Edge Functions

Running AI Models

How to run AI models in Edge Functions.

Supabase Edge Runtime has a built-in API for running AI models. You can use this API to generate embeddings, build conversational workflows, and do other AI related tasks in your Edge Functions.

Setup

There are no external dependencies or packages to install to enable the API.

You can create a new inference session by doing:


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const model = new Supabase.ai.Session('model-name')

Running a model inference

Once the session is instantiated, you can call it with inputs to perform inferences. Depending on the model you run, you may need to provide different options (discussed below).


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const output = await model.run(input, options)

How to generate text embeddings

Now let's see how to write an Edge Function using the Supabase.ai API to generate text embeddings. Currently, Supabase.ai API only supports the gte-small model.


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const model = new Supabase.ai.Session('gte-small')
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Deno.serve(async (req: Request) => {
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const params = new URL(req.url).searchParams
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const input = params.get('input')
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const output = await model.run(input, { mean_pool: true, normalize: true })
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return new Response(JSON.stringify(output), {
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headers: {
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'Content-Type': 'application/json',
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Connection: 'keep-alive',
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},
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})
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})

Using Large Language Models (LLM)

Inference via larger models is supported via Ollama and Mozilla Llamafile. In the first iteration, you can use it with a self-managed Ollama or Llamafile server. We are progressively rolling out support for the hosted solution. To sign up for early access, fill up this form.

Running locally

Install Ollama and pull the Mistral model


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ollama pull mistral

Run the Ollama server locally


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ollama serve

Set a function secret called AI_INFERENCE_API_HOST to point to the Ollama server


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echo "AI_INFERENCE_API_HOST=http://host.docker.internal:11434" >> supabase/functions/.env

Create a new function with the following code


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supabase functions new ollama-test

supabase/functions/ollama-test/index.ts

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import 'jsr:@supabase/functions-js/edge-runtime.d.ts'
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const session = new Supabase.ai.Session('mistral')
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Deno.serve(async (req: Request) => {
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const params = new URL(req.url).searchParams
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const prompt = params.get('prompt') ?? ''
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// Get the output as a stream
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const output = await session.run(prompt, { stream: true })
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const headers = new Headers({
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'Content-Type': 'text/event-stream',
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Connection: 'keep-alive',
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})
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// Create a stream
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const stream = new ReadableStream({
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async start(controller) {
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const encoder = new TextEncoder()
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try {
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for await (const chunk of output) {
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controller.enqueue(encoder.encode(chunk.response ?? ''))
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}
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} catch (err) {
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console.error('Stream error:', err)
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} finally {
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controller.close()
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}
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},
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})
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// Return the stream to the user
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return new Response(stream, {
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headers,
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})
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})

Serve the function


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supabase functions serve --env-file supabase/functions/.env

Execute the function


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curl --get "http://localhost:54321/functions/v1/ollama-test" \
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--data-urlencode "prompt=write a short rap song about Supabase, the Postgres Developer platform, as sung by Nicki Minaj" \
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-H "Authorization: $ANON_KEY"

Deploying to production

Once the function is working locally, it's time to deploy to production.

Deploy an Ollama or Llamafile server and set a function secret called AI_INFERENCE_API_HOST to point to the deployed server


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supabase secrets set AI_INFERENCE_API_HOST=https://path-to-your-llm-server/

Deploy the Supabase function


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supabase functions deploy

Execute the function


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curl --get "https://project-ref.supabase.co/functions/v1/ollama-test" \
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--data-urlencode "prompt=write a short rap song about Supabase, the Postgres Developer platform, as sung by Nicki Minaj" \
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-H "Authorization: $ANON_KEY"

As demonstrated in the video above, running Ollama locally is typically slower than running it in on a server with dedicated GPUs. We are collaborating with the Ollama team to improve local performance.

In the future, a hosted LLM API, will be provided as part of the Supabase platform. Supabase will scale and manage the API and GPUs for you. To sign up for early access, fill up this form.