# DuckDB functions that answer questions about text

Ask a question in WHERE, SELECT, or ORDER BY.

## Install

| Channel | Note |
| --- | --- |
| `duckdb -unsigned` | The `-unsigned` flag lets DuckDB load a local extension file. The query loads that file first. |

Set `THINKTHEN_API_KEY` in the environment.

## A first call

```
LOAD './thinkthen.duckdb_extension';

CREATE TABLE tickets AS SELECT * FROM (VALUES
    (1, 'My parcel is a week late. Not okay.'),
    (2, 'Thanks for the quick help yesterday!'),
    (3, 'We are locked out of our account.'),
    (4, 'I was billed twice for one order.')
) t(id, body);

WITH judged AS (
    SELECT
        id,
        body,
        thinkthen_decide('Is this a complaint?', body)
            AS is_complaint
    FROM tickets
)
SELECT id, thinkthen_choose('Which team owns this?',
    body, ['billing', 'shipping', 'account']) AS team
FROM judged
WHERE is_complaint;
```

*What DuckDB printed*

```
id|team
1|shipping
3|account
4|billing
```

Not sure comes back as `NULL`. Branch on it and send those cases to a person. Each [function page](/functions/) shows its DuckDB call.

## Run facts

`thinkthen_usage()` gives the totals for the process.

## Errors

A failure is an error whose text starts `thinkthen <kind>:`. It never reads as `NULL`.

## Settings and recording

`SET thinkthen_record` writes a recording to a folder. `SET thinkthen_replay` answers from that recording with no connection. The [Settings](/install/settings/) page lists every setting.

## What is different in DuckDB

- DuckDB hands the extension up to 2,048 rows at a time. One call judges those rows together, and `SET thinkthen_max_requests` caps that call.

On GitHub: [github.com/botassembly/thinkthen](https://github.com/botassembly/thinkthen)