With MindsDB, you can create and deploy AI agents that comprise AI models and customizable skills such as knowledge bases and text-to-SQL.

AI agents use a conversational model (like OpenAI or Anthropic) from LangChain utilizing tools as skills to respond to user input. Users can customize AI agents with their own prompts to fit their use cases.

A chatbot can be thought of as an agent connected to some messaging interface.

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How to work with AI agents

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Create skills

Start by setting up the skills. You can create and manage skills using MindsDB SQL or via REST API endpoints.

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MindsDB SQL

Here is how to create, update, and delete skills and knowledge bases using MindsDB SQL:

  • Creating, inserting into, updating, and deleting a knowledge base:

    CREATE KNOWLEDGE BASE my_knowledge_base
USING
    model = model_name, -- this must be an embedding model created with CREATE MODEL (see examples below)
    storage = vector_database.storage_table; -- this parameter is optional; if not provided, the default ChromaDB is used for storage

-- inserts new data rows and generates id for each row if id is not provided
INSERT INTO my_knowledge_base
    SELECT text AS content FROM datasource.data_table;

-- inserts new data rows and updates existing ones if id value matches
INSERT INTO my_knowledge_base
    SELECT id, text AS content FROM datasource.data_table;

-- view content of a knowledge base (for example, to look up the generated id values)
SELECT * FROM my_knowledge_base;

DROP KNOWLEDGE BASE my_knowledge_base;

  • Creating, updating, and deleting a skill that utilizes a knowledge base:

    CREATE SKILL kb_skill
USING
    type = 'knowledge_base',
    source = 'my_knowledge_base', -- this must be created with CREATE KNOWLEDGE BASE
    description = 'My data'; -- data description to help the agent know when to use the knowledge base

UPDATE SKILL kb_skill
SET
   source = 'new_knowledge_base'; -- this must be created with CREATE KNOWLEDGE BASE

DROP SKILL kb_skill;

  • Creating, updating, and deleting a text-to-SQL skill:

    CREATE SKILL text_to_sql_skill
USING
    type = 'text_to_sql',
    database = 'example_db', -- this must be created with CREATE DATABASE
    tables = ['sales_data'];

UPDATE SKILL text_to_sql_skill
SET
    database = 'new_example_db', -- this must be created with CREATE DATABASE
    tables = ['sales_data'];

DROP SKILL text_to_sql_skill;

You can query all skills using this command:

SELECT * FROM skills;

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REST API

Here is how to interact with skills using REST API endpoints:

  • GET /projects/<project_name>/skills - gets all skills created by the user (allow params to filter by agent)
  • GET /projects/<project_name>/skills/<skill_name> - gets a skill by name or ID
  • PUT /projects/<project_name>/skills/<skill_name> - updates skill with new params
  • POST /projects/<project_name>/skills - creates a new skill
  • DELETE /projects/<project_name>/skills/<skills> - deletes a skill by name or ID

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Create an agent

An agent can be created, deleted, queried, and updated using MindsDB SQL or via REST API endpoints.

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MindsDB SQL

Here is how to interact with agents using MindsDB SQL:

  • Creating an AI agent:

    CREATE AGENT my_agent
USING
   model = 'chatbot_agent', -- this must be created with CREATE MODEL
   skills = ['test_skill']; -- this must be created with CREATE SKILL

  • Updating an AI agent:

    UPDATE AGENT my_agent
SET
   model = 'new_chatbot_agent', -- this must be created with CREATE MODEL
   skills_to_remove = ['test_skill'],
   skills_to_add = ['production_skill']; -- this must be created with CREATE SKILL

  • Deleting an AI agent:

    DROP AGENT my_agent;

You can query all agents using this command:

SELECT * FROM agents;

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REST API

Here is how to interact with agents using REST API endpoints:

  • GET /projects/<project_name>/agents - gets all agents created by the user
  • GET /projects/<project_name>/agents/<agent> - gets an agent by name or ID
  • PUT /projects/<project_name>/agents/<agent_name> updates agent with new settings
  • POST /projects/<project_name>/agents - creates a new agent
  • DELETE /projects/<project_name>/agent/<agent_name> - deletes an agent by name or ID

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Example

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Agents with Text-to-SQL Skills

Start by creating a conversational large language model to be used by an agent.

CREATE MODEL my_model
PREDICT answer
USING
    engine = 'langchain',
    input_column = 'question',
    api_key = 'your-model-api-key', -- choose one of OpenAI or Anthropic
    model_name='gpt-4', -- optional model name from OpenAI or Anthropic
    mode = 'conversational',
    user_column = 'question' ,
    assistant_column = 'answer',
    max_tokens=100,
    temperature=0,
    verbose=True,
    prompt_template='Answer the user input in a helpful way';

Follow the integration doc pages for LangChain and OpenAI.

Then, connect a data source to be used for creating a skill.

CREATE DATABASE example_db
WITH ENGINE = "postgres",
PARAMETERS = {
    "user": "demo_user",
    "password": "demo_password",
    "host": "3.220.66.106",
    "port": "5432",
    "database": "demo"
    };
 
SELECT * FROM example_db.sales_data;

Create a skill using one or more tables from a connected data source.

CREATE SKILL text_to_sql_skill
USING
    type = 'text_to_sql',
    database = 'example_db',
    tables = ['sales_data'];

Now that we have a model and a skill, let’s create an agent.

CREATE AGENT text_to_sql_agent
USING
    model = 'my_model',
    skills = ['text_to_sql_skill'];

The next step would be to connect a chat app, like Slack, to MindsDB and create a chatbot utilizing this agent.

Learn about chatbots here.

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Agents with Knowledge Bases as Skills

To create a knowledge base, it is required to provide an embedding model. You can choose one from OpenAI, Hugging Face, or LangChain.

CREATE ML_ENGINE openai_engine
FROM openai
USING
   api_key = 'your-openai-api-key';

CREATE MODEL embedding_model
PREDICT embeddings
USING
   engine = 'openai_engine',
   mode='embedding',
   model_name='text-embedding-ada-002',
   question_column = 'content';

Now let’s create a knowledge base that uses this embedding model and the default storage vector database (that is, ChromaDB).

CREATE KNOWLEDGE BASE my_knowledge_base
USING
   model = embedding_model;

This is how you can insert data into the knowledge base and select it.

INSERT INTO my_knowledge_base (content)
VALUES ('I drink tea.');

SELECT * FROM my_knowledge_base;

Use this knowledge base to create a skill for an agent:

CREATE SKILL kb_skill
USING
    type = 'knowledge_base',
    source = 'my_knowledge_base', -- this must be created with CREATE KNOWLEDGE BASE
    description = 'My data'; -- data description to help the agent know when to use the knowledge base
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