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Version: 2.0

Agent

Agents are the core orchestration unit in the Vectara platform. The agent decides how to respond to user input, when to invoke tools, and how to manage conversation state.

Each agent is configured with:

  • A unique key and name following the pattern agt_[identifier]. If you do not provide a key, Vectara generates one automatically based on the name.
  • A human-readable description
  • Optional instructions
  • A list of available tools (referenced by name or ID)
  • Optional tool configurations, for example Corpora Search tools configured to grant access to various corpora
  • Metadata and versioning controls
  • A first_step definition that encompasses optional instructions for the agent's behavior.

Agents operate through a conversational step architecture, processing user input through reasoning, tool execution, and response generation phases. The step-based design enables complex multi-turn workflows and intelligent tool orchestration.

Example agent definition​

AGENT EXAMPLE
1

Model configuration​

Agents use large language models for reasoning and response generation. You can configure:

  • Model: Choose from available models like GPT-4o.
  • Parameters: Adjust temperature, max tokens, and other model-specific settings
  • Cost optimization: Balance performance with token usage

Create an agent​

You can create an agent with the wizard in the UI, or you can use the API.