Level 1 · Beginner · 4 min

An agent is a model wrapped in a loop. The loop reads the goal, picks a tool, runs it, looks at the result, and decides the next step. The agent stops when the goal is satisfied or it hits a limit you set. Most of the interesting work in agent design is not the model. It is the harness around the model: the tool definitions, error handling, memory, cost control, and the rules that decide when to ask a human. If a chatbot is a phone call, an agent is a contractor. You hand it the brief, it gets the work done, it shows up with a result.