Error 400: Missing 'functions[0].name' Parameter in Function Calling API for GPT-4o-mini, GPT-3.5, and GPT-4-0613 Models

Question

I am developing a shopping assistant Chatbot. While using function calling APIs, I get an error. The "auto" does not seem to fetch any function. I use "gpt-4o-mini" model.

I attempted the following code. I expected a smooth flow of the chat process and a final recommendation from the list of laptops available in a .csv file. But I get error which is also posted here.

from openai import OpenAI
import json

client = OpenAI()

# Define functions (tools)
tools = [
    {
        "type": "function",
        "function": {
            "name": "initialize_conversation",
            "description": "Initialize the conversation for the shopping assistant chatbot.",
            "parameters": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {},
                "required": [],
                "additionalProperties": False,
            },
        },
    },
    {
        "type": "function",
        "function": {
            "name": "get_chat_completions",
            "description": "Fetch chat completions based on the user’s input.",
            "parameters": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "input": {
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "The user’s input or query to process."
                    },
                    "json_format": {
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Flag to determine if the output should be in JSON format."
                    },
                },
                "required": ["input"],
                "additionalProperties": False,
            },
        },
    },

]

import openai
import json

# Initialize OpenAI client
client = openai.OpenAI()

# Step 1: Initialize conversation (I have used a more detailed function here
def initialize_conversation():
    return [{"role": "system", "content": "You are a shopping assistant expert for laptops."}]

# Main function
def dialogue_mgmt_system_v2(tools):
    conversation = initialize_conversation()  # Start with system message. 
    
    print("Welcome to the Shopping Assistant! Type 'exit' to end the chat.\n")
    
    while True:
        # Step 3: Get user input
        user_input = input("You: ")
        if user_input.lower() == "exit":
            print("Goodbye! Have a great day!")
            break
        
        # Add user input to the conversation
        conversation.append({"role": "user", "content": user_input})
        
        try:
            **# Step 4: Call OpenAI API with tools**
            response = client.chat_completions.create(
                model="gpt-4-0613",
                messages=conversation,
                functions=tools,  # Pass the tools here
                function_call="auto"  # Let the AI decide if a function is needed
            )
            
            # Step 5: Check if a function call is needed
            if "function_call" in response.choices[0].message:
                function_call = response.choices[0].message["function_call"]
                function_name = function_call["name"]
                function_args = json.loads(function_call["arguments"])
                
                # Step 6: Execute the function
                if function_name in globals():
                    function_output = globals()[function_name](**function_args)
                    
                    # Add the function output to the conversation
                    conversation.append({"role": "function", "name": function_name, "content": json.dumps(function_output)})
                else:
                    print(f"Error: Function '{function_name}' not found.")
            
            # Step 7: AI-generated response
            else:
                assistant_response = response.choices[0].message["content"]
                print(f"Assistant: {assistant_response}")
                conversation.append({"role": "assistant", "content": assistant_response})
        
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"An error occurred: {e}"
)

** When I execute, The Chatbot gives the welcome message but when user input is received, the following error is thrown.**

A glimpse of the execution output and error message.

<Chatbot> Welcome! Type 'exit' to end the chat.

<User> Hi! I would like to buy a new laptop. Can you suggest me one please? <Chatbot> I am executing Step 4: Call OpenAI API with tools .

<Chatbot> I am executing Exception part .

<Chatbot> An error occurred: Error code: 400 - {'error': {'message': "Missing required parameter: 'functions[0].name'.", 'type': 'invalid_request_error', 'param': 'functions[0].name', 'code': 'missing_required_parameter'}}

Answer 1

The issue lies in the structure of the tools parameter. The functions were unnecessarily wrapped in a "function" key, which the OpenAI API does not recognize. Each function should be defined directly in the tools list with the following keys:

• name: The function's name (required for the API to identify it).
• description: A brief explanation of what the function does.
• parameters: A JSON Schema that defines the expected input for the function.

Here’s the corrected structure:

tools = [
    {
        "name": "initialize_conversation",
        "description": "Initialize the conversation for the shopping assistant chatbot.",
        "parameters": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {},
            "required": [],
            "additionalProperties": False,
        },
    },
    {
        "name": "get_chat_completions",
        "description": "Fetch chat completions based on the user’s input.",
        "parameters": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
                "input": {
                    "type": "string",
                    "description": "The user’s input or query."
                },
                "json_format": {
                    "type": "boolean",
                    "description": "Whether the output should be in JSON format."
                },
            },
            "required": ["input"],
            "additionalProperties": False,
        },
    },
]

Give a look at this: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/function-calling