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How to use OpenAI GPT-4o to query your database?

Today, OpenAI released its latest LLM model, GPT-4o. People are sharing crazy applications built on top of this groundbreaking model. By…

Howard Chi

Howard Chi

Updated: Dec 18, 2025
Published: Aug 16, 2024

How to use OpenAI GPT-4o to query your database?

Note: this tutorial predates Agentic GenBI. The walkthrough below still works, but it frames Wren AI as a text-to-SQL tool. Today Wren AI is an agent that reasons over a governed context layer, with skills and memory, for humans and agents alike. Read "Introducing Agentic GenBI" to see how the product works now.

Today, OpenAI released its latest LLM model, GPT-4o. People are sharing crazy applications built on top of this groundbreaking model. By using GPT-4o, we see improvements in data retrieval, which could benefit users with faster response and be more cost-efficient (Cost less than GPT -4 Turbo).

OpenAI's flagship model lineup and pricing comparison
OpenAI's flagship model lineup and pricing comparison
Model comparison from OpenAI website

Within 12 hours, our team at Wren AI released our latest version, to support the GPT-4o LLM model for querying your own database. In this post, we will guide you through setting up using gpt-4o to query your own PostgreSQL database!

The Wren AI logo
The Wren AI logo

Wren AI is an open-source text-to-SQL solution for data teams to get results and insights faster by asking business questions without writing SQL.

Let’s get started!

Wren AI thinking over a PostgreSQL database
Wren AI thinking over a PostgreSQL database

Using Wren AI with GPT-4o to query PostgreSQL

Setup your PostgreSQL database

Start your PostgreSQL server, and enter your PostgreSQL database using the psql client.

Opening the psql client in the terminal
Opening the psql client in the terminal

Create a database in PostgreSQL here, we called ecom-wrenai

Connect to the created database ecom_wrenai using \c <database_name>

Now, you want to create tables of this dataset and import the data. Please check the SQL script here in the gist.

You can either copy the script to your psqlor Import SQL via psql

If you successfully import the data, you will see the information below.

Tables created and data copied after running the import script
Tables created and data copied after running the import script

Import data successfully

Installing Wren AI

Next, let’s start installing Wren AI; before we start, you need to install Docker.

1. Install Docker Desktop on your local computer.

Please ensure the version of Docker Desktop is at least >= 4.17.

2. Prepare an OpenAI API key

Please ensure that your Open API key has Full Permission(All).

Visit the OpenAI developer platform.

The project API keys page on the OpenAI platform
The project API keys page on the OpenAI platform

Enter the OpenAI API key page

Generate a new API key for Wren AI with full permission

Creating a new secret key with all permissions selected
Creating a new secret key with all permissions selected
Generate your OpenAI API key with full permission

3. Install Wren AI Launcher

If you are on Mac(using Windows or Linux check here) enter the below command to install the latest Wren AI Launcher.

curl -L https://github.com/Canner/WrenAI/releases/latest/download/wren-launcher-darwin.tar.gz | tar -xz && ./wren-launcher-darwin

The launcher will then ask for your OpenAI API key as below, paste your key into the command and hit enter.

Now you can select gpt-4o , gpt-4-turbo , gpt-3.5-turbo of OpenAI’s generation model in Wren AI.

Selecting gpt-4o as the generation model in the launcher
Selecting gpt-4o as the generation model in the launcher

Install Wren AI with CLI

Now you’ll see we are running docker-compose on your computer; after the installation, the tool will automatically open up your browser to access Wren AI.

Docker Compose pulling the Wren AI containers
Docker Compose pulling the Wren AI containers

Running Docker Compose on your computer

Connect your Data Source

While the terminal is successfully installed, it will launch the browser

The connect a data source page on first launch
The connect a data source page on first launch

First-time launching Wren AI

Select PostgreSQL database connector

Filling out the PostgreSQL connection information
Filling out the PostgreSQL connection information

Fill out the connection information

If you use the Mac local PostgreSQL database, enter docker.for.mac.localhost to access the database.

Selecting the tables to create data models from
Selecting the tables to create data models from

Select data models in your database.

Next step, define relationships to the semantic models; this could help LLMs to understand more about your semantic data structure.

Adding a relationship between customers and orders
Adding a relationship between customers and orders

Add semantic relationships

Now, you are all set!

You can view all your data models in the Wren AI UI.

All the data models on the Wren AI modeling page
All the data models on the Wren AI modeling page

Complete the setup

Playing around with Wren AI

Wren AI UI semantic modeling

With Wren AI UI, you can model your data models in a semantic context, such as adding descriptions, relationships, calculations, etc. The context could help LLMs learn your business terminologies and KPI definitions and reduce hallucinations when joining multiple tables; LLMs know the data structure hierarchy by learning through relationships such as whether it is a many-to-one , one-to-many , or many-to-many relationships between tables.

All the data models on the Wren AI modeling page
All the data models on the Wren AI modeling page
Semantic modeling through Wren AI UI

Define your business KPIs and formulas via calculations in Wren AI.

Adding a calculated field with an aggregation expression
Adding a calculated field with an aggregation expression

Add calculations in the data model

Adding semantic relationships between tables.

The add relationship dialog in the data model
The add relationship dialog in the data model

Add relationships in the data model.

Ask business questions and Follow-up insights with Wren AI

Now you can switch to the Home page in Wren AI UI, by clicking New Thread you can start asking any of your business questions, Wren AI search for relevant semantics through the vector store and provides recommendations.

Asking a business question from the Wren AI home page
Asking a business question from the Wren AI home page

Ask any business questions to Wren AI

Wren AI will show up to 3 options for your business questions; you can select the most relevant question to generate the final result.

Wren AI suggesting three candidate results for the question
Wren AI suggesting three candidate results for the question

Wren AI searches for the most relevant result

As you select an option, Wren AI will display a step-by-step breakdown of the summary, including SQL and data, allowing you to verify if the result is what you were looking for.

The step-by-step breakdown of the answer with a data preview
The step-by-step breakdown of the answer with a data preview

Step-by-step breakdown of the SQL summary

You can ask follow-up questions to gain deeper insights into the result.

Reviewing the generated SQL behind each step of the answer
Reviewing the generated SQL behind each step of the answer

Ask follow-up questions to gain more insights.

Give it a try! Hope you are having fun with gpt-4o!

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