Changelog

Source: NEWS.md

querychat (development version)

• Breaking change: The $sql() method now returns NULL instead of "" (empty string) when no query has been set, aligning with the behavior of $title() for consistency. Most code using isTruthy() or similar falsy checks will continue working without changes. Code that explicitly checks sql() == "" should be updated to use falsy checks (e.g., !isTruthy(sql())) or explicit null checks (is.null(sql())). (#146)

• Tool detail cards can now be expanded or collapsed by default when querychat runs a query or updates the dashboard via the querychat.tool_details R option or the QUERYCHAT_TOOL_DETAILS environment variable. Valid values are "expanded", "collapsed", or "default". (#137)

• Added bookmarking support to QueryChat$server() and querychat_app(). When bookmarking is enabled (via bookmark_store = "url" or "server" in querychat_app() or $app_obj(), or via enable_bookmarking = TRUE in $server()), the chat state (including current query, title, and chat history) will be saved and restored with Shiny bookmarks. (#107)

• Nearly the entire functional API (i.e., querychat_init(), querychat_sidebar(), querychat_server(), etc) has been hard deprecated in favor of a simpler OOP-based API. Namely, the new QueryChat$new() class is now the main entry point (instead of querychat_init()) and has methods to replace old functions (e.g., $sidebar(), $server(), etc). (#109)

  • In addition, querychat_data_source() was renamed to as_querychat_data_source(), and remains exported for a developer extension point, but users no longer have to explicitly create a data source. (#109)

• Added prompt_template support for querychat_system_prompt(). (Thank you, @oacar! #37, #45)

• querychat_init() now accepts a client, replacing the previous create_chat_func argument. (#60)

  The client can be:

  • an ellmer::Chat object,
  • a function that returns an ellmer::Chat object,
  • or a provider-model string, e.g. "openai/gpt-4.1", to be passed to ellmer::chat().

  If client is not provided, querychat will use

  • the querychat.client R option, which can be any of the above options,
  • the QUERYCHAT_CLIENT environment variable, which should be a provider-model string,
  • or the default model from ellmer::chat_openai().

• querychat_server() now uses a shiny::ExtendedTask for streaming the chat response, which allows the dashboard to update and remain responsive while the chat response is streaming in. (#63)

• querychat now requires ellmer version 0.3.0 or later and uses rich tool cards for dashboard updates and database queries. (#65)

• New querychat_app() function lets you quickly launch a Shiny app with a querychat chat interface. (#66)

• querychat_ui() now adds a .querychat class to the chat container and querychat_sidebar() adds a .querychat-sidebar class to the sidebar, allowing for easier customization via CSS. (#68)

• querychat now uses a separate tool to reset the dashboard. (#80)

• querychat_greeting() can be used to generate a greeting message for your querychat bot. (#87)

• querychat’s system prompt and tool descriptions were rewritten for clarity and future extensibility. (#90)