asterix-agent 0.1.3

Stateful AI agents with editable memory blocks and persistent storage

Asterix

Stateful AI agents with editable memory blocks and persistent storage.

Note: Asterix is in Beta (v0.1.3). Core features are stable and production-ready. Enhanced features and optimizations are in active development.

Asterix is a lightweight Python library for building AI agents that can remember, learn, and persist their state across sessions. No servers required - just pip install and start building.

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✨ Features

• 🧠 Editable Memory Blocks - Agents can read and write their own memory via built-in tools
• 💾 Persistent Storage - State saves across sessions (JSON/SQLite backends)
• 🔍 Semantic Search - Qdrant Cloud integration for long-term memory retrieval
• 🛠️ Enhanced Tool System - Easy decorator pattern with parameter validation, retry logic, and categories
• 📚 Auto-Documentation - Tools automatically generate markdown/JSON documentation
• 🚨 Smart Error Handling - Helpful error messages with suggestions and context
• 🔄 Multi-Model Support - Works with Groq, OpenAI, and extensible to others
• 📦 No Server Required - Pure Python library, runs anywhere

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🚀 Quick Start

Installation

pip install asterix-agent

Or with UV (faster):

uv pip install asterix-agent

Basic Usage

from asterix import Agent, BlockConfig

# Create an agent with custom memory blocks
agent = Agent(
    blocks={
        "task": BlockConfig(size=1500, priority=1),
        "notes": BlockConfig(size=1000, priority=2)
    },
    model="openai/gpt-5-mini"
)

# Chat with your agent
response = agent.chat("Hello! Remember that I prefer Python over JavaScript.")
print(response)

# Agent automatically updates its memory
# Memory persists across conversations

Add Custom Tools

@agent.tool(name="read_file", description="Read a file from disk")
def read_file(filepath: str) -> str:
    with open(filepath, 'r') as f:
        return f.read()

# Now your agent can read files
response = agent.chat("Read config.yaml and summarize the settings")

🛠️ Advanced Tool Features

Parameter Validation

Tools can define validation constraints for their parameters:

from asterix.tools.base import Tool, ParameterConstraint

@agent.tool(
    name="create_user",
    description="Create a new user account",
    constraints={
        "username": ParameterConstraint(
            min_length=3,
            max_length=20,
            pattern=r'^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$'
        ),
        "age": ParameterConstraint(
            min_value=13,
            max_value=120
        )
    }
)
def create_user(username: str, age: int) -> str:
    return f"Created user {username}, age {age}"

Tool Categories

Organize tools by category for better discovery:

from asterix.tools.base import ToolCategory

# Tools are automatically categorized
memory_tools = agent._tool_registry.get_by_category(ToolCategory.MEMORY)
file_tools = agent._tool_registry.get_by_category(ToolCategory.FILE_OPS)

# List all categories with counts
categories = agent._tool_registry.list_categories()
print(categories)  # {"memory": 5, "file_operations": 3, "custom": 2}

Retry Logic

Enable automatic retries for transient failures:

from asterix.tools.base import Tool

@agent.tool(
    name="fetch_data",
    description="Fetch data from API",
    retry_on_error=True,
    max_retries=3
)
def fetch_data(url: str) -> str:
    # Will retry up to 3 times with exponential backoff
    response = requests.get(url)
    return response.text

Error Handling

Rich error context and helpful suggestions:

# Automatic error suggestions
try:
    agent.get_tool("read_fil")  # Typo!
except ToolNotFoundError as e:
    print(e)  # "Tool 'read_fil' not found. Did you mean: read_file?"

Auto-Documentation

Generate documentation for your tools:

# Single tool documentation
docs = agent._tool_registry.generate_tool_docs("read_file", format="markdown")
print(docs)

# Complete registry documentation
full_docs = agent._tool_registry.generate_registry_docs(
    format="markdown",
    group_by_category=True
)

# Save to file
with open("TOOL_REFERENCE.md", "w") as f:
    f.write(full_docs)

# Export as JSON catalog
catalog = agent._tool_registry.export_tool_catalog("json")

# Quick reference guide
quick_ref = agent._tool_registry.generate_quick_reference()

Tool Discovery

Find tools by various criteria:

# Filter by category
memory_tools = agent._tool_registry.filter_tools(category=ToolCategory.MEMORY)

# Filter by name pattern
search_tools = agent._tool_registry.filter_tools(name_pattern="search")

# Filter by capabilities
validated_tools = agent._tool_registry.filter_tools(has_validation=True)
retry_tools = agent._tool_registry.filter_tools(has_retry=True)

# Get detailed tool info
info = agent._tool_registry.get_tool_info("core_memory_append")
print(f"Category: {info['category']}")
print(f"Constraints: {info['constraints']}")
print(f"Examples: {info['examples']}")

Save & Load State

# Save agent state
agent.save_state()

# Later session - load previous state
agent = Agent.load_state("agent_id")
agent.chat("What were we discussing?")  # Remembers everything!

