Build your first agent

Go from model adapter to real agent runtime with tools, memory, observability, and a production path.

This guide is the shortest path to what AgentsKit actually is: not just a chat UI, but a complete agent stack you can grow one layer at a time.

By the end, you will have:

an adapter
a runtime
tools
memory
observability hooks
a clear next step for RAG, evals, and security

1. Start with a model adapter

agent.ts

import { openai } from '@agentskit/adapters'

const adapter = openai({
  apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY!,
  model: 'gpt-4o',
})

This is the provider seam. Swap openai() for anthropic(), gemini(), or ollama() and the rest of your agent stays the same.

2. Add the runtime

agent.ts

import { createRuntime } from '@agentskit/runtime'
import { openai } from '@agentskit/adapters'

const runtime = createRuntime({
  adapter: openai({
    apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY!,
    model: 'gpt-4o',
  }),
})

const result = await runtime.run('Summarize the top three changes in this repo.')
console.log(result.content)

At this point you already have a headless agent loop, not just a one-shot completion call.

3. Give the agent tools

agent.ts

import { createRuntime } from '@agentskit/runtime'
import { openai } from '@agentskit/adapters'
import { webSearch, filesystem } from '@agentskit/tools'

const runtime = createRuntime({
  adapter: openai({
    apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY!,
    model: 'gpt-4o',
  }),
  tools: [
    webSearch(),
    ...filesystem({ basePath: './workspace' }),
  ],
})

const result = await runtime.run(
  'Research the latest AgentsKit mentions and save a summary to notes/summary.md',
)

Now the model can act, not just answer.

4. Make it remember

agent.ts

import { createRuntime } from '@agentskit/runtime'
import { openai } from '@agentskit/adapters'
import { sqliteChatMemory } from '@agentskit/memory'

const runtime = createRuntime({
  adapter: openai({
    apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY!,
    model: 'gpt-4o',
  }),
  memory: sqliteChatMemory({
    path: './.agentskit/chat.db',
  }),
})

The same runtime now keeps context across runs. If you need vector memory, graph memory, or encrypted memory, you can layer those in without changing the rest of the stack.

5. Add observability before production

agent.ts

import { createRuntime } from '@agentskit/runtime'
import { openai } from '@agentskit/adapters'
import { consoleObserver } from '@agentskit/observability'

const runtime = createRuntime({
  adapter: openai({
    apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY!,
    model: 'gpt-4o',
  }),
  observers: [consoleObserver()],
})

This gives you visibility into runs, tool calls, and failures before the system gets complicated.

6. Full example

agent.ts

import { createRuntime } from '@agentskit/runtime'
import { openai } from '@agentskit/adapters'
import { webSearch, filesystem } from '@agentskit/tools'
import { sqliteChatMemory } from '@agentskit/memory'
import { consoleObserver } from '@agentskit/observability'

const runtime = createRuntime({
  adapter: openai({
    apiKey: process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY!,
    model: 'gpt-4o',
  }),
  tools: [
    webSearch(),
    ...filesystem({ basePath: './workspace' }),
  ],
  memory: sqliteChatMemory({
    path: './.agentskit/chat.db',
  }),
  observers: [consoleObserver()],
  maxSteps: 6,
})

const result = await runtime.run(
  'Research the top three AI agent frameworks and write a comparison to docs/agent-frameworks.md',
)

console.log(result.content)

That is the core AgentsKit story in one file: provider + runtime + tools + memory + observability.

7. Where to go next

Want a UI on top of the same agent stack? Add @agentskit/react or @agentskit/ink.
Need retrieval? Continue with createRAG.
Need production guardrails? Go to Observability, Security, and Evals.
Want the tiny hello-world first? Go back to Quick start.

Recommended install sets

Minimal real agent

npm install @agentskit/adapters @agentskit/runtime @agentskit/tools

Agent with memory and observability

npm install @agentskit/adapters @agentskit/runtime @agentskit/tools @agentskit/memory @agentskit/observability

UI + agent stack

npm install @agentskit/react @agentskit/adapters @agentskit/runtime @agentskit/tools @agentskit/memory

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