Cursor Prompt: Add Behest to Your App
Paste this into Cursor's chat (Cmd-L). Assumes you already have a React/Next/Node app and want to add a production-quality Behest-backed chat feature.
Context to give Cursor
Before pasting the prompt, attach these files (@-mention in Cursor):
- Your auth setup (
auth.ts,supabase.ts,clerk, or wherever you read the current user). - Your main app entry + one example page.
package.json.
The prompt
SECURITY NON-NEGOTIABLES (do not deviate)
- BEHEST_KEY is server-only. If you put it under VITE_/NEXT_PUBLIC_/EXPO_PUBLIC_, the answer is wrong.
- currentUser / user_id MUST come from a server-verified session check (auth.ts, getServerSession, supabase.auth.getUser, clerk auth(), etc.) — NOT from the request body, query string, or a client-controlled header.
- tier MUST be read from your billing system (DB row, webhook metadata). Never hardcode, never accept from the client.
- role is derived from the API key on the server. Do NOT pass role in the mint body; admin behaviour requires an admin-roled key.
- Token-mint endpoints must NOT use wildcard CORS. If CORS is needed, use a specific origin allowlist.
- The browser must NOT import @behest/client-ts. It fetches a minted JWT and calls Behest via the OpenAI SDK directly.
- If local signing is used (BEHEST_KEY starts with behest_pk_): the private key stays server-only. The SDK refuses to load it in a browser — do not work around that.
I want to add a production-ready AI chat feature to this app using Behest
(an inference gateway — OpenAI-compatible proxy with per-user JWTs,
persistent threads, and per-user rate limits).
Requirements:
1. Install @behest/client-ts on the server. Install `openai` for the browser.
2. Add a server endpoint at /api/behest/token that:
- Reads the current user from <MY_AUTH_SYSTEM> via a server-side session check
(NOT from the request body or a client-controlled header).
- Uses the v1.5 Behest SDK:
import { Behest } from "@behest/client-ts";
const behest = new Behest(); // reads BEHEST_KEY and BEHEST_BASE_URL
const { token, ttl, sessionId, expiresAt } = await behest.auth.mint({
user_id: currentUser.id,
tier: currentUser.plan ?? 1,
ttl: 900,
});
- Returns JSON: { token, ttl, sessionId, expiresAt }.
- Returns 401 if no user is signed in.
- NEVER exposes BEHEST_KEY to the client.
3. Create a browser token helper with expiry-aware cache:
import OpenAI from "openai";
type TokenBundle = { token: string; ttl: number; sessionId: string; expiresAt: number };
let cached: TokenBundle | null = null;
async function getToken(): Promise<TokenBundle> {
const now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
if (cached && cached.expiresAt - now > 60) return cached;
const r = await fetch("/api/behest/token", { method: "POST" });
if (!r.ok) throw new Error("token mint failed");
cached = await r.json();
return cached!;
}
export async function getOpenAI() {
const { token, sessionId } = await getToken();
return new OpenAI({
apiKey: token,
baseURL: `${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BEHEST_BASE_URL}/v1`,
dangerouslyAllowBrowser: true,
defaultHeaders: { "X-Session-Id": sessionId },
});
}
4. Build a <Chat> component with:
- Message list (user + assistant bubbles).
- Input with Enter-to-send.
- Stop button wired to AbortController.
- On submit: const openai = await getOpenAI(); then openai.chat.completions.create({ messages, stream: true }, { headers: { "X-Thread-Id": threadId } }).
- Uses a stable threadId per conversation (prop in, or crypto.randomUUID() on mount if none).
5. Error handling in the browser (OpenAI SDK throws APIError with status/code/headers):
- 402 → show an upgrade modal. Parse the response body's error.details for tier/limit/usage.
- 429 → show a toast and wait for the Retry-After header (seconds, not ms) before retrying.
- 401 → clear the cached token, force re-auth, fetch a new token, retry once.
6. Add env vars to .env.example:
BEHEST_KEY=behest_sk_live_YOUR_KEY_HERE # server-only
BEHEST_BASE_URL=https://your-slug.behest.app # server-only
NEXT_PUBLIC_BEHEST_BASE_URL=https://your-slug.behest.app # safe to expose
7. Don't add features I didn't ask for. No tool calls, no voice, no vision
unless I ask in a follow-up.
After implementing, tell me exactly:
- Which existing files you changed.
- What env vars I need to set.
- A curl command I can use to test /api/behest/token.
Follow-up prompts
After the first pass works, paste any of these:
Add a thread sidebar
Add a left sidebar to the chat page that lists all threads for the current
user. Thread listing requires a Behest JWT too, so do it via a small server
route (GET /api/behest/threads) that uses the SDK — same pattern as the
token route: const behest = new Behest(); await behest.auth.mint({ user_id });
return await behest.threads.list(). Exposing thread data to the browser still
needs server-side auth, so route it through the same endpoint rather than
minting a browser token for it. When I click a thread, fetch its messages
with behest.threads.messages(threadId). Delete uses behest.threads.delete(id).
Add usage meter
In the app header, show a usage meter "X / Y tokens today" by calling a
new server route /api/behest/usage that uses behest.usage.get({ from, to }).
Poll every 30s. Server-side scope is automatic from the JWT's uid claim.
Switch to local signing
Swap BEHEST_KEY from behest_sk_live_ (apiKey mode) to behest_pk_ (sign mode,
a tenant RSA PEM from dashboard → Keys → Signing). Add BEHEST_KID,
BEHEST_TENANT_ID, BEHEST_PROJECT_ID to .env. No code change — the v1.5 SDK
auto-detects the mode by key prefix. Verify by checking that the /api/behest/token
endpoint no longer makes an outbound HTTP call on mint.