AskIt: Unified Programming Interface for Programming with Large Language Models

TL;DR

AskIt is a domain-specific language that provides a unified interface for integrating large language models into applications, simplifying prompt design, and enabling seamless switching between direct task execution and code generation, thereby improving efficiency.

Contribution

This paper introduces AskIt, a novel DSL that unifies LLM integration for direct tasks and code-based workflows, with type-guided output control and template-based functions.

Findings

16.14% reduction in prompt length compared to benchmarks

Enhanced efficiency in task execution and code generation workflows

Effective in 50 diverse tasks

Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) exhibit a unique phenomenon known as emergent abilities, demonstrating adeptness across numerous tasks, from text summarization to code generation. While these abilities open up novel avenues in software design and crafting, their incorporation presents substantial challenges. Developers face decisions regarding the use of LLMs for directly performing tasks within applications as well as for generating and executing code to accomplish these tasks. Moreover, effective prompt design becomes a critical concern, given the necessity of extracting data from natural language outputs. To address these complexities, this paper introduces AskIt, a domain-specific language (DSL) specifically designed for LLMs. AskIt simplifies LLM integration by providing a unified interface that not only allows for direct task execution using LLMs but also supports the entire cycle of code generation and execution. This dual capability is achieved through (1) type-guided output control, (2) template-based function definitions, and (3) prompt generation for both usage modes. Our evaluations underscore AskIt's effectiveness. Across 50 tasks, AskIt generated concise prompts, achieving a 16.14 % reduction in prompt length compared to benchmarks. Additionally, by enabling a seamless transition between using LLMs directly in applications and for generating code, AskIt achieved significant efficiency improvements, as observed in our GSM8K benchmark experiments. The implementations of AskIt in TypeScript and Python are available at https://github.com/katsumiok/ts-askit and https://github.com/katsumiok/pyaskit, respectively.