aioagent 0.1.0

Lightweight async multi-agent framework for Python

aioagent

Lightweight async multi-agent framework for Python.

Build multi-agent systems using pure asyncio — no external infrastructure, no XMPP servers, no heavy dependencies.

Why aioagent?

	SPADE	aioagent
Infrastructure	XMPP server (Prosody)	None
Deploy	Complex	Single process
Distributed agents	Yes	No (in-process)
Dependencies	slixmpp, aioxmpp	stdlib only
Best for	Distributed systems	Simulations, pipelines, prototypes

Installation

pip install aioagent

Quick start

import asyncio
from aioagent import AgentMessage, BaseAgent, CyclicBehaviour, MessageBus


class PingBehaviour(CyclicBehaviour):
    async def run(self):
        await self.send(AgentMessage(to="pong", body="ping"))
        reply = await self.receive(timeout=2.0)
        if reply:
            print(f"Got: {reply.body}")
        self.kill()


class PongBehaviour(CyclicBehaviour):
    async def run(self):
        msg = await self.receive(timeout=2.0)
        if msg:
            await self.send(msg.make_reply(body="pong"))
            self.kill()


class PingAgent(BaseAgent):
    async def setup(self):
        self.add_behaviour(PingBehaviour())


class PongAgent(BaseAgent):
    async def setup(self):
        self.add_behaviour(PongBehaviour())


async def main():
    bus = MessageBus()
    async with PongAgent("pong", bus=bus), PingAgent("ping", bus=bus):
        await asyncio.sleep(1)


asyncio.run(main())

Core concepts

Agents

Subclass BaseAgent and override setup() to register behaviours:

class MyAgent(BaseAgent):
    async def setup(self):
        self.add_behaviour(MyBehaviour())

Agents support async with for automatic start/stop.

Behaviours

Class	Description
OneShotBehaviour	Runs run() once and stops
CyclicBehaviour	Runs run() in a loop until killed
PeriodicBehaviour	Runs run() every N seconds
FSMBehaviour	Finite-state machine with transitions

Each behaviour has on_start() and on_end() lifecycle hooks.

FSMBehaviour

Model complex protocols as state machines:

from aioagent import FSMBehaviour

class NegotiationFSM(FSMBehaviour):
    async def setup_fsm(self):
        self.add_state("PROPOSE", self.propose, initial=True)
        self.add_state("EVALUATE", self.evaluate)
        self.add_state("DONE", self.finish, final=True)
        self.add_transition("PROPOSE", "EVALUATE")
        self.add_transition("EVALUATE", "PROPOSE")
        self.add_transition("EVALUATE", "DONE")

    async def propose(self):
        # ... send proposal ...
        self.set_next_state("EVALUATE")

    async def evaluate(self):
        # ... check reply ...
        self.set_next_state("DONE")

    async def finish(self):
        pass

Messages

msg = AgentMessage(
    to="recipient",
    body="hello",
    performative="INFORM",      # FIPA-style (optional)
    metadata={"protocol": "cnp", "priority": 1},
    thread="conversation-1",
)
reply = msg.make_reply(body="acknowledged")

Interaction patterns

Convenience functions for common FIPA performatives:

from aioagent import request, agree, refuse, inform

msg = request("worker", body="compute fibonacci(10)")
await self.send(msg)

reply = await self.receive(timeout=5.0)
# reply with: agree(msg, body="ok") or refuse(msg, body="busy")

Templates

Filter incoming messages by sender, performative, or metadata:

from aioagent import MessageTemplate

template = MessageTemplate(sender="agent_a", performative="REQUEST")
agent.add_behaviour(handler, template=template)

MessageBus

The bus routes messages between agents via per-agent asyncio.Queue instances:

bus = MessageBus()
agent_a = BaseAgent("a", bus=bus)
agent_b = BaseAgent("b", bus=bus)

# Broadcast to all agents
msg = AgentMessage(to="", sender="coordinator", body="start")
await bus.broadcast(msg, exclude="coordinator")

Custom exceptions

All framework errors inherit from AioagentError:

from aioagent import AgentNotFoundError, AgentAlreadyRegisteredError, BehaviourNotBoundError

Examples

See the examples/ directory:

• ping_pong.py — Basic message exchange
• fsm_negotiation.py — Price negotiation with FSM
• broadcast.py — Coordinator notifies all workers
• pipeline.py — Data processing pipeline
• request_reply.py — Request/reply with agree/refuse

Development

git clone https://github.com/mariotrerotola/aioagent.git
cd aioagent
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest
pytest --cov=aioagent          # with coverage
mypy src/aioagent/             # type checking
ruff check src/ tests/         # linting

License

MIT