How to Create a ChatGPT Plugin for Currency Conversion and Image Generation

Building Your Own ChatGPT Plugin for Currency Conversion

As technology progresses, so does the ability to customize and enhance our digital experiences. One exciting example is creating plugins that expand the capabilities of ChatGPT's AI chatbot. These plugins act as add-ons, integrating external applications into the chatbot for enriched functionality. In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the steps to develop a currency exchange rate plugin using ChatGPT and deploy it via Replit.

Understanding ChatGPT Plugins

A ChatGPT plugin is software designed to facilitate communication between external applications and ChatGPT's API. With a plugin, the chatbot can perform tasks and provide information beyond its default skills. Before beginning, ensure you have access to developer tools and, ideally, a ChatGPT Plus subscription.

Getting Started: Defining the Plugin Idea

To initiate the process, open your ChatGPT browser interface and request it to suggest plugin ideas. For the sake of simplicity, we will use the first suggestion: a currency exchange rate converter.

Choosing an API for Currency Exchange

Next, ask ChatGPT for APIs suited for our currency converter. After evaluating several options, we chose the Exchange Rates API due to its free usage tier. Make sure to sign up and obtain your API KEY.

Developing the Plugin

• Copy the documentation for the Exchange Rates API from its website.
• Paste this into ChatGPT, instructing it to generate the necessary code for the /convert endpoint in Python.
• Refine your request until you get a complete code for a Flask application handling conversions.

Setting Up on Replit

Create an account and a new repository on Replit. Paste the code generated from ChatGPT into the main.py file. Store your API KEY in the secrets tab of Replit.

Creating Essential Files

Now, we move to develop additional required files:

• Request ChatGPT to produce a manifest file by providing the appropriate documentation from OpenAI.
• Create an ai-plugin.json file in your Replit repo and insert the generated manifest code.
• Request an OpenAPI definition from ChatGPT and save it as openapi.yaml.

Finalizing the Setup

Make adjustments in your main.py file by importing necessary modules. Then, add endpoints to serve the manifest and Open API files:

from flask import Flask, send_from_directory
app = Flask(__name__)

Run the app in Replit, and obtain your deployment URL. Plug this URL into the ai-plugin.json and openapi.yaml files for inclusion.

Testing Your Plugin

Navigate to the ChatGPT plugin store, choose ‘Develop your own plugin,’ and input your base URL for testing. The functionality should now be operational!

Bonus: Integrating with Stable Diffusion

To expand your plugin’s capabilities, consider integrating Stable Diffusion to generate images based on currency conversions. Secure the Replicate API TOKEN and follow similar steps to call the Stable Diffusion model.

Conclusion

This tutorial demonstrates the process of creating a ChatGPT plugin for currency conversion functionality and image generation using Stable Diffusion. With the tools and knowledge now at your disposal, the potential for developing custom plugins is boundless.

If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to connect on LinkedIn or Twitter.