๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐
I built a simple AI app. Users gave a note. The app gave a summary. Users waited 15 seconds. Loading spinners fail.
My backend used Vercel functions. I waited for the full AI response. Large models take 20 seconds. This is too slow.
I tried these:
- Shorter prompts.
- Higher timeouts.
- Loading labels.
- Task queues. None worked.
I switched to streaming. I used Server-Sent Events. The AI sends tokens as it makes them. Users see text word by word. The app feels fast.
Do this:
- Set stream to true in the API.
- Use the text/event-stream header.
- Use a readable stream on the frontend.
Watch for these:
- Timeouts still happen.
- Mid-stream errors are hard to fix.
- Cold starts slow the first chunk.
- Add rate limits to stop abuse.
Edge functions work better. Interwest AI is another option.
Do you stream AI responses? Or do you make users wait?