llama-stack-mirror/docs/source/building_applications/agent_execution_loop.md

Agent Execution Loop

Agents are the heart of complex AI applications. They combine inference, memory, safety, and tool usage into coherent workflows. At its core, an agent follows a sophisticated execution loop that enables multi-step reasoning, tool usage, and safety checks.

Each agent turn follows these key steps:

1. Initial Safety Check: The user's input is first screened through configured safety shields

2. Context Retrieval:

   • If RAG is enabled, the agent can choose to query relevant documents from memory banks. You can use the instructions field to steer the agent.
   • For new documents, they are first inserted into the memory bank.
   • Retrieved context is provided to the LLM as a tool response in the message history.

3. Inference Loop: The agent enters its main execution loop:

   • The LLM receives a user prompt (with previous tool outputs)
   • The LLM generates a response, potentially with tool calls
   • If tool calls are present:
     • Tool inputs are safety-checked
     • Tools are executed (e.g., web search, code execution)
     • Tool responses are fed back to the LLM for synthesis
   • The loop continues until:
     • The LLM provides a final response without tool calls
     • Maximum iterations are reached
     • Token limit is exceeded

4. Final Safety Check: The agent's final response is screened through safety shields

sequenceDiagram
    participant U as User
    participant E as Executor
    participant M as Memory Bank
    participant L as LLM
    participant T as Tools
    participant S as Safety Shield

    Note over U,S: Agent Turn Start
    U->>S: 1. Submit Prompt
    activate S
    S->>E: Input Safety Check
    deactivate S

    loop Inference Loop
        E->>L: 2.1 Augment with Context
        L-->>E: 2.2 Response (with/without tool calls)

        alt Has Tool Calls
            E->>S: Check Tool Input
            S->>T: 3.1 Execute Tool
            T-->>E: 3.2 Tool Response
            E->>L: 4.1 Tool Response
            L-->>E: 4.2 Synthesized Response
        end

        opt Stop Conditions
            Note over E: Break if:
            Note over E: - No tool calls
            Note over E: - Max iterations reached
            Note over E: - Token limit exceeded
        end
    end

    E->>S: Output Safety Check
    S->>U: 5. Final Response

Each step in this process can be monitored and controlled through configurations. Here's an example that demonstrates monitoring the agent's execution:

from llama_stack_client.lib.agents.event_logger import EventLogger

agent_config = AgentConfig(
    model="Llama3.2-3B-Instruct",
    instructions="You are a helpful assistant",
    # Enable both RAG and tool usage
    toolgroups=[
        {
            "name": "builtin::rag/knowledge_search",
            "args": {"vector_db_ids": ["my_docs"]},
        },
        "builtin::code_interpreter",
    ],
    # Configure safety
    input_shields=["llama_guard"],
    output_shields=["llama_guard"],
    # Control the inference loop
    max_infer_iters=5,
    sampling_params={
        "strategy": {"type": "top_p", "temperature": 0.7, "top_p": 0.95},
        "max_tokens": 2048,
    },
)

agent = Agent(client, agent_config)
session_id = agent.create_session("monitored_session")

# Stream the agent's execution steps
response = agent.create_turn(
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Analyze this code and run it"}],
    attachments=[
        {
            "content": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/example/code.py",
            "mime_type": "text/plain",
        }
    ],
    session_id=session_id,
)

# Monitor each step of execution
for log in EventLogger().log(response):
    if log.event.step_type == "memory_retrieval":
        print("Retrieved context:", log.event.retrieved_context)
    elif log.event.step_type == "inference":
        print("LLM output:", log.event.model_response)
    elif log.event.step_type == "tool_execution":
        print("Tool call:", log.event.tool_call)
        print("Tool response:", log.event.tool_response)
    elif log.event.step_type == "shield_call":
        if log.event.violation:
            print("Safety violation:", log.event.violation)