FrameworksRAGAgentic

OpenAI Cookbook

by OpenAI

IntermediateGuideFreeSelf-paced

A huge collection of practical, runnable recipes for building with LLM APIs.

Start LearningReviewed July 3, 2026

Overview

The OpenAI Cookbook is a large, community-maintained set of practical recipes — runnable notebooks and guides for common tasks: embeddings and semantic search, function/tool calling, retrieval-augmented generation, structured outputs, evaluation, and agent patterns. Even if you use a different model provider, the techniques transfer. It's an excellent 'how do I actually do X with an LLM?' reference.

At a Glance

Topic
Frameworks
Level
Intermediate
Format
Guide
Cost
Free
Duration
Self-paced
Provider
OpenAI
Hands-on
Yes — code/exercises
Certificate
None

What You’ll Learn

  • Embeddings and semantic search recipes
  • Function/tool calling and structured outputs
  • RAG and evaluation techniques
  • Practical agent patterns

Highlights

  • Hundreds of runnable recipes
  • Techniques transfer across providers

Who It’s For

Best For

  • Developers who learn from concrete examples

Prerequisites

  • Python
  • An LLM API key to run examples

FAQ

What is OpenAI Cookbook?

OpenAI's open-source cookbook of code examples and guides for embeddings, function calling, RAG, agents, evaluation, and more.

Is OpenAI Cookbook free?

OpenAI Cookbook is free to access.

What level is OpenAI Cookbook for?

OpenAI Cookbook is aimed at a intermediate audience. Recommended background: Python, An LLM API key to run examples.

How long does OpenAI Cookbook take?

Expect roughly Self-paced. Most learners work through it at their own pace.

What will I learn from OpenAI Cookbook?

You'll learn: Embeddings and semantic search recipes; Function/tool calling and structured outputs; RAG and evaluation techniques; Practical agent patterns.

Topics

OpenAIcookbookrecipesfunction callingRAG