🔍 Logging

Asterix uses Python's standard logging module. By default, logs are not displayed. To enable logging:

Console Logging

import logging

# Show all logs
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)

# Or just show errors
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.ERROR)

File Logging

import logging

logging.basicConfig(
    level=logging.DEBUG,
    filename='asterix.log',
    format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s'
)

Fine-grained Control

import logging

# Control specific modules
logging.getLogger('asterix.agent').setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
logging.getLogger('asterix.core').setLevel(logging.WARNING)

---

📚 Configuration

Environment Variables

Create a .env file in your project root:

# LLM Provider (at least one required)
GROQ_API_KEY=your-groq-api-key
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key

# Vector Storage (required)
QDRANT_URL=https://your-cluster.cloud.qdrant.io:6333
QDRANT_API_KEY=your-qdrant-api-key

# Optional
ASTERIX_STATE_DIR=./agent_states
ASTERIX_LOG_LEVEL=INFO

YAML Configuration (Optional)

# agent_config.yaml
agent_id: "my_agent"
max_heartbeat_steps: 10

# LLM Configuration
llm:
  provider: "openai"
  model: "gpt-5-mini"
  temperature: 0.1
  max_tokens: 1000

# Memory Blocks
blocks:
  task:
    size: 1500
    priority: 1
    description: "Current task and progress"
  
  notes:
    size: 1000
    priority: 2
    description: "Important notes and reminders"

# Storage
storage:
  qdrant_url: "${QDRANT_URL}"
  qdrant_api_key: "${QDRANT_API_KEY}"
  state_backend: "json"
  state_dir: "./agent_states"

# Memory Management
memory:
  eviction_strategy: "summarize_and_archive"
  context_window_threshold: 0.85

# Embeddings
embedding:
  provider: "openai"
  model: "text-embedding-3-small"
  dimensions: 1536

Load from YAML:

agent = Agent.from_yaml("agent_config.yaml")

Tool Configuration

Configure tool behavior when registering:

from asterix.tools.base import Tool, ToolCategory, ParameterConstraint

@agent.tool(
    name="advanced_tool",
    description="Tool with full configuration",
    category=ToolCategory.DATA,
    constraints={
        "query": ParameterConstraint(min_length=1, max_length=500)
    },
    examples=[
        "advanced_tool(query='search term')",
        "advanced_tool(query='another example')"
    ],
    retry_on_error=True,
    max_retries=3
)
def advanced_tool(query: str) -> str:
    return f"Processed: {query}"

---

🧠 Memory System

Built-in Memory Tools

Agents have 5 built-in tools for managing their memory:

1. core_memory_append - Add content to a memory block
2. core_memory_replace - Replace content in a memory block
3. archival_memory_insert - Store information in Qdrant for long-term retrieval
4. archival_memory_search - Search archived memories semantically
5. conversation_search - Search conversation history

These tools are called automatically by the agent when needed.

Memory Blocks

Configure memory blocks with custom sizes and priorities:

blocks = {
    "task": BlockConfig(
        size=2000,          # Max tokens before eviction
        priority=1,         # Lower = evicted first
        description="Current task context"
    ),
    "user_prefs": BlockConfig(
        size=500,
        priority=5,         # High priority = rarely evicted
        description="User preferences and settings"
    )
}

Automatic Memory Management

When a block exceeds its token limit:

1. Content is summarized by LLM
2. Full content archived in Qdrant
3. Block replaced with summary
4. Original retrievable via semantic search

---

🛠️ Custom Tools

Register custom tools using the decorator pattern:

from asterix import Agent

agent = Agent(...)

@agent.tool(
    name="execute_shell",
    description="Run a shell command and return output"
)
def execute_shell(command: str) -> str:
    import subprocess
    result = subprocess.run(command, shell=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
    return result.stdout

@agent.tool(name="search_web")
def search_web(query: str) -> str:
    # Your web search implementation
    return "Search results..."

# Agent can now use these tools
response = agent.chat("List all Python files in the current directory")

Tool Development

Creating custom tools with full features:

from asterix.tools.base import Tool, ToolCategory, ParameterConstraint

class MyCustomTool(Tool):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__(
            name="my_tool",
            description="Custom tool with validation",
            func=self.execute,
            category=ToolCategory.CUSTOM,
            constraints={
                "param": ParameterConstraint(min_length=5)
            },
            retry_on_error=True,
            max_retries=2
        )
    
    def execute(self, param: str) -> str:
        # Your tool logic here
        return f"Processed: {param}"

