Building Your First AI-Powered Website: A Complete Tutorial

Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have:

• Node.js 18+ installed
• Basic knowledge of React and Next.js
• An OpenAI API key
• A code editor (VS Code recommended)

Step 1: Project Setup

# Create a new Next.js project
npx create-next-app@latest my-ai-website
cd my-ai-website

# Install AI SDK
npm install ai @ai-sdk/openai

Step 2: Environment Configuration

Create a .env.local file:

OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key_here

Step 3: Create an AI Chat Component

// components/ai-chat.tsx
'use client'

import { useChat } from 'ai/react'

export function AIChat() {
  const { messages, input, handleInputChange, handleSubmit } = useChat({
    api: '/api/chat',
  })

  return (
    <div className="chat-container">
      <div className="messages">
        {messages.map(m => (
          <div key={m.id} className={m.role}>
            {m.content}
          </div>
        ))}
      </div>
      <form onSubmit={handleSubmit}>
        <input
          value={input}
          onChange={handleInputChange}
          placeholder="Ask anything..."
        />
        <button type="submit">Send</button>
      </form>
    </div>
  )
}

Step 4: Create API Route

// app/api/chat/route.ts
import { openai } from '@ai-sdk/openai'
import { streamText } from 'ai'

export async function POST(req: Request) {
  const { messages } = await req.json()

  const result = streamText({
    model: openai('gpt-4'),
    messages,
  })

  return result.toDataStreamResponse()
}

Step 5: Add to Your Page

// app/page.tsx
import { AIChat } from '@/components/ai-chat'

export default function Home() {
  return (
    <main>
      <h1>My AI-Powered Website</h1>
      <AIChat />
    </main>
  )
}

Step 6: Styling

Add Tailwind CSS classes for a polished look:

<div className="max-w-2xl mx-auto p-4">
  <div className="bg-white rounded-lg shadow-lg p-6">
    <AIChat />
  </div>
</div>

Step 7: Deploy to Vercel

# Install Vercel CLI
npm i -g vercel

# Deploy
vercel

# Add environment variable
vercel env add OPENAI_API_KEY

Advanced Features

1. Add Memory

Store conversation history in Supabase

2. Add RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation)

Connect to your knowledge base

3. Add Streaming

Show responses in real-time

Best Practices

1. Rate Limiting: Prevent abuse with request limits
2. Error Handling: Always have fallbacks
3. Cost Monitoring: Track API usage
4. User Feedback: Add thumbs up/down for responses

Conclusion

You now have a fully functional AI-powered website! This is just the beginning—explore more features in our AI Lab.

View full source code on GitHub | Get help from our team