Week 9: LLM API Chatbot

Objective

Build a command-line chatbot that uses an API key from a local environment file instead of hardcoding secrets in code.

Required Videos

• Official API quickstart video or docs from your chosen provider
• Optional: a short prompt design talk after the first working version

Tasks

1. Copy .env.example to .env.
2. Add your API key locally.
3. Run python week9_chatbot.py.
4. Try at least three prompts and then change the system prompt style.

Deliverables

• A working CLI chatbot
• A local .env file that is not committed to git
• One note about how the prompt changed the behavior

Checkpoint Questions

• Why should API keys stay outside source code?
• What is the system prompt doing?
• What should you log carefully when using external APIs?
• How would you make this bot more useful for a student?