Chat Client Provider

The IChatClientProvider interface is the bridge between the AI conversation service and your AI backend.

Default Behavior

By default, a built-in InjectedChatClientProvider is registered that resolves IChatClient from your DI container. For most apps, simply register an IChatClient and you’re done:

builder.Services.AddChatClient(new OpenAIClient("your-api-key").GetChatClient("gpt-4o").AsIChatClient());

builder.Services.AddShinyAiConversation(opts =>
{
    // No need to call SetChatClientProvider — the default resolves IChatClient from DI
});

If no IChatClient is registered and no custom provider is set, an InvalidOperationException is thrown at runtime.

Built-in Providers

Two ready-made providers are available as separate NuGet packages so you don’t have to implement IChatClientProvider yourself.

Shiny.AiConversation.OpenAi

A static provider for any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Ollama, etc.). Creates the client once at startup with logging and function invocation middleware.

dotnet add package Shiny.AiConversation.OpenAi

builder.Services.AddShinyAiConversation(opts =>
{
    opts.AddStaticOpenAIChatClient(
        apiToken: "your-api-key",
        endpointUri: "https://api.openai.com/v1",
        modelName: "gpt-4o"
    );
});

Works great for Blazor WASM, server apps, or any MAUI app where you have an API key up front.

Shiny.AiConversation.Maui.GithubCopilot

A MAUI-specific provider that authenticates via the GitHub OAuth device code flow and uses the Copilot API for chat completions. The entire authentication experience is self-contained:

1. When authentication is needed, a popup appears with the device code
2. The code is automatically copied to the clipboard
3. The user presses OK and a browser opens to GitHub’s verification page
4. The provider polls in the background until the user authorizes
5. The OAuth token is exchanged for a Copilot API token and cached
6. Tokens are persisted in SecureStorage across app restarts

dotnet add package Shiny.AiConversation.Maui.GithubCopilot

builder.Services.AddShinyAiConversation(opts =>
{
    opts.AddGithubCopilotChatClient();
});

No login page, token storage, or event wiring needed — one line of registration handles everything.

Additional API on GitHubCopilotChatClientProvider:

Member	Description
IsAuthenticated	Whether a stored token exists
StartAuthentication(ct)	Manually trigger the device code flow
CancelAuthentication()	Cancel an in-progress auth flow
SignOut()	Clear stored tokens
AccessTokenChanged	Event fired when auth state changes (token or null)

Custom Implementation

For scenarios not covered by the built-in providers, implement IChatClientProvider:

Interface

public interface IChatClientProvider
{
    Task<IChatClient> GetChatClient(CancellationToken cancelToken = default);
}

The service calls GetChatClient() before each chat request, so your implementation can handle token refresh, re-authentication, or client rotation.

Registration

builder.Services.AddShinyAiConversation(opts =>
{
    opts.SetChatClientProvider<MyChatClientProvider>();
});

Example: Ollama (Local)

using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
using Shiny.AiConversation;

public class OllamaChatClientProvider : IChatClientProvider
{
    public Task<IChatClient> GetChatClient(CancellationToken cancelToken = default)
    {
        var client = new OllamaChatClient(
            new Uri("http://localhost:11434"),
            "llama3.1"
        );
        return Task.FromResult<IChatClient>(client);
    }
}

Authentication Patterns

Pattern	Provider
API key from config	AddStaticOpenAIChatClient() or register IChatClient in DI
GitHub Copilot (device code flow)	AddGithubCopilotChatClient()
Managed identity / custom	Implement IChatClientProvider
Token refresh with caching	Implement IChatClientProvider

Note

All built-in providers handle on-demand authentication — the user isn’t prompted until an AI feature is first used.