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Overview

The useLopusChat hook is a powerful tool for integrating Lopus AI’s generative UI capabilities into your React application. It manages Socket.io connections, message handling, and provides utilities for building AI-powered interfaces.

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Message Types

The hook uses a type-safe message system to distinguish between sent and received messages. Understanding these types is crucial for effective message handling.

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Received Messages (Server → Client)

These messages are sent from the server to the client and can be of the following types: 
enum ReceivedMessageType {
    TEXT = 'TEXT',               // Plain text responses
    ACTION_REQUEST = 'ACTION_REQUEST', // Requests to execute client-side actions
    COMPONENT = 'COMPONENT',     // Generated UI components
    SERVER_ERROR = 'SERVER_ERROR' // Server-side errors
}

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Sent Messages (Client → Server)

These messages are sent from the client to the server: 
enum SentMessageType {
    QUERY = 'QUERY',           // User queries/prompts
    SUBMISSION = 'SUBMISSION', // Form submissions
    CLIENT_ERROR = 'CLIENT_ERROR' // Client-side errors
}

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Type Guards

Type guards are essential for safely handling different message types. Use them to ensure type safety in your application. 
// Check if a message is from the server
if (isReceivedMessage(message)) {
    // TypeScript knows this is a ReceivedMessage
    message.content; // can be string | Record<string, unknown> | React.ReactElement
}

// Check if a message is from the client
if (isSentMessage(message)) {
    // TypeScript knows this is a SentMessage
    message.content; // can be string | Record<string, unknown>
}

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Best Practices

  1. Type Safety: Always use type guards (isReceivedMessage, isSentMessage) to handle different message types safely.
  2. Error Handling: Wrap sendQuery and sendSubmission calls in try-catch blocks to manage errors effectively.
  3. Message Filtering: Use getMessagesByType with the appropriate message type enum for type-safe filtering.
  4. Component Handling: Remember that component messages contain structured data that needs to be rendered.
  5. Cleanup: The hook handles cleanup automatically, but ensure to clean up any custom message handlers.

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Examples

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Handling Different Message Types

function MessageHandler() {
  const { onMessage } = useLopusChat();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const removeHandler = onMessage((message) => {
      if (isReceivedMessage(message)) {
        switch (message.type) {
          case ReceivedMessageType.COMPONENT:
            // Handle new UI component
            console.log('New component:', message.content);
            break;
          case ReceivedMessageType.SERVER_ERROR:
            // Handle server error
            toast.error(message.content);
            break;
          case ReceivedMessageType.ACTION_REQUEST:
            // Handle action request
            console.log('Action requested:', message.content);
            break;
        }
      }
    });

    return removeHandler;
  }, [onMessage]);

  return null;
}

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Error Handling

function ErrorHandler() {
  const { messages } = useLopusChat();

  useEffect(() => {
    const errors = messages.filter(msg => 
      (isReceivedMessage(msg) && msg.type === ReceivedMessageType.SERVER_ERROR) ||
      (isSentMessage(msg) && msg.type === SentMessageType.CLIENT_ERROR)
    );

    if (errors.length > 0) {
      const latestError = errors[errors.length - 1];
      console.error('Error occurred:', latestError.content);
    }
  }, [messages]);

  return null;
}

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TypeScript Support

The hook provides full TypeScript support with discriminated unions for message types: 
type Message = ReceivedMessage | SentMessage;

interface ReceivedMessage {
    sender: SenderType.LOPUS;
    type: ReceivedMessageType;
    content: string | Record<string, unknown> | React.ReactElement;
    timestamp: Date;
}

interface SentMessage {
    sender: SenderType.USER;
    type: SentMessageType;
    content: string | Record<string, unknown>;
    timestamp: Date;
}
This structure should help you understand and utilize the useLopusChat hook effectively, focusing on message types and best practices.