The outcome
Implement a useful agent loop without giving the model broader access or ambiguity than the task requires.
Step by step
A workflow you can repeat.
- 01
Write the task contract, accepted inputs, output schema, success criteria, iteration limit, and actions that require approval.
- 02
Choose a supported model and define the minimum tools with narrow typed arguments, clear descriptions, validated returns, and timeouts.
- 03
Create the agent with an explicit system prompt and structured response schema, keeping credentials and authorization inside tool code.
- 04
Run normal, ambiguous, adversarial, tool-error, repeated-call, and malformed-output cases while recording the complete execution trace.
- 05
Add middleware for retries, limits, redaction, and human review, then pin dependencies and version the test set before release.
Working standard
What good use looks like.
- Expose the fewest possible tools.
- Validate every tool boundary.
- Bound agent iterations and cost.
Official references