Trouble with OpenAI API Streaming in Python Terminal: ChatGPT Responses Printing Incorrectly

Other Questions OpenAI
1

Hey everyone! I’m trying to get ChatGPT working in my terminal using Python and the OpenAI API. I’ve got it set up with the gpt-4 model, but I’m having some issues with the streaming responses.

The problem is that when I use my ask_stream function, it’s printing each word on a new line. That’s not what I want at all! I’m using the rich library for markup handling.

Here’s a snippet of my code:

async def ask_stream(prompt):
    response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
        model='gpt-4',
        messages=[{'role': 'user', 'content': prompt}],
        max_tokens=8000,
        temperature=0.4,
        stream=True
    )
    for event in response:
        event_text = event['choices'][0]['delta']
        answer = event_text.get('content', '')
        console.print(Markdown(answer), end='')
        time.sleep(0.01)

When I run this, the output looks really weird, with each word on its own line. Any ideas on how to fix this? I’m pretty new to Python, so any help would be awesome. Thanks!

2

yo adventuroushiker17, i feel ya. streaming can be a pain. have u tried using print() instead of console.print()? it might fix ur problem. also, u could try removing the Markdown() wrapper. sometimes simpler is better. good luck with ur project!

3

hey, i had the same problem! try using sys.stdout.write(answer) instead of console.print. it worked for me. also, remove the time.sleep() - it’s not needed and slows things down. good luck with ur project!

4

I encountered a similar issue when working with the OpenAI API streaming. The problem likely stems from how you’re handling the output. Instead of printing each chunk immediately, try accumulating the text and printing it in larger segments. Here’s a modification that might help:

async def ask_stream(prompt):
    response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
        model='gpt-4',
        messages=[{'role': 'user', 'content': prompt}],
        max_tokens=8000,
        temperature=0.4,
        stream=True
    )
    buffer = ''
    for event in response:
        event_text = event['choices'][0]['delta']
        chunk = event_text.get('content', '')
        buffer += chunk
        if len(buffer) > 50 or '\n' in buffer:
            console.print(Markdown(buffer), end='')
            buffer = ''
        time.sleep(0.01)
    if buffer:
        console.print(Markdown(buffer), end='')

This approach should result in a more natural, paragraph-style output in your terminal.

5

I’ve been working with the OpenAI API for a while now, and I can tell you that streaming responses can be tricky. One thing that helped me was to buffer the output and use a flush method. Here’s what I did:

import sys

async def ask_stream(prompt):
response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
model=‘gpt-4’,
messages=[{‘role’: ‘user’, ‘content’: prompt}],
max_tokens=8000,
temperature=0.4,
stream=True
)
for event in response:
event_text = event[‘choices’][0][‘delta’]
answer = event_text.get(‘content’, ‘’)
sys.stdout.write(answer)
sys.stdout.flush()

This approach gives a smoother output without the line breaks. The flush() method forces the buffer to be written immediately, which helps with the streaming effect. Give it a shot and see if it works better for you.

6

I’ve dealt with similar streaming issues in my projects. One effective solution I found was to use a string buffer and update the console display in-place. Here’s a modified version of your code that should work better:

import sys

async def ask_stream(prompt):
    response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
        model='gpt-4',
        messages=[{'role': 'user', 'content': prompt}],
        max_tokens=8000,
        temperature=0.4,
        stream=True
    )
    full_response = ''
    for event in response:
        event_text = event['choices'][0]['delta']
        chunk = event_text.get('content', '')
        full_response += chunk
        sys.stdout.write('\r' + full_response)
        sys.stdout.flush()

    print()  # Add a newline at the end

This approach accumulates the response and updates the display in-place, creating a smoother streaming effect. The ‘\r’ at the start of each write moves the cursor to the beginning of the line, overwriting previous content. Give it a try and see if it resolves your issue.