How to Build a Content Generator with OpenAI Codex and React

Posted on by Panther

In this tutorial, we will walk through the process of building a content generator using OpenAI Codex and React. OpenAI Codex is a powerful language model that can generate human-like text given certain prompts. React, on the other hand, is a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. By combining the two, we can create a dynamic content generator for various applications such as chatbots, documentation, or content generation tools.

To get started, make sure you have the following installed:

  • Node.js and npm
  • Git

If you don’t have these installed, you can download and install them from their official websites.

Setting Up the Project

  1. Create a new directory for your project and navigate to it using the terminal or command prompt.
mkdir content-generator
cd content-generator
  1. Initialize a new React project using create-react-app.
npx create-react-app .

This command creates a new React project in the current directory.

  1. Start the development server to ensure everything is set up correctly.
npm start

If everything is set up correctly, you should see a new browser window open with the React app running.

Installing OpenAI Codex

  1. OpenAI Codex requires an API key to access its services. Visit the OpenAI website and create a new account if you haven’t already.

  2. Once you have created an account, follow the instructions to obtain an API key.

  3. After obtaining the API key, create a new file in the root directory of your project called .env. Inside this file, add the following line:

REACT_APP_OPENAI_API_KEY=<your_openai_api_key>

Replace <your_openai_api_key> with the API key you obtained earlier. This environment variable will allow your React app to access the OpenAI Codex API.

  1. Install the openai package using npm.
npm install openai --save

This package allows us to interact with the OpenAI Codex API from our React app.

  1. Create a new file called openai.js in the src directory. This file will contain the code to interact with the OpenAI Codex API.

  2. In the openai.js file, add the following code:

import openai from 'openai';

const openaiApiKey = process.env.REACT_APP_OPENAI_API_KEY;
const openaiInstance = new openai.OpenAI(openaiApiKey);

export default openaiInstance;

The code imports the openai package, assigns the API key to openaiApiKey, and creates a new instance of the openai.OpenAI class using the API key.

  1. In the App.js file, import the openai.js file using the following code at the top of the file:
import openaiInstance from './openai';

Creating the Content Generator Component

  1. Create a new file called ContentGenerator.js in the src directory.

  2. In the ContentGenerator.js file, add the following code:

import React, { useState } from 'react';
import openaiInstance from './openai';

function ContentGenerator() {
  const [prompt, setPrompt] = useState('');
  const [content, setContent] = useState('');

  const handleChange = (event) => {
    setPrompt(event.target.value);
  };

  const handleSubmit = async (event) => {
    event.preventDefault();

    try {
      const response = await openaiInstance.complete({
        engine: 'text-davinci-003',
        prompt,
        maxTokens: 200,
        temperature: 0.7,
      });

      setContent(response.choices[0].text);
    } catch (error) {
      console.log(error);
    }
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
        <label>
          Enter Prompt:
          <input type="text" value={prompt} onChange={handleChange} />
        </label>
        <button type="submit">Generate</button>
      </form>

      <div>
        <h2>Generated Content:</h2>
        <p>{content}</p>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

export default ContentGenerator;

The code sets up a functional React component called ContentGenerator. It includes state for the prompt and content values.

The handleChange function sets the prompt state whenever the input value changes.

The handleSubmit function is triggered when the form is submitted. It makes an asynchronous call to the OpenAI Codex API using the openaiInstance initialized earlier with the provided prompt as input.

The response from the API is stored in the content state, and any error is logged to the console.

The component renders a form with an input field for the prompt and a “Generate” button. The generated content is displayed below the form.

  1. Import and use the ContentGenerator component in the App.js file:
import ContentGenerator from './ContentGenerator';

function App() {
  return (
    <div className="App">
      <h1>Content Generator</h1>
      <ContentGenerator />
    </div>
  );
}

export default App;
  1. Save your changes and go back to the terminal or command prompt. You should see the generated content displayed on the screen when you enter a prompt and click the “Generate” button.

Styling the Content Generator

  1. Open the src/App.css file and add the following CSS code to style the content generator:
.App {
  text-align: center;
}

form {
  margin-bottom: 20px;
}

input {
  margin-left: 10px;
}

button {
  margin-left: 10px;
}

.generated-content {
  margin-top: 20px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  border-radius: 5px;
  padding: 10px;
  background-color: #f5f7fa;
}
  1. In the ContentGenerator component, add the generated-content class to the wrapper <div> element surrounding the generated content:
<div className="generated-content">
  <h2>Generated Content:</h2>
  <p>{content}</p>
</div>
  1. Save your changes and go back to the browser. You should see the content generator styled with a border and background color.

Deploying the Application (Optional)

If you want to deploy your application to a web server or static hosting service, you can follow these steps:

  1. Build the optimized version of your React app by running the following command in the terminal or command prompt:
npm run build
  1. After the build process is complete, you will find a new directory called build in the root directory of your project. This directory contains all the optimized files ready for deployment.

  2. You can now deploy this build directory to any web server or static hosting service of your choice. For example, you can use Netlify, Vercel, or GitHub Pages to deploy your React app.

And that’s it! You have successfully built a content generator using OpenAI Codex and React. You can now customize and extend this generator to suit your specific use case. Experiment with different prompts, adjust parameters, and explore the possibilities of OpenAI Codex.

Happy coding!

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