diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 4b6c332..10a4537 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
 
+S3method(as_message,character)
+S3method(as_message,list)
 S3method(print,chat_tibble)
 export(chat)
 export(models)
diff --git a/R/chat.R b/R/chat.R
index 7cbde0e..9aef6dd 100644
--- a/R/chat.R
+++ b/R/chat.R
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 #' Chat with the Mistral api
 #'
-#' @param text some text
+#' @param ... either a character string or a list with the message to send
 #' @param model which model to use. See [models()] for more information about which models are available
 #' @param dry_run if TRUE the request is not performed
-#' @param ... ignored
 #' @inheritParams httr2::req_perform
 #'
 #' @return A tibble with columns `role` and `content` with class `chat_tibble` or a request
@@ -13,8 +12,8 @@
 #' chat("Top 5 R packages", dry_run = TRUE)
 #'
 #' @export
-chat <- function(text = "What are the top 5 R packages ?", model = "mistral-tiny", dry_run = FALSE, ..., error_call = current_env()) {
-  req <- req_chat(text, model, error_call = error_call, dry_run = dry_run)
+chat <- function(..., model = "mistral-tiny", dry_run = FALSE, error_call = current_env()) {
+  req <- req_chat(..., model, error_call = error_call, dry_run = dry_run)
   if (is_true(dry_run)) {
     return(req)
   }
@@ -22,22 +21,20 @@ chat <- function(text = "What are the top 5 R packages ?", model = "mistral-tiny
   resp_chat(resp, error_call = error_call)
 }
 
-req_chat <- function(text = "What are the top 5 R packages ?", model = "mistral-tiny", stream = FALSE, dry_run = FALSE, error_call = caller_env()) {
+req_chat <- function(..., model = "mistral-tiny", stream = FALSE, dry_run = FALSE, error_call = caller_env()) {
   if (!is_true(dry_run)) {
     check_model(model, error_call = error_call)
   }
+
+  messages <- as_messages(...)
+
   request(mistral_base_url) |>
     req_url_path_append("v1", "chat", "completions") |>
     authenticate() |>
     req_body_json(
       list(
         model = model,
-        messages = list(
-          list(
-            role = "user",
-            content = text
-          )
-        ),
+        messages = messages,
         stream = is_true(stream)
       )
     )
@@ -47,7 +44,8 @@ resp_chat <- function(response, error_call = current_env()) {
   data <- resp_body_json(response)
 
   tib <- map_dfr(data$choices, \(choice) {
-    as_tibble(choice$message)
+    tibble(role = choice$message$role,
+           content = choice$message$content)
   })
 
   class(tib) <- c("chat_tibble", class(tib))
diff --git a/R/messages.R b/R/messages.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81012be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/messages.R
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+as_message <- function(x) {
+  UseMethod("as_message")
+}
+
+#' @export
+as_message.character <- function(x) {
+  list(role = "user", content = x)
+}
+
+#' @export
+as_message.list <- function(x) {
+  x
+}
+
+as_messages <- function(...) {
+  x <- list(...)
+  messages <- list()
+
+  for (i in seq_along(x)) {
+    if (is.character(x[[i]])) {
+      messages <- append(messages, list(as_message(x[[i]])))
+    } else if (is.list(x[[i]])) {
+      messages <- append(messages, x[[i]])
+    }
+  }
+
+  messages
+}
diff --git a/R/stream.R b/R/stream.R
index aaf793b..1ece1e5 100644
--- a/R/stream.R
+++ b/R/stream.R
@@ -3,25 +3,33 @@
 #' @inheritParams chat
 #'
 #' @export
-stream <- function(text, model = "mistral-tiny", dry_run = FALSE, ..., error_call = current_env()) {
+stream <- function(..., model = "mistral-tiny", dry_run = FALSE, error_call = current_env()) {
   check_model(model, error_call = error_call)
 
-  req <- req_chat(text, model, stream = TRUE, error_call = error_call, dry_run = dry_run)
+  req <- req_chat(..., model, stream = TRUE, error_call = error_call, dry_run = dry_run)
   if (is_true(dry_run)) {
     return(req)
   }
 
+  env <- caller_env()
+
+  env$response <- character()
+
   resp <- req_perform_stream(req,
-    callback = stream_callback,
-    round = "line",
-    buffer_kb = 0.01
+                             callback = \(x) stream_callback(x, env),
+                             round = "line",
+                             buffer_kb = 0.01
   )
 
-  invisible(resp)
+  tib <- tibble(role = "assistant",
+                content = env$response)
+  class(tib) <- c("chat_tibble", class(tib))
+
+  invisible(tib)
 }
 
 #' @importFrom jsonlite fromJSON
-stream_callback <- function(x) {
+stream_callback <- function(x, env) {
   txt <- rawToChar(x)
 
   lines <- str_split(txt, "\n")[[1]]
@@ -34,6 +42,8 @@ stream_callback <- function(x) {
     chunk$choices$delta$content
   })
 
+  env$response <- paste0(env$response, tokens)
+
   cat(tokens)
 
   TRUE
diff --git a/man/chat.Rd b/man/chat.Rd
index 67f8483..5de9718 100644
--- a/man/chat.Rd
+++ b/man/chat.Rd
@@ -4,23 +4,15 @@
 \alias{chat}
 \title{Chat with the Mistral api}
 \usage{
-chat(
-  text = "What are the top 5 R packages ?",
-  model = "mistral-tiny",
-  dry_run = FALSE,
-  ...,
-  error_call = current_env()
-)
+chat(..., model = "mistral-tiny", dry_run = FALSE, error_call = current_env())
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{text}{some text}
+\item{...}{either a character string or a list with the message to send}
 
 \item{model}{which model to use. See \code{\link[=models]{models()}} for more information about which models are available}
 
 \item{dry_run}{if TRUE the request is not performed}
 
-\item{...}{ignored}
-
 \item{error_call}{The execution environment of a currently
 running function, e.g. \code{caller_env()}. The function will be
 mentioned in error messages as the source of the error. See the
diff --git a/man/stream.Rd b/man/stream.Rd
index 7e7ae64..133aa7e 100644
--- a/man/stream.Rd
+++ b/man/stream.Rd
@@ -5,22 +5,19 @@
 \title{stream}
 \usage{
 stream(
-  text,
+  ...,
   model = "mistral-tiny",
   dry_run = FALSE,
-  ...,
   error_call = current_env()
 )
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{text}{some text}
+\item{...}{either a character string or a list with the message to send}
 
 \item{model}{which model to use. See \code{\link[=models]{models()}} for more information about which models are available}
 
 \item{dry_run}{if TRUE the request is not performed}
 
-\item{...}{ignored}
-
 \item{error_call}{The execution environment of a currently
 running function, e.g. \code{caller_env()}. The function will be
 mentioned in error messages as the source of the error. See the