Fix chat interface (return message dictionaries for Gradio Chatbot) and add fallback to COURSECREATOR_API_KEY for OpenAI API key retrieval.

app.py

@@ -16,26 +16,44 @@ SYSTEM_PROMPT = (
 
 def chat(user_message, chat_history, chat_pairs, sources, plan):
     """Handle a user chat message and return updated chat state."""
-    # Ensure OpenAI API key is set
-    openai.api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
-    # initialise state variables if they are None
+    # Ensure lists are initialised
     if chat_history is None:
         chat_history = []
     if chat_pairs is None:
         chat_pairs = []
-    # append the user's message to the conversation history
+    # Append the user's message to the conversation history (list of dictionaries for Chatbot)
     chat_history.append({"role": "user", "content": user_message})
-    # build messages including system prompt
+    # Build messages including system prompt for API call
     messages = [{"role": "system", "content": SYSTEM_PROMPT}] + chat_history
-    # call OpenAI's ChatCompletion to get assistant's reply
+    # Call OpenAI's ChatCompletion to get assistant's reply
     try:
-        response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
-            model=os.getenv("OPENAI_MODEL", "gpt-5-mini"),
-            messages=messages,
-            temperature=float(os.getenv("TEMPERATURE", "0.7")),
-            max_tokens=int(os.getenv("MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS", "1024")),
-        )
-        assistant_reply = response["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]
+        model = os.getenv("OPENAI_MODEL", "gpt-5-mini")
+        temperature = float(os.getenv("TEMPERATURE", "0.7"))
+        max_tokens = int(os.getenv("MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS", "1024"))
+        # Support alternative secret name COURSECREATOR_API_KEY as a fallback for the OpenAI API key
+        api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY") or os.getenv("COURSECREATOR_API_KEY")
+        if not api_key:
+            raise ValueError("OPENAI_API_KEY or COURSECREATOR_API_KEY is not set")
+        # Prefer the new OpenAI SDK (>=1.0) if available
+        if hasattr(openai, "OpenAI"):
+            client = openai.OpenAI(api_key=api_key)
+            response = client.chat.completions.create(
+                model=model,
+                messages=messages,
+                temperature=temperature,
+                max_tokens=max_tokens,
+            )
+            assistant_reply = response.choices[0].message.content
+        else:
+            # Legacy OpenAI SDK (<1.0)
+            openai.api_key = api_key
+            response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
+                model=model,
+                messages=messages,
+                temperature=temperature,
+                max_tokens=max_tokens,
+            )
+            assistant_reply = response["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]
     except Exception as e:
         # When the API call fails (e.g. missing API key), return an error message
         assistant_reply = (
@@ -43,11 +61,12 @@ def chat(user_message, chat_history, chat_pairs, sources, plan):
             "Please ensure your OpenAI API key is configured in the Space secrets.\n"
             f"(Error: {e})"
         )
-    # append assistant reply to conversation history
+    # Append assistant reply to conversation history
     chat_history.append({"role": "assistant", "content": assistant_reply})
-    # append pair to display history for Chatbot component
+    # Append pair to display history for any other uses (kept for compatibility)
     chat_pairs.append((user_message, assistant_reply))
-    return chat_pairs, chat_history, chat_pairs, sources, plan
+    # For Chatbot with type="messages", return the chat_history as the first output
+    return chat_history, chat_history, chat_pairs, sources, plan
 
