---
title: "Introduction"
---

Talk Box is a comprehensive Python framework for building and deploying attention-optimized conversational AI chatbots. Whether you're building customer support bots, technical advisors, or creative writing assistants, Talk Box provides the tools you need to create intelligent, context-aware chatbots with minimal code.

## Why Talk Box?

**Attention-Optimized Prompts**: built on modern prompt engineering research, Talk Box uses attention patterns and cognitive principles to create more effective prompts that improve AI response quality.

**Simple but Powerful**: start with a single line of code, then scale to complex multi-turn conversations with advanced prompt engineering techniques.

**Fluent API**: chainable configuration methods make it easy to build exactly the chatbot you need without boilerplate code.

**Conversation Management**: automatic message history, context windows, and conversation state management so you can focus on your application logic.

## Quick Start

Get up and running in just a few lines:

```python
import talk_box as tb

# Create and configure a chatbot
bot = (
    tb.ChatBot()
    .model("gpt-4-turbo")
    .preset("technical_advisor")
    .temperature(0.3)
)

# Start chatting
conversation = bot.chat("How do I optimize Python code for performance?")
print(conversation.get_last_message().content)
```

## Core Concepts

### 🤖 ChatBot: Your Configuration Hub

The main entry point for creating chatbots. Configure models, behaviors, and parameters with a
chainable API.

### 💬 Conversation: Message Management

Automatic conversation history with multi-turn context. Every chat interaction returns a
`Conversation` object with full message history.

### 📝 PromptBuilder: Advanced Prompt Engineering

Create attention-optimized prompts using research-backed techniques for improved AI performance.

### 🎭 Presets: Instant Specialization

Professional behavior templates for common use cases like customer support, technical advisory, and creative writing.

## What's In This Guide

### Getting Started

- [Installation](installation.qmd): set up Talk Box and dependencies

### Core Concepts

- [ChatBot Basics](chatbot-basics.qmd): core concepts and first steps
- [Model Selection](model-selection.qmd): choosing the right AI model

### Prompt Engineering

- [Prompt Engineering Guide](prompt-engineering-guide.qmd): the science behind effective prompts
- [PromptBuilder](prompt-builder.qmd): building attention-optimized prompts

---

## Need Help?

- 📚 [API Reference](/reference/index.qmd): complete function and class documentation
- 🐛 [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/rich-iannone/talk-box/issues): report bugs and request features
