Continue a statcan_chat() conversation

Sends a follow-up message – typically an answer to the clarifying_question from a previous turn – and returns an updated result. The follow-up stays scoped to the same candidate tables that statcan_chat() already found: it never re-runs statcan_find() and the model still never proposes a table number of its own. To search the catalogue again, start a new conversation with statcan_chat().

Usage

statcan_chat_continue(result, message, api_key = NULL)

Arguments

result

A statcan_chat_result returned by statcan_chat() (or by a previous statcan_chat_continue() call).

message

One non-empty character string: your follow-up to the model.

api_key

API key, re-resolved exactly as in statcan_chat(). Defaults to Sys.getenv("STATCANR_LLM_API_KEY"), then the provider's native variable. Not read from options().

Value

An updated statcan_chat_result with the same candidates, a new explanation and clarifying_question, and an extended conversation.

Details

The returned object is itself continuable, so you can chain several follow-ups. The API key is re-resolved on each call (from the api_key argument, the STATCANR_LLM_API_KEY environment variable, or the provider's native variable) because, for safety, it is never stored in the result object.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
Sys.setenv(ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "sk-ant-...")
r1 <- statcan_chat(
  "R&D spending in Quebec",
  provider = "anthropic", model = "claude-opus-4-8"
)
r1$clarifying_question

# Answer it and keep the same shortlist of candidates:
r2 <- statcan_chat_continue(r1, "annual data, since 2015")
r2$explanation

# Chain another follow-up:
r3 <- statcan_chat_continue(r2, "just the total, not by industry")
} # }