Principle:Cohere ai Cohere python Streaming Chat Request
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Source Repo | Cohere Python SDK |
| Source Doc | Cohere Streaming |
| Domains | NLP, Text_Generation, Streaming |
| Last Updated | 2026-02-15 14:00 GMT |
Overview
A streaming request pattern for incrementally receiving language model responses as they are generated token-by-token.
Description
Streaming Chat is an alternative to synchronous chat completion where the response is delivered incrementally as Server-Sent Events. Instead of waiting for the complete response, tokens are sent to the client as they are generated. This enables real-time UIs, reduces perceived latency, and allows processing to begin before generation completes. The streaming variant accepts the same parameters as the non-streaming chat but returns an iterator of typed stream events rather than a single response object.
Usage
Use this principle when building interactive chat UIs, real-time applications, or any scenario where incremental response delivery improves user experience. The streaming approach is preferred for long responses where the user benefits from seeing text appear progressively.
Theoretical Basis
Streaming leverages the autoregressive nature of language model generation — since tokens are produced sequentially, each can be transmitted immediately. Server-Sent Events (SSE) provide a unidirectional server-to-client channel over HTTP. The stream consists of typed events:
- message-start: Initial event with message ID
- content-delta: Incremental text token
- tool-call events: Tool planning and calling events
- citation events: Citation start and end markers
- message-end: Final event with usage statistics