Custom App examples
A curated list of runnable Custom App examples, sample projects, and video walkthroughs. Each entry includes a description of what it demonstrates and a link to the source code.
Starter examples
Echo app
The simplest possible Custom App — receives a message and echoes it back. Demonstrates the minimal DIAL SDK integration: ChatCompletion base class, Request/Response handling, and Docker Compose setup with DIAL Core and Chat.
Source: https://github.com/epam/ai-dial/tree/main/dial-docker-compose/application/echo
Covered in: Getting started with DIAL SDK
Standalone app with custom API
A Custom App that exposes both the standard DIAL chat completions endpoint and a custom REST API for configuration. Demonstrates mounting a FastAPI app alongside DIALApp, managing application state, and serving custom endpoints.
Source: https://github.com/epam/ai-dial/tree/main/dial-samples/standalone-app-chat-ui
App with application runner (schema-rich)
A schema-rich Custom App that reads its configuration from DIAL Core using request.request_dial_application_properties(). Demonstrates how to build apps that conform to an application type schema — enabling UI wizards and per-instance configuration.
Source: https://github.com/epam/ai-dial/tree/main/dial-samples/app-runner-chat-ui
Calling patterns (cookbook)
These Jupyter notebooks demonstrate how to call DIAL applications as a client using various SDKs and tools.
Text-to-text applications
Calling a text application using curl, Python requests, the OpenAI Python SDK, and LangChain — including both streaming and non-streaming modes.
Text-to-image applications
Calling an image generation application through the Unified API. Demonstrates how DIAL returns generated images as attachments.
Image-to-text applications
Sending images as attachments to a multimodal application. Demonstrates the DIAL attachment format (base64 and DIAL file storage URLs).
Image generation with configuration
Calling GPT image generation with custom configuration parameters passed through the request.
SDK examples (GitHub)
The DIAL SDK repository contains additional examples demonstrating specific features:
| Example | What it demonstrates |
|---|---|
| echo | Minimal app, attachment echo-back |
| image_size | Reading and processing image attachments |
| render_text | Text-to-image rendering, returning images in responses |
| langchain_rag | Full RAG with LangChain, vector store, streaming, per-request key propagation |
| tic_tac_toe | Interactive app with configuration endpoint (/configure) |
Video walkthroughs
| Video | Description |
|---|---|
| Develop Translator App | Building a translator app that calls an upstream LLM through DIAL |
| Custom Buttons in DIAL Applications | Button types, JSON Schema definitions, and interaction patterns |
| Deploy DIAL with Ollama | Setting up a local DIAL deployment with Ollama as the model provider |
Further reading
- Getting started with DIAL SDK — build your first Custom App from scratch
- Tutorial: build a RAG app — end-to-end RAG app with file attachments and streaming
- DIAL SDK reference — what DIAL SDK handles and where each reference page lives