This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Manu Kumar Pal
Hey community! đź‘‹
AI is everywhere these days—powering chatbots, recommendation engines, and even image generators. The best part? You can easily bring this power into your React apps without starting from scratch.
âś… 1. Decide Your AI Use Case
Before writing any code, figure out what you want to build:
âś” Chatbot (OpenAI, LangChain)
âś” Image generation (Stable Diffusion, OpenAI Image API)
âś” Sentiment analysis
âś” Recommendations
âś… 2. Choose an AI Provider
Some popular options:
-> OpenAI API (ChatGPT, GPT-4, DALL·E)
-> Hugging Face Inference API (NLP, vision models)
-> Google Gemini or Claude API
-> Custom ML Model hosted on AWS, Flask, or FastAPI
âś… 3. Install Dependencies
For OpenAI, install:
npm install openai axios
âś… 4. Set Up a Backend Proxy (Recommended)
Never expose your API keys in the frontend! Create a simple Express server:
// server.js
import express from 'express';
import axios from 'axios';
const app = express();
app.use(express.json());
app.post('/api/chat', async (req, res) => {
const { message } = req.body;
const response = await axios.post(
'https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions',
{
model: 'gpt-4',
messages: [{ role: 'user', content: message }]
},
{ headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY}` } }
);
res.json(response.data);
});
app.listen(5000, () => console.log('Server running on port 5000'));
âś… 5. Connect Your React Frontend
Here’s a simple React component for your AI chatbot:
import { useState } from "react";
import axios from "axios";
function ChatBot() {
const [input, setInput] = useState("");
const [response, setResponse] = useState("");
const handleSend = async () => {
const res = await axios.post("/api/chat", { message: input });
setResponse(res.data.choices[0].message.content);
};
return (
<div>
<h2>AI Chatbot</h2>
<textarea value={input} onChange={(e) => setInput(e.target.value)} />
<button onClick={handleSend}>Send</button>
<p>{response}</p>
</div>
);
}
export default ChatBot;
âś… 6. Bonus: Real-Time Responses
For a ChatGPT-like experience, use Server-Sent Events (SSE) or WebSockets to stream tokens in real-time.
âś… Wrap-Up: AI in React Made Simple
âś” Define your use case
âś” Keep API keys secure with a backend
âś” Build a clean UI for your AI features
AI can turn ordinary apps into extraordinary experiences. Now it’s your turn to try it out!
💬 What AI feature would you add to your React app? Share your ideas below! 👇
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Manu Kumar Pal
Manu Kumar Pal | Sciencx (2025-07-27T15:12:32+00:00) 🚀 Integrating AI into Your React Application: A Practical Guide. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/07/27/%f0%9f%9a%80-integrating-ai-into-your-react-application-a-practical-guide/
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