diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e50c8ec..1003f00 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 myapi
+gpt-cli-chat
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 0cae09c..dde6cff 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -58,11 +58,11 @@ func main() {
 
 	if *stdin_input {
 		userInput, err := ioutil.ReadAll(os.Stdin)
-		message := buildMessage(string(userInput), *apiKey, float32(t), *model, *internet_access, *debug)
-		messages = append(messages, openai.UserMessage(string(message)))
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Fatal(err)
 		}
+		message := buildMessage(string(userInput), *apiKey, float32(t), *model, *internet_access, *debug)
+		messages = append(messages, openai.UserMessage(string(message)))
 
 		output, err := sendMessage(&client, messages, float32(t), *model)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -103,6 +103,10 @@ func sendMessage(client *openai.Client, messages []openai.ChatCompletionMessageP
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
+	if len(chatCompletion.Choices) == 0 {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("no choices returned from chat completion")
+	}
+
 	return chatCompletion.Choices[0].Message.Content, nil
 }