https://github.com/posit-dev/btw
Describe R Stuff to Large Language Models
https://github.com/posit-dev/btw
Last synced: 23 days ago
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Describe R Stuff to Large Language Models
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/posit-dev/btw
- Owner: posit-dev
- License: other
- Created: 2025-02-06T23:25:06.000Z (about 1 year ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-05-06T16:32:11.000Z (11 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-05-07T11:58:48.692Z (11 months ago)
- Language: R
- Homepage: https://posit-dev.github.io/btw/
- Size: 2.3 MB
- Stars: 26
- Watchers: 2
- Forks: 1
- Open Issues: 9
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.Rmd
- Contributing: .github/CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
- Code of conduct: .github/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
- Support: .github/SUPPORT.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
---
output: github_document
---
```{r, include = FALSE}
knitr::opts_chunk$set(
collapse = TRUE,
comment = "#>",
fig.path = "man/figures/README-",
out.width = "100%"
)
```
# btw 
> A complete toolkit for connecting R and LLMs
[](https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=btw)
[](https://posit-dev.r-universe.dev/btw)
[](https://github.com/posit-dev/btw/actions/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml)
[](https://app.codecov.io/gh/posit-dev/btw)
## Overview
btw helps R users work with Large Language Models, whether you're pasting context into ChatGPT, chatting with an AI assistant in your IDE, or building LLM-powered applications.
The challenge: LLMs need context about your R environment to be helpful—your data structures, the packages you're using, relevant documentation.
btw provides a flexible toolkit that works across different workflows:
- **Copy-paste to external LLMs:** Quickly gather context from your R session and copy it to your clipboard for pasting into ChatGPT, Claude, or any other chat interface.
- **Interactive chat in R:** Launch a full-featured AI assistant directly in your IDE that can explore your environment, read documentation, and help you write code.
- **Build LLM-powered tools:** Integrate btw's capabilities into your own applications, whether you're creating custom chat interfaces or connecting R to coding agents.
## Quick Start
### Copy-paste workflow
Use `btw()` to gather context from your R session and copy it to your clipboard:
```{r eval = FALSE}
library(btw)
# Describe a data frame
btw(mtcars)
# Include package or function documentation
btw("{dplyr}", ?dplyr::across)
# Combine multiple pieces of context
btw(mtcars, "{dplyr}", "How do I calculate the mean mpg by cylinder?")
```
The context is copied to your clipboard, ready to paste into ChatGPT, Claude, or any LLM chat interface.
### Interactive chat in your IDE
Launch a chat interface with `btw_app()`:
```{r eval = FALSE}
btw_app()
```
For persistent project context, create a `btw.md` file with `use_btw_md()`.
This creates a project-specific configuration file where you can define your preferred LLM provider, model, and custom instructions that apply to all conversations in your project.
### Building with btw
btw supercharges [ellmer](https://ellmer.tidyverse.org/)!
Use `btw_client()` for a pre-configured chat client, the same client used by `btw_app()`.
```{r eval = FALSE}
# Uses provider, model, tools and instructions from btw.md
chat <- btw_client()
chat$chat("Help me write documentation for...")
```
Or use `btw_tools()` to get a list of tools you can register with any ellmer chat client.
```{r eval = FALSE}
library(ellmer)
chat <- chat_anthropic() # or chat_openai(), chat_ollama(), etc.
chat$register_tools(btw_tools())
chat$chat("What data frames are in my environment?")
```
Pick and choose which tools you use with friendly group names
```{r eval = FALSE}
# Only provide documentation and file tools
chat$register_tools(btw_tools(c("docs", "files")))
```
or expose btw tools to external coding agents via the [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/) using [mcptools](https://posit-dev.github.io/mcptools/).
```{r eval = FALSE}
# Run as a background process or in a separate R session
btw_mcp_server()
```
You can [configure the MCP server](https://posit-dev.github.io/btw/reference/mcp.html) in Claude Desktop, Continue, or other MCP-compatible tools to give them access to your R environment.
## Installation
You can install btw from CRAN:
```r
install.packages("btw")
```
To install the latest development version, you can install from [posit-dev.r-universe.dev](https://posit-dev.r-universe.dev/):
```r
# install.packages("pak")
pak::repo_add("https://posit-dev.r-universe.dev")
pak::pak("btw")
```
Or you can install the development version from [GitHub](https://github.com/posit-dev/btw):
```r
# install.packages("pak")
pak::pak("posit-dev/btw")
```
## Learn More
- 🌐 [Package website](https://posit-dev.github.io/btw/)
- 📚 [Function reference](https://posit-dev.github.io/btw/reference/)
- 💻 [GitHub repository](https://github.com/posit-dev/btw)
For questions or issues, please [open an issue on GitHub](https://github.com/posit-dev/btw/issues).