Basic Usage
All LangChain chat models implement a common interface:Message Types
LangChain supports several message types:Model Configuration
Configure model parameters to control output:Temperature Settings
- Low (0.0-0.3)
- Medium (0.4-0.7)
- High (0.8-1.5)
Use for factual, deterministic outputs:
Multi-Provider Support
Swap between providers easily:Conversation History
Maintain context across multiple turns:Function/Tool Calling
Chat models can call functions to access external data:Structured Output
Generate structured data using Pydantic models:JSON Mode
For flexible JSON output:Batch Processing
Process multiple inputs efficiently:Async Execution
Use async for better performance with concurrent requests:Async Batch
Caching Responses
Cache model responses to reduce costs and latency:Fallbacks and Retry
Handle failures gracefully:Usage Metadata
Track token usage and costs:Best Practices
Set appropriate temperature
Use low temperature (0-0.3) for deterministic tasks, higher (0.7-1.0) for creative tasks.
Use streaming for long outputs
Stream responses for better UX. See Streaming guide.
Next Steps
- Learn about Streaming for real-time responses
- Explore Output Parsing for structured data
- Build Agents with tool-calling capabilities
- Check LangSmith for observability