Advanced Start Follow the Ax story through selected runnable examples. rust quick-start advanced-start website/content-src/templates/advanced-start.md quick-start Advanced Start

Advanced Start

Advanced Start is built from runnable Rust examples. The story below follows the same source files that appear under Examples, so code changes start in src/examples/rust/.

Rust Typed Generation

Start with a typed contract: the model receives named inputs and Ax parses named outputs.

Runs a small typed generation program against OpenAI.

Rust
use axllm::{ax, AxResult, OpenAICompatibleClient};
use serde_json::json;
use std::env;


fn openai_client() -> AxResult<OpenAICompatibleClient> {
    let api_key = env::var("OPENAI_API_KEY").or_else(|_| env::var("OPENAI_APIKEY")).map_err(|_| axllm::AxError::runtime("Set OPENAI_API_KEY or OPENAI_APIKEY to run this example."))?;
    let model = env::var("AX_OPENAI_MODEL").unwrap_or_else(|_| "gpt-5.4-mini".to_string());
    Ok(OpenAICompatibleClient::new(api_key, model).with_model_config(json!({"temperature": 0})))
}

fn main() -> AxResult<()> {
    let mut client = openai_client()?;
    let mut program = ax("question:string -> answer:string")?;
    let output = program.forward(&mut client, json!({"question": "In one sentence, explain Ax as a language-agnostic LLM programming library."}))?;
    println!("{}", serde_json::to_string_pretty(&output)?);
    Ok(())
}

Rust Grounded Support Agent

Move to an agent when the model needs a runtime loop and a final typed answer.

Answers a support question grounded in a handbook that is kept out of the model prompt via contextFields.

Rust
use axllm::runtime::quickjs::QuickJsCodeRuntime;
use axllm::{agent_with_options, AxResult, OpenAICompatibleClient};
use serde_json::json;
use std::env;

fn openai_client() -> AxResult<OpenAICompatibleClient> {
    let api_key = env::var("OPENAI_API_KEY")
        .or_else(|_| env::var("OPENAI_APIKEY"))
        .map_err(|_| {
            axllm::AxError::runtime("Set OPENAI_API_KEY or OPENAI_APIKEY to run this example.")
        })?;
    let model = env::var("AX_OPENAI_MODEL").unwrap_or_else(|_| "gpt-5.4-mini".to_string());
    Ok(OpenAICompatibleClient::new(api_key, model).with_model_config(json!({"temperature": 0})))
}

fn main() -> AxResult<()> {
    let mut client = openai_client()?;

    // The handbook can be arbitrarily large. Listing it in `contextFields` keeps
    // it in the agent's runtime so it never inflates the model prompt -- the agent
    // reads it through code, not through tokens.
    let handbook = r#"
# Acme Cloud -- Support Handbook

## Billing
- Invoices are issued on the 1st of each month and are due net-15.
- Plan downgrades take effect at the END of the current billing cycle, not immediately.
- Refunds are issued to the original payment method within 5 business days.

## Access
- Seats can be added by any workspace Owner under Settings -> Members.
- SSO (SAML) is available on Enterprise; SCIM provisioning is Owner-only.

## Incidents
- Status and uptime are published at status.acme.example.
- Sev-1 incidents page the on-call within 5 minutes; updates post every 30 minutes.

## Data
- Exports are available in CSV and JSON from Settings -> Data.
- Deleted workspaces are recoverable for 30 days, then permanently purged.
"#;

    // `with_runtime` attaches the embedded JS engine so the agent loop can run.
    let mut assistant = agent_with_options(
        "question:string, handbook:string -> answer:string, citations:string[] \"Handbook sections the answer relies on\"",
        json!({"contextFields": ["handbook"], "runtime": {"language": "JavaScript"}}),
    )?
    .with_runtime(Box::new(QuickJsCodeRuntime::new()))?;

    let output = assistant.forward_with_options(
        &mut client,
        json!({
            "question": "A customer downgraded their plan today. When does it take effect, and can they get a refund for the current cycle?",
            "handbook": handbook,
        }),
        json!({"max_actor_steps": 12}),
    )?;

    println!("{}", serde_json::to_string_pretty(&output)?);
    Ok(())
}

Rust Sequential Flow

Use a flow when the application should own the order of multi-step work.

Runs a two-step Ax flow against OpenAI.

