Semantic function
A semantic function is a callable operation whose behavior is specified by a natural-language prompt and executed through interaction with a large language model.
AI Agents in Action
A semantic function is a function whose behavior is specified by a prompt or profile and executed through interaction with a large language model.
- How it is used
- Deploys prompt-defined behavior as an executable action for LLM applications, plugins, chat interfaces, and agents.
- How deep it goes
- Explains templates, variables, plugins, invocation, and composition with native functions, but does not detail model internals.
- Examples
- Uses movie recommendations, creative writing, meal planning, database lookup, and tree-of-thought answer evaluation.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch with Semantic Kernel, parameterize prompts, register plugins, invoke functions, and combine prompts with code actions.
Generative AI in Action
A semantic function is a Semantic Kernel callable operation defined by a natural-language prompt and input parameters.
- How it is used
- Provides callable application capabilities that Semantic Kernel can combine to fulfill a natural-language goal.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the role and orchestration of semantic functions but does not show their prompt definitions or input-parameter syntax.
- Examples
- Uses database interactions, API calls, and email operations as examples of application capabilities.
- What you can do after
- Apply it via Semantic Kernel to expose application operations for AI-driven orchestration.
Read how Generative AI in Action explains semantic function →
Related concepts
- language modeluses · A language model is a computational model that represents patterns in linguistic tokens to estimate sequence probabilities and predict or generate language from context.
- templateequivalent to · A template is a reusable structure with fixed elements and variable parts for creating or generating similar content, outputs, or artifacts.
- native functionuses · A native function is a conventionally programmed function that can be invoked by an orchestration framework or language-model application.
- Semantic Kernelproduced by · Semantic Kernel is an open-source Microsoft SDK for building AI applications that integrate language models with application code, plugins, and related capabilities.
- metadataproduces · Metadata is information that describes, identifies, or provides context about other data, resources, or artifacts.
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