How do I call OpenAI’s API asynchronously in Python?

To call OpenAI’s API asynchronously in Python, you’ll use the asyncio library and the official openai package, which supports async operations. First, ensure you have the latest OpenAI library installed (pip install openai). The library provides an AsyncOpenAI client designed for non-blocking requests, allowing your code to handle multiple API calls concurrently without waiting for each to finish before starting the next. This approach is ideal for applications like chatbots or batch processing where efficiency and responsiveness matter.

Start by importing asyncio and initializing the async client with your API key. Here’s a basic example:

import asyncio
from openai import AsyncOpenAI

client = AsyncOpenAI(api_key="your-api-key")

async def get_completion(prompt):
 response = await client.chat.completions.create(
 model="gpt-3.5-turbo",
 messages=[{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
 )
 return response.choices[0].message.content

async def main():
 result = await get_completion("Explain async programming in Python.")
 print(result)

asyncio.run(main())

This code defines an async function get_completion that sends a request using await, freeing the event loop to handle other tasks while waiting for the API response. The main function awaits the result and prints it. For error handling, wrap the API call in a try/except block to catch exceptions like network errors or rate limits.

For bulk or parallel requests, use asyncio.gather() to run multiple calls at once. For example:

async def main():
 prompts = ["Prompt 1", "Prompt 2", "Prompt 3"]
 tasks = [get_completion(prompt) for prompt in prompts]
 results = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
 for res in results:
 print(res)

This reduces total execution time compared to sequential synchronous calls. Note that asynchronous code requires careful management of resources like API rate limits—avoid overwhelming the API with too many concurrent requests. Use semaphores or batch delays if needed. Overall, async integration with OpenAI’s API is straightforward with the official library, making it easy to build scalable applications.