Maui Essentials AI

MAUI Essentials AI

Use this skill when a MAUI app should use on-device AI through Microsoft.Maui.Essentials.AI and Microsoft.Extensions.AI abstractions.

Response Checklist

• Mention the package and primary types explicitly: Microsoft.Maui.Essentials.AI, AppleIntelligenceChatClient, NLEmbeddingGenerator.
• Keep platform support explicit (Apple chat support is iOS/macOS/Mac Catalyst 26+; embeddings have broader Apple OS coverage).
• For app tools, show UseFunctionInvocation and route source-generated tool definitions to maui-ai-tool-bindings when appropriate.

Platform Support

Chat support:

Embedding support:

Version numbers for Apple Intelligence support reflect currently announced OS versions; verify final released platform versions before shipping.

Design fallback behavior for unsupported platforms. Do not silently route private data to a cloud model unless the user explicitly wants a cloud fallback.

Install and Register

dotnet add package Microsoft.Maui.Essentials.AI --prerelease

using Microsoft.Extensions.AI;
using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
using Microsoft.Maui.Essentials.AI;

#if IOS || MACCATALYST || MACOS
builder.Services.AddSingleton<NLEmbeddingGenerator>();
builder.Services.AddSingleton<IEmbeddingGenerator<string, Embedding<float>>>(sp =>
    sp.GetRequiredService<NLEmbeddingGenerator>());

if (OperatingSystem.IsIOSVersionAtLeast(26) ||
    OperatingSystem.IsMacCatalystVersionAtLeast(26) ||
    OperatingSystem.IsMacOSVersionAtLeast(26))
{
    builder.Services.AddSingleton<IChatClient>(new AppleIntelligenceChatClient());
}
else
{
    // Leave IChatClient unregistered and check availability before use,
    // or register an app-specific unavailable implementation.
}
#endif

Register platform-specific implementations conditionally if the app targets unsupported platforms too. If the app's minimum Apple OS target is below 26, guard chat registration with runtime OS checks or register an app-specific unavailable implementation for older OS versions. For MAUI Labs AppKit (MACOS), verify the Essentials.AI integration against the target package before shipping.

Chat Workflow

1. Inject IChatClient into a view model or service, not directly into a page unless the app architecture already does that.

2. Pass cancellation tokens from commands and lifecycle boundaries.

3. Use streaming responses for interactive UI:

   await foreach (var update in _chat.GetStreamingResponseAsync(messages, cancellationToken))
   {
       MainThread.BeginInvokeOnMainThread(() => ResponseText += update.Text);
   }
   

4. Keep conversation state in an app service so it survives page recreation.

5. Surface model availability and failure states in the UI.

If your view model framework already marshals property changes to the UI thread, use that convention. Otherwise, dispatch UI-bound property updates explicitly.

Embeddings and Semantic Search

Use NLEmbeddingGenerator for local semantic search over app-owned content. The default constructor uses Apple's English sentence embedding; pass a NaturalLanguage.NLLanguage or an existing NaturalLanguage.NLEmbedding when the app needs a different supported language or embedding:

#if IOS || MACCATALYST || MACOS
var generator = new NLEmbeddingGenerator();
var embeddings = await generator.GenerateAsync(
    ["sunset beach", "mountain hiking"],
    cancellationToken);
#endif

Recommended shape:

• chunk app content into small searchable records;
• generate embeddings at ingest/update time;
• store vector plus metadata locally;
• compare query embeddings with cosine similarity;
• return source snippets and IDs so the UI can show grounded results.

Avoid regenerating embeddings for the full corpus on every search.

Tool Use

Essentials AI returns Microsoft.Extensions.AI clients, so normal tool calling patterns apply:

var innerClient = serviceProvider.GetService<IChatClient>();
if (innerClient is null)
{
    // Chat is unavailable on this platform/OS version; hide or disable the feature.
    return;
}

var appTools = YourAppTools.Default.Tools; // Define with [AIToolSource]; see maui-ai-tool-bindings.

var client = innerClient.AsBuilder()
    .UseFunctionInvocation()
    .ConfigureOptions(options =>
    {
        options.Tools ??= [];
        foreach (var tool in appTools)
            options.Tools.Add(tool);
    })
    .Build(serviceProvider);

Use maui-ai-tool-bindings when tools should be generated from app methods with [ExportAIFunction], DI parameter binding, or AOT-friendly definitions.

Privacy and UX Guardrails

• Explain that AI runs on device for supported Apple platforms.
• Ask before adding a cloud fallback.
• Keep prompts, embeddings, and tool outputs within the app's data handling policy.
• Show unsupported-device and model-unavailable states.
• Do not block the UI thread while generating responses or embeddings.
• Use approval-required tools for actions that mutate data, send messages, purchase, delete, or navigate unexpectedly.

Validation Checklist

• The app target platform supports the requested AI capability or has an explicit fallback.
• AI clients are registered in DI and consumed from services/view models.
• Streaming, cancellation, and error states are handled.
• Semantic search stores metadata with embeddings and avoids full re-ingest per query.
• Tool use is scoped and user-approved for sensitive actions.