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agentwerk (Python)

A minimal Python library for running many agents in parallel.
agentwerk is designed to tackle complex problems with fleets of agents through the simplest interface possible. It provides a ticket queue which distributes tasks across agents running in parallel, validates results, retries on failure, and reports every step as an event.
agentwerk pairs "agent" with the German "Werk", a word for both factory and artwork: machinery for building agentic systems.

Why use agentwerk?

  • Minimal interface: create agents with a few lines of code.
  • Complex workflows: allow agents to interact through shared knowledge and tickets.
  • Deep observability: inspect every request, message and failure.
  • Ease of integration: apply agents as simple as HTTP calls.
  • Facilitate training: collect trajectories for fine-tuning models.

Installation

Python

pip install agentwerk

Also see: Rust implementation.

Quick Start

import asyncio
from agentwerk import Agent, GrepTool, ReadFileTool


async def main():
    agent = (
        Agent()
        .from_env()
        .role("You are a Rust developer who explores source files to answer questions.")
        .tool(ReadFileTool())
        .tool(GrepTool())
        .build()
    )

    agent.task(
        "Find every `pub trait` defined under src/ and explain each in one sentence."
    )
    work = await agent.finish()

    print(work.results()[-1])


asyncio.run(main())

Agent Swarms

Run many agents in parallel and let them share what they learn:

from agentwerk import Agent, Knowledge, Ticket, TicketQueue
from agentwerk import GrepTool, ManageTicketsTool, ReadFileTool

tickets = TicketQueue()
notes = Knowledge.load("./notes")

for _ in range(4):
    tickets.agent(
        Agent()
        .label("scan")
        .role(
            "Grep for code that can panic. File a `report` ticket per finding, and note what you learn."
        )
        .knowledge(notes)
        .from_env()
        .tool(GrepTool())
        .tool(ManageTicketsTool())
        .build()
    )

tickets.agent(
    Agent()
    .label("report")
    .role("Read the cited file and explain the fix in two sentences.")
    .knowledge(notes)
    .from_env()
    .tool(ReadFileTool())
    .build()
)

for dir in ["src/api", "src/db", "src/web", "src/cli"]:
    tickets.ticket(Ticket(f"Audit {dir}.", labels=["scan"]))

await tickets.finish()

for fix in tickets.results_for_label("report"):
    print(fix)

Demo

Use Cases

Example projects built with agentwerk:

Configure an LLM provider first (see Environment).

python examples/divide_and_conquer.py 200 4 2

API

The API, section by section:

  • Agents: Define roles, behavior and actions.
  • Tickets: Coordinate complex work across agents.
  • Tools: Define accessible tooling.
  • Events: Requests, tool usage, failures and more.
  • Stats: Metrics about tickets, tokens and time.
  • Knowledge: Notes agents can share for collaboration.
  • Sessions: Directory layout of data agents create.

Agents

An Agent is the core entity of agentwerk. It has access to tools for solving tasks in the form of tickets.

from agentwerk import Agent, ReadFileTool

agent = (
    Agent()
    .name("agent_0")
    .label("math")
    .role("You are an arithmetic agent. Compute step by step and show your work.")
    .tool(ReadFileTool())
    .from_env()
    .build()
)

tickets.agent(agent)
tickets.task("Compute (47 * 92) / 8, then round to the nearest integer.")
All builder methods
Method Description
Agent.empty() Create an agent with no tools pre-registered.
name(name) Set a name or identifier for assigning tickets.
role(role) Define who the agent is and how it should work.
label(label) / labels(labels) Restrict the agent to tickets carrying a matching label.
tool(tool) / tools(tools) Register a tool the agent may call.
template(key, value) Inject data into prompts with template strings.
templates(pairs) Inject more than one entry into prompts.
dir(dir) Set the directory the agent has access to.
interactive() Let the agent wait for new instructions to keep a ticket in-progress.
build() Create the agent.
ticket_queue(queue) Attach a built agent to a ticket queue.

You can use the {context} variable to inject contextual information:

- Ticket: TICKET-7
- Date: 2026-05-06
- Working directory: /Users/caro
- Platform: darwin 25.1.0
- Turns remaining: 8
- Input tokens remaining: 95000
- Output tokens remaining: 12000
- Time remaining: 240s

Every value is a variable of its own: {ticket}, {date}, {dir}, {platform}, {os_version}, {turns_remaining}, {input_tokens_remaining}, {output_tokens_remaining}, and {time_remaining}.

See more: AgentBuilder.

