is automatically sent to AI orchestrator → AI response text streams to message list AND audio streams back
5. User can interrupt by speaking → cancels current AI response → processes new prompt
6. User clicks headset again → ends conversation, restores normal UI