 def run_search(query, chat_history, chat_pairs, sources, plan, num_results=5, domain_filter=""):
     """Execute a web search and update sources list."""
@@ -119,7 +138,8 @@ with gr.Blocks() as demo:
 Chat with the assistant to brainstorm your course idea. Use web search to collect resources. When you're ready, click **Finalize Outline** to generate a course plan. Then generate the final course package (ZIP)."""
     )
     # Chat interface components
-    # Use 'messages' type for Chatbot to avoid deprecation of tuple format
+    # Use 'messages' type for Chatbot. The Chatbot expects a list of message dictionaries
+    # (e.g. {"role": "user", "content": "..."}) when type="messages".
     chatbot = gr.Chatbot(label="Conversation", type="messages")
     msg_input = gr.Textbox(label="Your message", placeholder="Type your message and press Enter", lines=1)
     # Search controls
@@ -133,7 +153,7 @@ Chat with the assistant to brainstorm your course idea. Use web search to collec
     plan_output = gr.Textbox(label="Course outline", interactive=False)
     generate_btn = gr.Button("Generate Course Package")
     file_output = gr.File(label="course.zip")
-    # State variables to keep track of conversation, display pairs, sources and plan
+    # State variables to keep track of conversation (messages), display pairs, sources and plan
     state_chat_history = gr.State([])
     state_chat_pairs = gr.State([])
     state_sources = gr.State([])
@@ -142,6 +162,7 @@ Chat with the assistant to brainstorm your course idea. Use web search to collec
     msg_input.submit(
         chat,
         inputs=[msg_input, state_chat_history, state_chat_pairs, state_sources, state_plan],
+        # First output goes to the Chatbot; we return the updated chat history (list of messages)
         outputs=[chatbot, state_chat_history, state_chat_pairs, state_sources, state_plan],
     )
     # Handle search submission: update search results and sources; maintain other states unchanged

planner.py

@@ -3,19 +3,47 @@ import openai
 
 
 def plan_course(messages, sources):
-    """Use OpenAI to plan a course based on messages and sources."""
-    openai.api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY")
-    system_prompt = "You are an expert course planner. Use the conversation and sources to propose a structured plan."
+    """Use OpenAI to plan a course based on messages and sources. Tries to handle different OpenAI SDK versions."""
+    # Ensure API key is available
+    # Support alternative secret name COURSECREATOR_API_KEY as a fallback for the OpenAI API key
+    api_key = os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY") or os.getenv("COURSECREATOR_API_KEY")
+    if not api_key:
+        raise ValueError(
+            "An OpenAI API key is required to plan the course (set OPENAI_API_KEY or COURSECREATOR_API_KEY)"
+        )
+    system_prompt = (
+        "You are an expert course planner. Use the conversation and sources to propose a structured plan."
+    )
     formatted_messages = [{"role": "system", "content": system_prompt}]
-    # append conversation messages
     for msg in messages:
         formatted_messages.append(msg)
-    # simple call to OpenAI chat completion
-    response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
-        model=os.getenv("OPENAI_MODEL", "gpt-5-mini"),
-        messages=formatted_messages,
-        temperature=float(os.getenv("TEMPERATURE", "0.7")),
-        max_tokens=int(os.getenv("MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS", "2048")),
-    )
-    plan_text = response["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]
-    return plan_text
+    model = os.getenv("OPENAI_MODEL", "gpt-5-mini")
+    temperature = float(os.getenv("TEMPERATURE", "0.7"))
+    max_tokens = int(os.getenv("MAX_OUTPUT_TOKENS", "2048"))
+    # Try to call OpenAI using v1-style client if available
+    try:
+        # Newer OpenAI Python SDK (>=1.0) exposes `OpenAI` client
+        if hasattr(openai, "OpenAI"):
+            client = openai.OpenAI(api_key=api_key)
+            response = client.chat.completions.create(
+                model=model,
+                messages=formatted_messages,
+                temperature=temperature,
+                max_tokens=max_tokens,
+            )
+            # response.choices is a list of objects
+            plan_text = response.choices[0].message.content
+        else:
+            # Legacy OpenAI SDK (<1.0)
+            openai.api_key = api_key
+            response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
+                model=model,
+                messages=formatted_messages,
+                temperature=temperature,
+                max_tokens=max_tokens,
+            )
+            plan_text = response["choices"][0]["message"]["content"]
+    except Exception as e:
+        # Propagate error for caller to handle
+        raise RuntimeError(f"OpenAI API error: {e}")
+    return plan_text