Build AI APIs with Spring AI - Javaoneworld

Unlock AI Power: Build Your REST API with Spring AI Now!

Dive into the world of AI-powered APIs! This guide shows you how to build a REST API using Spring AI. Learn to integrate cutting-edge AI models into your applications, making them smarter and more responsive.

Introduction to Spring AI and REST APIs

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the landscape of software development. Integrating AI into your applications can unlock new levels of functionality and user experience. Spring AI provides a powerful and convenient way to incorporate AI models into your Java-based applications. When combined with REST APIs, you can expose these AI capabilities to a wide range of clients and platforms.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

Java Development Kit (JDK) 17 or later
Maven or Gradle for dependency management
An IDE like IntelliJ IDEA or Eclipse
Basic knowledge of Spring Framework and REST APIs

Setting Up Your Spring Boot Project

Let's start by creating a new Spring Boot project using Spring Initializr. Include the following dependencies:

Spring Web
Spring AI

You can also add the Spring AI Starter dependency manually to your pom.xml (Maven) or build.gradle (Gradle) file.

Maven (pom.xml)


     <dependency>
      <groupId>org.springframework.ai</groupId>
      <artifactId>spring-ai-spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
      <version>latest_version</version>
     </dependency>

Gradle (build.gradle)


     dependencies {
      implementation 'org.springframework.ai:spring-ai-spring-boot-starter:latest_version'
     }

Configuring the AI Model

Spring AI supports various AI models, including OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and more. To configure your AI model, you need to provide the necessary API key and other settings in your application.properties or application.yml file.

application.properties


     spring.ai.openai.api-key=YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY

Creating the AI Service

Now, let's create a simple AI service that uses the configured AI model to generate a response based on a given prompt.


     import org.springframework.ai.client.AiClient;
     import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
     import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

     @Service
     public class AiService {

      @Autowired
      private AiClient aiClient;

      public String generateResponse(String prompt) {
       return aiClient.generate(prompt);
      }
     }

Building the REST Controller

Next, we'll create a REST controller that exposes the AI service via an API endpoint.


     import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
     import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
     import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
     import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;

     @RestController
     public class AiController {

      @Autowired
      private AiService aiService;

      @GetMapping("/ai/generate")
      public String generate(@RequestParam String prompt) {
       return aiService.generateResponse(prompt);
      }
     }

Testing the API

Run your Spring Boot application and test the API endpoint using a tool like Postman or curl.

Example request:


     curl "http://localhost:8080/ai/generate?prompt=Tell me a joke"

Advanced Usage

Spring AI offers many advanced features, such as:

Prompt engineering: Fine-tuning prompts to get better responses.
Vector databases: Storing and retrieving AI embeddings for similarity search.
Streaming responses: Handling large AI-generated content efficiently.

Conclusion

By following this guide, you’ve successfully built a REST API powered by Spring AI. Happy coding!

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Step-by-Step Guide to Building AI-Powered REST APIs with Spring AI