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Get Started with AI in KNIME

The KNIME AI Extension adds nodes for working with large language models (LLMs), building AI agents, and implementing Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines in KNIME workflows. To install it, see Install the KNIME AI Extension.

Typical use cases include:

  • Classifying text into categories
  • Summarizing long documents into key points
  • Extracting names, dates, or other details from unstructured text
  • Translating text between languages
  • Answering questions about your own data

The example below classifies customer reviews. The workflow sends each review to an OpenAI model asking it to assign a sentiment category (positive or negative). The model's response is added to the table as a new column:

A KNIME workflow that sends customer reviews to an LLM and receives sentiment classifications

Prompt a model

Send a text instruction to a language model and receive a response. A prompting workflow connects three nodes: an authenticator (API credentials), a model selector, and the LLM Prompter:

Run a model locally

The same prompting pattern works with models running on your machine. Data stays local and there are no API costs.

Get structured output

By default, a model returns free-form text. Structured output mode maps the response directly to table columns with defined types.

Create embeddings

Embeddings are numerical vectors that capture the meaning of text. They are used for similarity search, clustering, and as the basis for RAG pipelines.

Generate or edit images

Use AI models to create new images or modify existing ones from text prompts.

Agents and RAG

  • Agents: Build workflows where a language model decides what to do next, calling tools like database lookups or APIs across multiple steps.
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Ground model answers in your own documents by retrieving relevant passages before prompting.