---
title: Plugins
description: This doc introduces the plugins endpoint, which enables you to use different LLMs and tools with more flexibility and control. You can change your settings and plugins on the fly, and use plugins to access various sources of information and assistance.
---
# Plugins (Deprecated)

**Note: This feature is deprecated in favor of [Agents](/docs/features/agents) and will be removed in the future.**

![intro-1](https://github.com/danny-avila/LibreChat/assets/32828263/7db788a5-2173-4115-b34b-43ea132dae69)


The plugins endpoint opens the door to prompting LLMs in new ways other than traditional input/output prompting.

The first step is using chain-of-thought prompting & **["agency"](https://zapier.com/blog/ai-agent/)** for using plugins/tools in a fashion mimicing the official ChatGPT Plugins feature.

More than this, you can use this endpoint for changing your conversation settings mid-conversation. Unlike the official ChatGPT site and all other endpoints, you can switch models, presets, and settings mid-convo, even when you have no plugins selected. This is useful if you first want a creative response from GPT-4, and then a deterministic, lower cost response from GPT-3. Soon, you will be able to use Google, HuggingFace, local models, all in this or a similar endpoint in the same modular manner.

## Using Plugins 

The LLM process when using Plugins is illustrated below.

![intro-2](https://github.com/danny-avila/LibreChat/assets/32828263/789406e1-7345-43d2-823b-8aed0588bb78)

**When you open the settings with the Plugins endpoint selected, you will view the default settings for the Completion Phase.**

Clicking on **"Show Agent Settings"** will allow you to modify parameters for the thinking phase

![intro-3](https://github.com/danny-avila/LibreChat/assets/32828263/d9a43517-5b35-4786-a126-0adf62b5b087)

---

![intro-4](https://github.com/danny-avila/LibreChat/assets/32828263/12a51feb-c030-4cf0-8429-16360270988d)

- You can specify which plugins you would like to select from by installing/uninstalling them in the Plugin store

## Notes
- Every additional plugin selected will increase your token usage as there are detailed instructions the LLM needs for each one
- For best use, be selective with plugins per message and narrow your requests as much as possible
- If you need help coming up with a good plugin prompt, ask the LLM for suggestions before using one!
- Chain-of-thought prompting (plugin use) will always be more expensive than regular input/output prompting, so be sure it meets your need.
- Currently, the cheapest use will be to use gpt-3.5 for both phases
- From my testing, the best "bang for your buck" will be to use gpt-3.5 for the thinking phase, and gpt-4 for completion.
- Adding to above, if you ask for a poem and an image at the same time, it may work, but both may suffer in quality
  - Instead, ask for a poem first with creative settings
  - Then, ask for a good prompt for Stable Diffusion based on the poem
  - Finally, use the Stable Diffusion plugin by referencing the pre-generated prompt
- Presets are only available when no Plugins are selected as the final review of the thinking phase has a specific system message.

## Showcase

![introduction-5](https://github.com/danny-avila/LibreChat/assets/32828263/40cd1989-437f-49bb-9055-010e3efc468b)

![introduction-6](https://github.com/danny-avila/LibreChat/assets/32828263/b009a094-7311-45fb-a7ea-f5010f32ec45)

## Configuration

See our Tools and Plugins configuration guides for more info: [Tools and Plugins Configuration](/docs/configuration/tools)
