Pillar SDK Best Practices

Best practices for integrating the Pillar SDK into React and Next.js applications. Use when adding an AI assistant panel, help center widget, or embedded product assistant.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Adding Pillar SDK to a React or Next.js project
• Setting up PillarProvider in your app
• Defining tools for the AI assistant to discover and call
• Creating tool handlers to execute user requests
• Designing multi-tool workflows for agentic operations

Essential Rules

Priority	Rule	Description
CRITICAL	setup-provider	Always wrap your app with PillarProvider
CRITICAL	setup-nextjs	Next.js App Router requires a 'use client' wrapper
CRITICAL	schema-compatibility	inputSchema must follow cross-model formatting rules (arrays need items, no type unions)
HIGH	tool-descriptions	Write specific, AI-matchable descriptions and keep tools focused
HIGH	tool-handlers	Use centralized handlers with proper cleanup
HIGH	guidance-field	Use the guidance field for agent-facing disambiguation and prerequisites
HIGH	workflow-patterns	Design multi-tool workflows using the distributed guidance pattern
HIGH	tool-overlap-audit	Audit existing tools for overlap before creating new ones
HIGH	codebase-verification	Verify API shapes against the actual codebase -- never guess

Quick Reference

1. Provider Setup (CRITICAL)

Always wrap your app with PillarProvider:

import { PillarProvider } from '@pillar-ai/react';

<PillarProvider productKey="your-product-key">
  {children}
</PillarProvider>

2. Next.js App Router (CRITICAL)

Create a client wrapper component:

// providers/PillarSDKProvider.tsx
'use client';

import { PillarProvider } from '@pillar-ai/react';

export function PillarSDKProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  return (
    <PillarProvider productKey={process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_PILLAR_PRODUCT_KEY!}>
      {children}
    </PillarProvider>
  );
}

3. Tool Descriptions (HIGH)

Write specific descriptions the AI can match:

// Good - specific and includes context
description: 'Navigate to billing settings. Suggest when user asks about payments, invoices, or subscription.'

// Bad - too generic
description: 'Go to billing'

4. defineTool() — Preferred API (HIGH)

Use pillar.defineTool() for new code — it co-locates definition + handler and supports guidance:

pillar.defineTool({
  name: 'create_dashboard',
  description: 'Create a new empty dashboard.',
  guidance: 'First step in dashboard workflow. Returns dashboard_uid needed by create_*_panel tools.',
  type: 'trigger_tool',
  autoRun: true,
  inputSchema: { type: 'object', properties: { title: { type: 'string' } }, required: ['title'] },
  execute: async (data) => {
    const result = await api.createDashboard(data.title);
    return { success: true, data: { uid: result.uid } };
  },
});

Sync with: npx pillar-sync --scan ./src/tools

5. Guidance Field (HIGH)

Use guidance for agent-facing instructions that help the LLM choose and chain tools:

get_available_datasources: {
  description: 'Get datasources available for creating visualizations.',
  guidance: 'Call BEFORE creating dashboards or panels. If zero results, ask user to create one.',
}

6. Audit for Overlap (HIGH)

Before creating a new tool, search existing tools for semantic overlap:

// Found existing: save_dashboard handles "create a dashboard"
// Don't create a second create_dashboard -- extend or disambiguate instead

7. Decompose Large Tools (HIGH)

Prefer smaller tools with tight schemas over one large tool with many modes:

// Instead of one "manage_user" with an operation enum,
// split into focused tools:
invite_user: { description: 'Invite a new user by email', type: 'trigger_tool' }
remove_user: { description: 'Remove a user from the org', type: 'trigger_tool' }
change_user_role: { description: 'Change a user role', type: 'trigger_tool' }

How to Use

Read individual rule files for detailed explanations and code examples:

rules/setup-provider.md
rules/setup-nextjs.md
rules/tool-descriptions.md
rules/tool-handlers.md
rules/schema-compatibility.md
rules/guidance-field.md
rules/workflow-patterns.md
rules/tool-overlap-audit.md
rules/codebase-verification.md