big-agi/docs/use-chat-react.md

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ReAct: question answering with Reasoning and Actions

What is ReAct?

ReAct (Reason+Act) is a classis AI question-answering feature, that combines reasoning with actions to provide informed answers.

Within Big-AGI, users can invoke ReAct to ask complex questions that require multiple steps to answer.

Mode	Activation	Information Sources	Reasoning Visibility	When to Use
Chat	Just type and send	Pre-trained knowledge only	Only shows final response	Quick answers, general knowledge queries
ReAct	Type "/react" before the question	Web loads, Web searches, Wikipedia, calculations	Shows step-by-step thought process	Complex, multi-step, or research-based questions

Example of ReAct in action, taking a question about current events, googling results, opening a page, and summarizing the information:

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c3480428-9ab8-4257-a869-2541bf44a062

The following tools are implemented in Big-AGI:

• browse: loads web pages (URLs) and extracts information, using a correctly configured Tools > Browsing API
• search: searches the web to produce page URLs, using a correctly configured Tools > Google Search (Google Programmable Search Engine) API
• wikipedia: looks up information on Wikipedia pages
• calculate: performs mathematical calculations by executing typescript code
  • warning: (!) unsafe and dangerous, do not use for untrusted code/LLMs

How to Use ReAct in Big-AGI

1. Invoking ReAct: Type "/react" followed by your question in the chat.
2. What to Expect:

• An ephemeral space will show the AI's thought process and actions, showing all the steps taken.
• The final answer will appear in the main chat.

3. Available Actions: Web searches, Wikipedia lookups, calculations, and optionally web browsing.

Good to know:

• ReAct operates in isolation from the main chat history.
• It will take longer than standard responses due to multiple steps.
• Web searches and browsing may have privacy implications, and require tool configuration in the UI.
• Errors or limitations in accessing external resources may affect results.
• ReAct does not use the Tool or Function Calling feature of AI models, rather uses the old school approach of parsing and executing actions.