OpenAI Cookbook
The OpenAI Cookbook is a collection of example code and guides for accomplishing common tasks with the OpenAI API. It solves the problem of getting started with the API by providing practical, runnable examples. It is for developers who want to integrate OpenAI's models into their applications.
✨ Key features
- Example code for common OpenAI API tasks
- Guides for various use cases
- Python code examples, concepts applicable to any language
- Runnable in notebooks with environment variable setup
- Free to use under MIT License
🎯 Use cases
- Learn how to use the OpenAI API for text generation
- Implement embeddings for search or clustering
- Build a chatbot or conversational agent
- Fine-tune models for specific tasks
- Use function calling to integrate with external tools
📦 Installation
🧰 Requirements: Requires an OpenAI account and API key, set as environment variable OPENAI_API_KEY. Python is used for most examples.
git clone https://github.com/openai/openai-cookbook.git
cd openai-cookbookexport OPENAI_API_KEY='your-api-key'🚀 Usage
# Example from the cookbook: Using the OpenAI API
import openai
openai.api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
response = openai.Completion.create(
model="text-davinci-003",
prompt="Say this is a test",
max_tokens=5
)
print(response.choices[0].text)
⚠️ Good to know
The cookbook is a collection of examples and guides, not a library; it requires an OpenAI API key and may incur costs.
❓ FAQ
Do I need an API key to run the examples?
Yes, you need an OpenAI account and associated API key. Set it as an environment variable OPENAI_API_KEY.
What programming language are the examples in?
Most code examples are written in Python, but the concepts can be applied in any language.
Can I use the cookbook for free?
The code is MIT licensed, but using the OpenAI API may incur costs based on your usage.
How do I set up the API key in my IDE?
You can create a .env file at the root of your repo containing OPENAI_API_KEY=<your API key>, which will be picked up by the notebooks.
📊 Repository
🤖 Overview, features, install steps and FAQ were generated from the project's README on Sep 4, 2026. Always check the original source before running commands.