Providers

Connect to a Provider to give agents access to LLMs. agentwerk supports: Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral, and a LiteLLM proxy.

from agentwerk import Agent, AnthropicProvider

agent = (
    Agent()
    .provider(AnthropicProvider(key))
    .model("claude-sonnet-4-20250514")
)

# Or read both from the environment.
agent = Agent().from_env()
All provider settings
Method Description
provider(provider) Define the LLM provider.
model(model) Set the model.
from_env() Read environment variables for configuration (see DEVELOPMENT.md).

You can explicitly read the model or provider from environment variables with: provider_from_env() or model_from_env().

Models

You can configure models to set a custom context window size or the applied reasoning:

from agentwerk import Agent, Model

agent = Agent().model(
    Model("my-local-model").context_window(128_000).reasoning_effort("high")
)

Claude, GPT, Mistral, and Qwen families are pre-configured.

All model settings
Method Description
context_window(size) Set the context window size for a model.
get_context_window() Get the configured window size.
reasoning_effort(effort) Set the reasoning level.
get_reasoning_effort() Get the configured effort.

You can use context_window_from_env() to read the context window size from environment variables, see DEVELOPMENT.md.

Tickets

The TicketQueue is the core data structure of agentwerk allowing to coordinate complex interactions.

analyst = (
    Agent()
    .name("analyst")
    .label("analysis")
    .from_env()
    .build()
)

tickets.agent(analyst)
tickets.ticket(Ticket("Rank all products by value.", labels=["analysis"]))
All ticket entry points
Method Description
agent(agent) Add an agent to this ticket queue.
task(task) Submit a task and return its ticket key.
ticket(ticket) Submit a Ticket with custom labels or schema.
reply(key, content) Add a reply to a ticket.
edit_replies(key, editor) Rewrite one ticket's replies now.
set_finished(key, result) Finish a ticket with a result.
set_failed(key) Fail a ticket.
dir(dir) Define where a session is stored.
get_dir() Get the session directory.
schema_for_label(label, schema) Register a schema every ticket of that label validates against.

See TicketQueue.

Execution

tickets.start()
await tickets.finish()
answer = tickets.results()[-1]
All execution methods
Method Description
Run start() Begin processing tickets.
await finish() Process every queued ticket.
get_finish_reason() Get why execution ended, or nothing while it runs.
Wait await wait_for_event(condition) Get the first event that matches, waiting until one does.
await wait_for_result(condition) Get the first finished result that matches, waiting until one does.
await wait_for_failure(condition) Get the first failure that matches, waiting until one does.
await wait_for_ticket(condition) Get the first ticket that matches, waiting until one does.
Stop cancel() Cancel the execution.
is_cancelled() Check whether the execution was cancelled.
cancel_on(awaitable) Stop execution when another task you supply finishes.
cancel_label(label) Stop one label's agents.
is_label_cancelled(label) Check whether one label's agents have been stopped.

Results

Access the results of the agents' work:

await tickets.finish()

answers = tickets.results()
if answers:
    print(answers[-1])

for ticket in tickets.tickets():
    print(f"{ticket.key}: {ticket.status}")

Each Ticket carries a result as free text or JSON validated by schemas:

ticket = tickets.find_ticket(lambda t: t.has_label("analysis"))
print(ticket.result["title"])
All result and ticket accessors
Method Description
results() Get the result of every finished ticket, in creation order.
results_for_label(label) Get the result of every finished ticket carrying a label.
results_for_agent(name) Get the result of every finished ticket claimed by an agent.
result_for_ticket(key) Get one ticket's result by key.
tickets() Get every ticket in creation order.
tickets_for_label(label) Get every ticket carrying a label, in any status.
tickets_for_agent(name) Get every ticket claimed by an agent, in any status.
find_ticket(condition) Get the earliest ticket matching a condition.
find_tickets(condition) Get every ticket matching a condition.
get_ticket(key) Get one ticket by key.

Ticket members:

Members
Identity key, task, labels, parent, reporter, assignee
Outcome status, result, replies, schema
Timestamps created_at, started_at, finished_at, failed_at
Checks has_label(label), is_todo(), is_in_progress(), is_finished(), is_failed(), is_pending(), is_resolved()

See Ticket.

Schemas

A Schema constrains the result an agent produces for a ticket. A violation triggers a retry until max_schema_retries is exhausted.

from agentwerk import Schema, Ticket

schema = Schema(
    {
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {"title": {"type": "string"}},
        "required": ["title"],
    }
)

tickets.ticket(Ticket("Write a report.", schema=schema))
All schema methods
Method Description
Schema(document) Create a schema.
Schema.validate(value) Validate content.
tickets.schema_for_label(label, schema) Register a schema for all tickets with a certain label.