Rust
use axllm::{ax, flow, AxResult, OpenAICompatibleClient};
use serde_json::json;
use std::env;


fn openai_client() -> AxResult<OpenAICompatibleClient> {
    let api_key = env::var("OPENAI_API_KEY").or_else(|_| env::var("OPENAI_APIKEY")).map_err(|_| axllm::AxError::runtime("Set OPENAI_API_KEY or OPENAI_APIKEY to run this example."))?;
    let model = env::var("AX_OPENAI_MODEL").unwrap_or_else(|_| "gpt-5.4-mini".to_string());
    Ok(OpenAICompatibleClient::new(api_key, model).with_model_config(json!({"temperature": 0})))
}

fn main() -> AxResult<()> {
    let mut client = openai_client()?;
    let step = ax("documentText:string -> summaryText:string")?;
    let mut program = axllm::flow("examples.sequentialFlow").execute("step", step).returns(json!({"step": "step"}));
    let output = program.forward(&mut client, json!({"documentText": "Ax gives developers signatures, provider clients, agents, flows, tracing, and optimization."}))?;
    println!("{}", serde_json::to_string_pretty(&output)?);
    Ok(())
}

Rust Text To Speech

Add audio when the same provider-backed contract should accept or produce speech.

Generates speech audio through OpenAI.

Rust
use axllm::{ax, AxAIClient, AxResult, OpenAICompatibleClient};
use serde_json::json;
use std::{env, fs};


fn openai_client() -> AxResult<OpenAICompatibleClient> {
    let api_key = env::var("OPENAI_API_KEY").or_else(|_| env::var("OPENAI_APIKEY")).map_err(|_| axllm::AxError::runtime("Set OPENAI_API_KEY or OPENAI_APIKEY to run this example."))?;
    let model = env::var("AX_OPENAI_MODEL").unwrap_or_else(|_| "gpt-5.4-mini".to_string());
    Ok(OpenAICompatibleClient::new(api_key, model).with_model_config(json!({"temperature": 0})))
}

fn main() -> AxResult<()> {
    let mut client = openai_client()?;
    let speech = client.speak(json!({"text": "Ax turns LLM prompts into typed programs.", "voice": "alloy", "format": "mp3"}))?;
    let audio_len = speech["audio"].as_str().unwrap_or("").len();
    println!("{}", serde_json::to_string_pretty(&json!({"format": speech["format"].clone(), "audioBytesBase64": audio_len}))?);
    Ok(())
}

Rust AxGen Optimization

Close the loop by measuring examples and applying optimizer artifacts to the program.

Runs a baseline OpenAI prediction and applies an optimizer artifact.

Rust
use axllm::{ax, AxResult, OpenAICompatibleClient, OptimizerEngine};
use serde_json::{json, Value};
use std::env;

struct ExampleOptimizer;
impl OptimizerEngine for ExampleOptimizer {
    fn optimize(&mut self, _request: Value, _evaluator: &mut dyn FnMut(Value) -> AxResult<Value>) -> AxResult<Value> {
        Ok(json!({"componentMap": {"priority::instruction": "Classify operational risk. Use high for production-impacting urgency."}, "metadata": {"source": "axgen"}}))
    }
}

fn openai_client() -> AxResult<OpenAICompatibleClient> {
    let api_key = env::var("OPENAI_API_KEY").or_else(|_| env::var("OPENAI_APIKEY")).map_err(|_| axllm::AxError::runtime("Set OPENAI_API_KEY or OPENAI_APIKEY to run this example."))?;
    let model = env::var("AX_OPENAI_MODEL").unwrap_or_else(|_| "gpt-5.4-mini".to_string());
    Ok(OpenAICompatibleClient::new(api_key, model).with_model_config(json!({"temperature": 0})))
}

fn main() -> AxResult<()> {
    let mut client = openai_client()?;
    let mut program = ax("emailText:string -> priority:class \"high, normal, low\", rationale:string")?;
    let baseline = program.forward(&mut client, json!({"emailText": "Production checkout is failing for enterprise customers."}))?;
    let mut optimizer = ExampleOptimizer;
    let artifact = optimizer.optimize(json!({"candidate": "priority"}), &mut |_candidate| Ok(json!({"score": 1.0})))?;
    println!("{}", serde_json::to_string_pretty(&json!({"baseline": baseline, "artifact": artifact}))?);
    Ok(())
}
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