Replacing a Discontinued Groq Model — How I Restored All AI‑Powered Features in VS

Description and use

By switching from the discontinued Groq model to openai/gpt‑oss‑120b and adding environment‑based configuration, all AI features in VS were restored with minimal code changes.

Problem

The Groq "llama‑3.3‑70b‑versatile" model was retired, causing all AI helper endpoints in VS to return 404 errors and break features such as property description generation, rent‑price suggestions, and virtual‑tour script generation.

Outcome

All AI‑powered features in VS were restored by switching to an open‑source model, adding environment‑based configuration, and updating call sites with minimal code changes.

Workflow

• 1. Centralised model configuration by adding DEFAULT_MODEL from GROQ_MODEL env variable in groq.helper.ts.
• 2. Updated helper to use chat/completions endpoint and include model in request body.
• 3. Added optional options parameter for caller‑specific settings (e.g., temperature).
• 4. Updated virtual‑tour service to pass higher temperature (0.9).
• 5. Committed minimal changes (12 added, 3 removed).
• 6. Deployed updated code, restoring AI features.

Evidence

The Groq “llama‑3.3‑70b‑versatile” model was retired on 16 Aug 2026, breaking every endpoint that relied on our AI helper.

Source

I swapped it for the open‑source “openai/gpt‑oss‑120b” model, added version‑guard logic and updated the virtual‑tour service, getting the IA pipeline back online in a single commit.

Source