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Overview

You can send text messages to the AI agent programmatically, either by sending events directly or using the convenient sendText method.

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Using sendText Method

The React SDK provides a convenient sendText method that handles both events for you: 
import { useConversation } from "@outspeed/react";

// inside a React component
const conversation = useConversation({});

// Send text and get AI response
await conversation.sendText("What's the weather like?");

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Using Events

To send a text message, you need to send two events: 
// 1. Add text message to conversation context
const messageEvent = {
  type: "conversation.item.create",
  item: {
    type: "message",
    role: "user",
    content: [
      {
        type: "input_text",
        text: "What's the weather like?",
      },
    ],
  },
};

await conversation.send(JSON.stringify(messageEvent));

// 2. Request AI response
const responseEvent = {
  type: "response.create",
};

await conversation.send(JSON.stringify(responseEvent));

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Example Usage

function ChatInput() {
  const [message, setMessage] = useState("");
  const conversation = useConversation({});

  // add the logic to start & end a conversation session

  const handleSubmit = async (e: FormEvent) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    if (!message.trim()) return;

    try {
      await conversation.sendText(message);
      setMessage(""); // Clear input after sending
    } catch (error) {
      console.error("Failed to send message:", error);
    }
  };

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
      <input value={message} onChange={(e) => setMessage(e.target.value)} placeholder="Type a message..." />
      <button type="submit">Send</button>
    </form>
  );
}