Explore built-in plugins

  • 5 minutes

Plugins are a fundamental part of using the Semantic Kernel SDK. A plugin defines the task for the kernel to perform as it interfaces with the large language model (LLM). Plugins can be composed of native code and prompts to the LLM. The Semantic Kernel SDK offers some built-in plugins for common tasks that are ready to use in your applications.

What is a plugin?

In the Semantic Kernel SDK, a plugin is a class that defines a task that the kernel should perform. A plugin can be made from a semantic prompt or native function code. To use a plugin, you add it to the kernel and then call it using the InvokeAsync method. The kernel then runs the plugin, interfaces with the LLM, and returns the result. Let's take a look at some predefined plugins.

Built-in plugins

The Semantic Kernel SDK offers an extra package with predefined plugins for common tasks. These are available in the Plugins.Core package:

  • ConversationSummaryPlugin - Summarizes conversation
  • FileIOPlugin - Reads and writes to the filesystem
  • HttpPlugin - Makes requests to HTTP endpoints
  • MathPlugin - Performs mathematical operations
  • TextPlugin - Performs text manipulation
  • TimePlugin - Gets time and date information
  • WaitPlugin - Pauses execution for a specified amount of time

To use a core plugin, you can add it to your kernel builder using the AddFromType method. For example, to add the TimePlugin to your kernel, you can use the following code:

using Microsoft.SemanticKernel;
using Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Plugins.Core;
    
var builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
builder.Services.AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
    "your-resource-name",
    "your-endpoint",
    "your-resource-key",
    "deployment-model");
builder.Plugins.AddFromType<TimePlugin>();
var kernel = builder.Build();
var currentDay = await kernel.InvokeAsync("TimePlugin", "DayOfWeek");
Console.WriteLine(currentDay);

This code adds the TimePlugin to the kernel and then calls the DayOfWeek method to get the current day of the week. The output is the current day of the week.

These readily available plugins can be used to quickly add functionality to your kernel. In the next exercise, you'll learn how the ConversationSummaryPlugin can be used to get a summary of a conversation, or the action items from a block of text.