Policies

Policies allow you to define execution limits:

(
    tickets.max_turns(40)
    .max_time(300.0)
    .max_input_tokens(200_000)
    .max_output_tokens(50_000)
)
All limits
Method Description
max_turns(count) / get_max_turns() Limit the total number of turns.
max_time(seconds) / get_max_time() Limit the total elapsed duration.
max_input_tokens(count) / get_max_input_tokens() Limit the total input tokens.
max_output_tokens(count) / get_max_output_tokens() Limit the total output tokens.
max_request_tokens(count) / get_max_request_tokens() Limit the output tokens of a single request.
max_schema_retries(count) / get_max_schema_retries() Limit how often a result may fail its schema before the ticket fails.
max_request_retries(count) / get_max_request_retries() Limit how often a failing request is retried.
request_retry_delay(seconds) / get_request_retry_delay() Wait this long between retries.
compact_at(fraction) / get_compact_at() Compact once the context window is this full.

A violated limit emits a policy_violated event, see EventKind. compact_at is the exception: reaching it compacts the ticket and execution continues.

Tools

Tools allow agents to perform their work.

from agentwerk import Agent, BashTool, GrepTool, ReadFileTool

agent = (
    Agent()
    .tool(ReadFileTool())
    .tool(GrepTool())
    .tool(BashTool("git", "git *"))
)

FinishTool() and ManageKnowledgeTool(store) are special tools, registered automatically on every agent. They are used for interacting with the TicketQueue.

All built-in tools
Tool Description
File ReadFileTool() Read a file with line numbers, offset, and limit.
WriteFileTool() Create or overwrite a file.
EditFileTool() Replace text in a file.
Search GlobTool() Find files by pattern.
GrepTool() Search file contents by regular expression, or by code shape with syntax: "code".
ListDirectoryTool() List files and directories.
Shell BashTool(name, pattern) Run a shell command matching an allowed pattern.
Web FetchUrlTool() Fetch a URL and read its body.
Tickets FinishTool() Write the result for the current ticket and mark it finished.
ManageTicketsTool() Read the ticket queue and create or edit tickets.
ReadTicketsTool() Read the ticket queue.
Knowledge ManageKnowledgeTool(store) Write, read, remove, or list pages in a knowledge store.
Discovery FindToolsTool() Look up the tools held back until they are needed.

Custom tools

You can define custom tools for specific needs:

from agentwerk import tool


@tool(
    read_only=True,
    schema={
        "type": "object",
        "properties": {"name": {"type": "string"}},
        "required": ["name"],
    },
)
def greet(name: str) -> str:
    """Say hello."""
    return f"Hello, {name}!"
All tool options
Method Description
read_only=True Let the agent run this tool concurrently with other read-only calls in the same turn.
defer=True Hold the tool back until the agent looks it up with FindToolsTool().
paths=["path"] Name file path used for a tool call, so the files are included in statistics.

Return ToolResult.error(message) for a failure the model should work around.

Events

Events give you insights to the lifecycle and activities of your agents' work.

def log(event):
    if event.kind == "ticket_finished":
        print(f"[{event.agent_name}] done {event.ticket_key}")


tickets.on_event(log)
All event kinds
Kind Description
Run run_started Execution began.
run_finished Execution ended, carrying the reason.
policy_violated A limit was breached and execution stopped.
Ticket ticket_started An agent claimed a ticket.
ticket_finished A ticket finished successfully.
ticket_failed A ticket failed.
turn_started The agent began another turn on its ticket.
schema_retried A result missed its schema and the agent was asked again.
LLM provider request_started A request went out to the model.
request_finished A request finished and reported its token usage.
request_failed A request failed and was not retried.
request_retried A transient provider error triggered a retry.
text_chunk_received A piece of the reply arrived.
Tool tool_call_started A tool invocation began.
tool_call_finished A tool invocation finished.
tool_call_failed A tool invocation failed but the ticket continues.
File file_open_finished A tool opened a file.
file_open_failed A tool could not open a file.
Knowledge knowledge_used A page was written, read, removed, or listed.
knowledge_missed A page the agent asked for was not there.
Compaction compaction_started Compaction is about to rewrite the older messages.
compaction_progress Compaction finished part of the work.
compaction_finished Compaction replaced the older messages.
compaction_failed Compaction could not finish.

See EventKind.

