> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rigbox.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Build an AI chat app

> A FastAPI chat interface calls the managed AI proxy and exposes a validated model selector.

## Before you begin

Install the [CLI](/guides/install-cli), authenticate with `rig login`, and use an isolated test workspace. These examples require the v0.13 CLI. The manifests have been checked with the v0.13 parser; verify application health after deployment.

[Open the ai-chat source](https://github.com/rigbox-dev/rigbox-examples/tree/2612ffc9138d3b2f8169b10e3a54abd5495db8b8/ai-chat). These manifests explicitly select **incremental** deployment.

## Deploy from your machine

From a terminal on your machine, clone the repository and enter the example directory:

```bash theme={null}
git clone --branch codex/examples-docs-v013 https://github.com/rigbox-dev/rigbox-examples.git
cd rigbox-examples/ai-chat
rig --version
```

`ai.managed: true` enables managed routing. The `model` parameter allows `rigbox/default`, `rigbox/fast`, or `rigbox/free`; these are aliases, not guarantees of a particular model or price.

```bash theme={null}
rig deploy --strategy incremental
```

Record the workspace and app IDs printed by deployment. Use those exact IDs wherever this guide shows `WORKSPACE_ID` or `APP_ID`; do not guess a public URL from an app name.

## Verify the result

```bash theme={null}
rig app health --app APP_ID
rig app logs --app APP_ID
```

Open the app and send a short message. A healthy HTTP process does not prove AI authorization: check a completed response, then inspect logs if the proxy rejects it.

```bash theme={null}
rig app param ls --app APP_ID
rig app param set --app APP_ID model=rigbox/fast
```

## Access and recovery

The example uses the authenticated route by default. Managed AI requires your account/workspace to have access and available credits.

If deployment fails, read the terminal error and installation output before retrying. `rig app logs --app APP_ID --install` shows install logs when an app exists. Check required credentials, resource limits, the start command, and the configured health path. An image deployment may require explicit root-filesystem replacement consent; do not add `--reimage` to a workspace containing data you need.

## Clean up

After saving any data you need, delete only the isolated example workspace. This deletes its applications and workspace data; inspect persistent volumes and snapshots separately before removing them.

```bash theme={null}
rig workspace rm --workspace WORKSPACE_ID
```

Continue with [deployment guides](/guides/deploying) or [the manifest reference](/reference/rig-yaml).