Section 21 of 24 · 18 lessons

Agents

A technician asks Botie about a pump, but the answer needs a manual held in another system. How can a model request that information, and who decides what it may do with it? Start with the pieces of an agent, then build the maintenance assistant using Pydantic AI, LangChain and LangGraph. As the job grows, add permission checks and guardrails, and handle calls whose replies never arrive.

0 of 18 finished

From an Answer to an Action

The manual lives in another system. Follow the pieces that let Botie request it, use what comes back and stop when the evidence is insufficient.

  1. 01What Makes This an Agent?Botie can describe a pump, but the technician needs its actual manual. Follow the software that lets a model ask for information and use what comes back.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson

Giving the Model a Clear Job

Botie has a maintenance question to answer. We need to say what a useful answer contains, give him the relevant evidence, and check the result before another program relies on it.

  1. 02How Do We Give an Agent a Job It Can Follow?A technician wants help with a noisy pump. Begin prompt engineering with that job and its evidence, then test whether a clearer request produces a useful answer.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  2. 03Can Another Program Use Botie’s Answer?A technician can read a paragraph, but an application needs agreed fields. Check the response structure without confusing a valid record with a correct diagnosis.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson

Letting the Model Use Tools

The answer may need a manual lookup or a proposed inspection. We will define what each tool accepts, control which records it can reach, and decide when the work should stop.

  1. 04When May Botie Turn a Suggestion into an Action?Booking an inspection changes somebody’s work. Give the tool a precise interface, check the caller’s permission, and keep a retried request from creating a second job.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  2. 05Which Records Should Botie Bring into the Conversation?The manual collection is larger than one request can hold. Select permitted evidence, leave room for the reply, and keep each excerpt attached to its source.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  3. 06What Should Botie Do After a Tool Replies?One search may reveal that a second search is needed. Follow the observations through an agent loop, then give that loop explicit ways to finish or ask for help.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson

Choosing How Much Autonomy to Give

The maintenance team already follows a procedure. Where does a model's choice actually help? Compare that procedure with an agent on the same tickets before giving the system more freedom.

  1. 07Does Botie Need to Choose the Next Step?A request to find a maintenance record and an investigation of an unfamiliar fault ask different things of the program. Compare what fixed steps can do before giving a model more decisions.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson

Building with Agent Frameworks

Once we understand the loop, a framework can organise its repeated work. Follow the same maintenance task through Pydantic AI, LangChain, and an explicit LangGraph workflow to see what each one manages.

  1. 08Give Botie a Typed Job with Pydantic AIBotie can read a manual, but the application still needs a usable answer and real citation IDs. Give the agent its dependencies and check what comes back.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  2. 09Put Limits Around a LangChain AgentBotie keeps looking for a manual that does not exist. Use an agent runtime with explicit tool access and limits, then inspect the messages that explain its decisions.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  3. 10Resume Botie’s Work with LangGraphThe technician returns after a pause. Preserve the right request’s evidence, merge updates deliberately, and resume a review without repeating an external action.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson

State and Permissions

A paused job may resume after its details have changed. Keep the saved state and the technician's approval tied to the action, then examine what changes when tools come from another service.

  1. 11Ask Before Botie Creates the Inspection JobA technician approves one inspection, then the proposal changes. Bind the decision to what was reviewed and check it again where the job is created.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  2. 12Connect Botie to Tools with MCPSeveral assistants need the same maintenance tools. Share an interface while keeping server identity, permissions and returned content visible.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson

Guardrails at the Point of Action

A manual can contain misleading instructions, and a valid tool request can still reach the wrong customer's records. Follow each proposal to the place where software can permit or prevent it. Then test what happens when a check is missing or gives the wrong answer.

  1. 13What If the Manual Starts Giving Botie Orders?A retrieved maintenance note tells Botie to export records. Trace where that instruction came from, then keep the application’s permissions intact even when a screening model misses it.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  2. 14Whose Pump Is Botie Allowed to Inspect?The tool name is allowed, but its arguments point at another customer’s asset. Build the service-side checks that connect the caller, operation and stored record.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  3. 15How Much of the Maintenance Record Does Botie Need?A manual lookup needs an asset and a symptom, but the original record also contains private contact details. Build the smaller payload and control where it can go.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  4. 16Can We Safely Use the Answer Botie Returned?A response can be valid JSON and still name the wrong pump or contain unwanted markup. Check its structure, its relationship to the request, and the context that will consume it.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson

Keeping an Agent Run Under Control

An inspection request times out. Did it fail, or did the service create it before the reply was lost? Work through that uncertainty, then give concurrent jobs a budget they cannot each spend twice.

  1. 17Did Botie Create the Inspection, or Did the Reply Get Lost?A request times out after Botie submits an inspection. Work out what the service may already have done before sending another request.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson
  2. 18Can Two of Botie’s Calls Spend the Same Remaining Budget?Two proposed lookups each appear affordable until they start together. Reserve shared resources before dispatch and keep the whole run within its operating limits.
    Build with Botie →Read the lesson