# Text helpers

> Filter a chat stream down to assistant text with the text-only helpers.

Source: https://maincode.com/docs/python-client-sdk-text-helpers
Section: Client SDK · Matilda documentation

---

These helpers filter the event stream to just text — useful when you only need the response text and don't care about tool calls, usage, or status events.

## `chat.stream_text(...)`

An async generator that yields raw string deltas. Raises `SafetyReplaceError` when the server replaces the output (safety filter). Raises `MatildaStreamError` on stream errors.

```python title="text.py"
from matilda_client import MatildaClient, SafetyReplaceError


async def main():
    async with MatildaClient(token="...") as client:
        try:
            async for chunk in client.chat.stream_text(input="Write a haiku."):
                print(chunk, end="", flush=True)
        except SafetyReplaceError as err:
            print(f"\nSafety replace: {', '.join(err.categories)}")
```

> **Note** — **Why raise on safety replace?** The original text has already been yielded to the consumer by the time the replace event arrives. Raising forces the consumer to handle the replacement explicitly — silently dropping it would lose the replacement message.

## `chat.create_text(...)`

Non-streaming convenience that returns just the final output text. Safety replace is handled naturally — the replacement text is returned. Raises `MatildaStreamError` if the stream produced any error events.

```python
text = await client.chat.create_text(input="What is 2 + 2?")
print(text)  # "4"
```

## `SafetyReplaceError`

```python
class SafetyReplaceError(MatildaError):
    categories: list[str]
    # args[0] (str(err)) = replacement content (or empty string)
```