DSPy in Elixir

4 months ago 14

Elixir implementation of DSPy - a framework for algorithmically optimizing language model prompts and weights.

DSPy provides a unified interface for composing LM programs with automatic optimization, bringing the power of systematic prompt engineering to the Elixir ecosystem.

🎯 Type-safe signatures - Define input/output interfaces with validation
🧩 Composable modules - Build complex programs from simple components
🤔 Chain of Thought - Built-in step-by-step reasoning capabilities
🔌 Multiple LM providers - Support for OpenAI GPT-4.1 variants and more
⚡ Fault tolerance - Supervision trees for robust production deployment
🧪 Comprehensive testing - Full test suite with mock providers

Add dspy to your list of dependencies in mix.exs:

def deps do [ {:dspy, "~> 0.1.0"} ] end

# Configure with GPT-4.1 (most capable) Dspy.configure(lm: %Dspy.LM.OpenAI{ model: "gpt-4.1", api_key: System.get_env("OPENAI_API_KEY") }) # Define a signature defmodule QA do use Dspy.Signature input_field :question, :string, "Question to answer" output_field :answer, :string, "Answer to the question" end # Create and use a prediction module predict = Dspy.Predict.new(QA) {:ok, result} = Dspy.Module.forward(predict, %{question: "What is 2+2?"}) IO.puts(result.attrs.answer) # "4"

Chain of Thought Reasoning

# Use Chain of Thought for step-by-step reasoning cot = Dspy.ChainOfThought.new(QA) {:ok, result} = Dspy.Module.forward(cot, %{question: "Solve: 15 + 27 * 3"}) IO.puts(result.attrs.reasoning) # Shows step-by-step work IO.puts(result.attrs.answer) # Final answer

DSPy supports all GPT-4.1 variants to optimize for your specific needs:

gpt-4.1 - Maximum Capability

Dspy.configure(lm: %Dspy.LM.OpenAI{model: "gpt-4.1"})

Best for: Complex reasoning, analysis, creative tasks, research

gpt-4.1-mini - Balanced Performance

Dspy.configure(lm: %Dspy.LM.OpenAI{model: "gpt-4.1-mini"})

Best for: General applications, moderate complexity, production workloads

gpt-4.1-nano - Speed & Economy

Dspy.configure(lm: %Dspy.LM.OpenAI{model: "gpt-4.1-nano"})

Best for: Simple tasks, classifications, high-volume processing

See the examples/ directory for comprehensive usage examples:

basic_usage.exs - Getting started with predictions and reasoning
model_comparison.exs - Comparing GPT-4.1 variants for different tasks

Define typed interfaces for your LM calls:

defmodule Summarizer do use Dspy.Signature signature_description "Summarize text concisely" signature_instructions "Focus on key points and main ideas" input_field :text, :string, "Text to summarize" input_field :max_length, :integer, "Maximum summary length", required: false output_field :summary, :string, "Concise summary" output_field :key_points, :string, "Bullet points of main ideas" end

Composable building blocks:

# Basic prediction predict = Dspy.Predict.new(Summarizer) # Chain of thought reasoning cot = Dspy.ChainOfThought.new(Summarizer) # With few-shot examples examples = [ Dspy.example(%{ text: "Long article text...", summary: "Brief summary...", key_points: "• Point 1\n• Point 2" }) ] few_shot = Dspy.Predict.new(Summarizer, examples: examples)

Global settings management:

# Configure language model and parameters Dspy.configure( lm: %Dspy.LM.OpenAI{ model: "gpt-4.1-mini", api_key: System.get_env("OPENAI_API_KEY"), timeout: 30_000 }, max_tokens: 2048, temperature: 0.1, cache: true ) # Get current settings settings = Dspy.settings()

DSPy follows Elixir best practices:

GenServer-based configuration for thread-safe global state
Behaviour-driven design for extensible components
Supervision trees for fault tolerance
Functional composition with pipeline operators
Pattern matching for elegant error handling

Run the test suite:

The library includes comprehensive tests with mock LM providers for reliable CI/CD.

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Add tests for new functionality
Ensure all tests pass
Submit a pull request

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Based on the excellent DSPy framework by Stanford NLP Group.

Read Entire Article

DSPy in Elixir

Chain of Thought Reasoning

gpt-4.1 - Maximum Capability

gpt-4.1-mini - Balanced Performance

gpt-4.1-nano - Speed & Economy

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