Your First Request

Before You Begin

Before making your first request, ensure you've completed the following:

• Installed the NovaAI SDK.

• Configured your API key.

• Completed authentication.

• Created a NovaAI project.

Your First API Request

The example below sends a simple prompt to the NovaAI Chat model and returns a generated response.

1import { NovaAI } from "@novaai/sdk";
2 
3const client = new NovaAI({
4  apiKey: process.env.NOVA_API_KEY,
5});
6 
7const response = await client.chat.create({
8  model: "nova-chat-4",
9  messages: [
10    {
11      role: "user",
12      content: "Explain what machine learning is in one sentence."
13    }
14  ]
15});
16 
17console.log(response.output);

Understanding the Request

Every chat request consists of a few essential properties.

Request Lifecycle

Example Response

A successful request returns a structured JSON response.

1{
2  "id": "req_8f31a7",
3  "model": "nova-chat-4",
4  "output": "Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that enables computers to learn patterns from data.",
5  "usage": {
6    "prompt_tokens": 14,
7    "completion_tokens": 18,
8    "total_tokens": 32
9  }
10}

Understanding the Response

Response Flow

Try Your Own Prompt

Use the example below to experiment with different prompts.

Replace the prompt in the previous example with your own and observe how different instructions influence the generated output.

Common Request Errors

Invalid Model

The requested model does not exist or is unavailable.

Solution

Verify the model name and ensure it is supported by your account.

Invalid Request Body

One or more required properties are missing or incorrectly formatted.

Solution

Validate the JSON payload and confirm all required fields are included.

Rate Limit Exceeded

Too many requests were sent within a short period.

Solution

Retry the request after the recommended wait time or implement exponential backoff.

What's Next?

Congratulations! You've successfully sent your first request to NovaAI.

Continue to Core Concepts to learn how models, prompts, messages, tokens, and responses work together to power every interaction with the NovaAI platform.