Hooks

Hooks allow you to react to events:

tickets.cancel_on_result(lambda ticket, result: result["verdict"] == "malicious")

tickets.create_ticket_on_failure(
    lambda event, ticket: Ticket(ticket.task, labels=["retry"])
)
All hooks
Method Description
Observe on_event(handler) Read every event as it is emitted.
on_result(handler) Read every finished ticket together with its result.
on_failure(handler) Read every failure together with the ticket it happened in.
on_ticket(handler) Read a ticket as it starts, finishes, or fails.
Stop the run cancel_on_event(condition) Stop execution when an event matches.
cancel_on_result(condition) Stop execution when a finished result matches.
cancel_on_failure(condition) Stop execution when a failure matches.
Stop one label cancel_label_on_event(label, condition) Stop one label's agents while the rest keep working.
cancel_label_on_result(label, condition) Stop one label's agents when a finished result matches.
cancel_label_on_failure(label, condition) Stop one label's agents when a failure matches.
Add work create_ticket_on_event(make) Enqueue a follow-up ticket from any event.
create_ticket_on_result(make) Enqueue a follow-up ticket from a finished ticket.
create_ticket_on_failure(make) Enqueue a retry for a ticket that failed.
Rewrite edit_replies_on_event(editor) Rewrite a ticket's replies before its next request.
edit_replies_on_compaction(editor) Decide what compaction does with a ticket's replies.
edit_directive_on_retry(editor) Override the prompt that corrects an agent's behavior.

Save replies of every finished ticket as a training example:

def capture(event, ticket):
    if event.kind == "ticket_finished":
        model = tickets.model_for_agent(event.agent_name)
        Trajectory.from_ticket(event.agent_name, model, ticket).save("datasets")


tickets.on_ticket(capture)

Stats

Statistics give you deep insights into behavior of your agents: working time, tickets, failure rates, bottlenecks etc.

stats = tickets.stats()
print(stats.event_count("request_finished"), stats.input_tokens())

for name, stat in stats.tool_stats().items():
    print(name, stat.calls)
All statistics
Method Description
execution_duration() Get the elapsed execution duration.
ticket_duration() Get the time from creation to resolution, summed and averaged over resolved tickets.
work_duration() Get the time agents spent working, summed across every agent and averaged per ticket.
event_count(name) Get how many events of one kind were recorded, such as "turn_started".
input_tokens() / output_tokens() Get token counts across requests.
tool_stats() Get per-tool call counts and the failures they ended in.
file_stats() Get per-filepath open counts and the failures they ended in.
knowledge_stats() Get per-operation attempt counts and the failures they ended in.
model_stats() Get per-model requests, token usage, and the failures they ended in.
event_counts() Get per-event counts.
stats_for_label(label) Get statistics scoped to one label.
stats_for_agent(agent_name) Get statistics scoped to one agent.

See Stats.

Knowledge

Knowledge allows agents to share insights or learnings. Knowledge pages are created in the Open Knowledge Format (OKF).

from agentwerk import Agent, Knowledge

store = Knowledge.load("./notes")
alice = Agent().knowledge(store)
bob = Agent().knowledge(store)
All knowledge methods
Method Description
index() Get the index, which is injected into the agent prompt.
index_char_limit(count) Limit the index size.
get_index_char_limit() Get the index size limit in force.
pages() Get the page collection for reading and writing pages.
pages().list() Get every page in the store.
clear() Remove every page from the store.

Programmatically create entries:

from agentwerk import Page

store.pages().save(
    Page(
        "build-command",
        "How the project is built.",
        "Run `make` to compile.",
        tags=["build"],
    )
)

page = store.pages().load("build-command")
store.pages().remove("build-command")

Sessions

A TicketQueue writes every ticket, reply, statistic, and lifecycle event to its working directory (default ./.agentwerk). You can continue a session from that directory.

tickets = TicketQueue.load(".agentwerk")
tickets.agent(my_agent)
tickets.start()
All session files
.agentwerk/
├── stats.json                            execution statistics
├── tickets.jsonl                         lifecycle events (one per line)
├── results.jsonl                         finished results (one per line)
├── tickets/
│   └── TICKET-1/
│       ├── ticket.json                   the ticket without its messages (key, status, labels, timestamps, result)
│       ├── replies.jsonl                 every message exchanged with the model, one per line
│       └── outputs/<tool_use_id>.txt     full tool outputs spilled out of the messages
└── knowledge/
    ├── pages/<slug>.md                   knowledge pages
    └── index.md                          knowledge index

Development

See DEVELOPMENT.md.

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