Batch Processing

Table of Contents
Prerequisites
Install & Import
Define Your Prompts
Helper Function for a Single Prompt
Model Parameters
Batch Processing Loop
Inspecting Results
Run the Script
Reference Links

Learn how to send multiple prompts in one go using OpenAI’s Python client. This guide covers setup, code structure, and best practices for efficient batch processing.

Prerequisites
Install & Import
Define Your Prompts
Helper Function for a Single Prompt
Batch Processing Loop
Inspecting Results
Run the Script
Reference Links

Prerequisites

Python 3.7+
An OpenAI API key
openai Python package

Store your API key as an environment variable for security:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-your-api-key-here"

Alternatively, pass it directly in code (not recommended for production).

Install & Import

Install the OpenAI Python client:

pip install openai

Then import and initialize the client:

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(api_key="sk-your-api-key-here")

Define Your Prompts

Build a list of user prompts to process in batch:

prompts = [
    "Tell me a story about a warrior princess",
    "Generate a list of 5 business ideas",
    "Explain the theory of relativity in simpler terms",
    "Write a poem about Michael Jordan"
]

Feel free to extend this list to dozens or hundreds of items.

Helper Function for a Single Prompt

Encapsulate the API call in a reusable function:

def process_prompt(prompt: str) -> str:
    response = client.chat.completions.create(
        model="gpt-4",
        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": prompt}],
        max_tokens=250,
        temperature=0.8
    )
    return response.choices[0].message.content

Model Parameters

Parameter	Description	Example
model	The chat model to use	`gpt-4`
messages	Conversation history for the model	`[...]`
max_tokens	Maximum number of tokens in the reply	`250`
temperature	Controls randomness (0.0–1.0)	`0.8`