# Register with agent
agent.register_tool(MyCustomTool())

---

💾 State Persistence

Save & Load

# Save agent state to disk
agent.save_state()  # Saves to ./agent_states/{agent_id}.json

# Load from disk
agent = Agent.load_state("agent_id")

# Custom state directory
agent = Agent(..., state_dir="./my_agents")
agent.save_state()

State Backends

# JSON (default)
agent = Agent(..., state_backend="json")

# SQLite (better for many agents)
agent = Agent(..., state_backend="sqlite", state_db="agents.db")

# Custom backend
from asterix.storage import SQLiteStateBackend

# Example structure for custom backend:
class RedisBackend:
    def save_state(self, agent_id: str, state: dict) -> None:
        """Save agent state"""
        pass
    
    def load_state(self, agent_id: str) -> dict:
        """Load agent state"""
        pass

agent = Agent(..., state_backend=RedisBackend())

⚠️ Error Handling

Asterix provides detailed error messages with context and suggestions:

Tool Errors

from asterix.tools.base import ToolNotFoundError, ToolExecutionError, ToolValidationError

try:
    # Typo in tool name
    agent._tool_registry.execute_tool("read_fle", filepath="test.txt")
except ToolNotFoundError as e:
    print(e)  # Suggests similar tool names
    
try:
    # Invalid parameter
    agent._tool_registry.execute_tool("create_user", username="ab", age=5)
except ToolValidationError as e:
    print(e)  # Shows validation constraints and provided value

Validation Errors

# Parameter validation errors include helpful context
# "Tool 'create_user' parameter 'username' validation failed: 
#  username length must be >= 3, got 2
#  Provided value: ab"

Error Context

All tool errors include rich metadata for debugging:

try:
    result = tool.execute(invalid_param="value")
except Exception as e:
    # Error metadata includes:
    # - Tool name
    # - Exception type
    # - Parameters provided
    # - Retry attempts (if applicable)
    # - Full stack trace in logs
    pass

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📖 Examples

For complete working examples, see the examples/ directory:

• basic_chat.py - Simple conversation agent
• custom_tools.py - Tool registration with validation
• persistent_agent.py - State save/load demonstration
• tool_documentation.py - Auto-documentation generation
• cli_agent.py - Full-featured CLI agent with file operations
• yaml_config.py - YAML configuration example

CLI Agent with File Operations

from asterix import Agent, BlockConfig
import os

agent = Agent(
    blocks={
        "current_task": BlockConfig(size=2000, priority=1),
        "file_context": BlockConfig(size=3000, priority=2)
    },
    model="openai/gpt-5-mini"
)

@agent.tool(name="list_files")
def list_files(directory: str = ".") -> str:
    files = os.listdir(directory)
    return "\n".join(files)

@agent.tool(name="read_file")
def read_file(filepath: str) -> str:
    with open(filepath, 'r') as f:
        return f.read()

# Use the agent
agent.chat("List all Python files and review main.py for potential issues")

Multi-Agent System

# Orchestrator agent
main_agent = Agent(
    agent_id="orchestrator",
    blocks={"plan": BlockConfig(size=1500)},
    model="openai/gpt-5-mini"
)

# Specialized agents
code_reviewer = Agent(
    agent_id="reviewer",
    blocks={"code": BlockConfig(size=3000)},
    model="openai/gpt-5-mini"
)

# Coordination
task = "Review auth.py for security issues"
plan = main_agent.chat(f"Break down: {task}")
review = code_reviewer.chat(f"Execute: {plan}")
summary = main_agent.chat(f"Summarize: {review}")

---

🔧 Advanced Usage

Direct Memory Access

# Get all memory blocks
memory = agent.get_memory()
print(memory["task"])

# Update memory manually
agent.update_memory("task", "New content")

# Archival memory search is handled automatically by the agent
# when it needs to retrieve information. The agent will use the
# archival_memory_search tool internally when needed.

# To manually search, you can access the tool:
tool_result = agent._tool_registry.execute_tool(
    "archival_memory_search",
    query="user preferences",
    k=5
)

---

🧪 Testing

# Install dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest

# With coverage
pytest --cov=asterix --cov-report=html

# Run specific test
pytest tests/test_agent.py::test_memory_tools

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📊 Project Status

Current Version: 0.1.3 (Beta)

Roadmap:

• Core agent implementation
• Memory tools system
• State persistence
• Qdrant integration
• Enhanced tool registration (parameter validation, categories, retry logic)
• Auto-documentation system
• Performance optimizations
• Advanced monitoring and observability
• Streaming responses
• Multi-agent collaboration
• Custom memory backends (Redis, PostgreSQL)

📚 Tool Reference

Built-in Memory Tools

Asterix provides 5 built-in tools for memory management:

Tool	Category	Description
core_memory_append	memory	Add content to a memory block
core_memory_replace	memory	Replace content in a memory block
archival_memory_insert	memory	Store information in long-term memory (Qdrant)
archival_memory_search	memory	Search long-term memory
conversation_search	memory	Search conversation history

Tool System Features

• Automatic Schema Generation - Type hints → OpenAI function schemas
• Parameter Validation - Min/max values, lengths, patterns, allowed values
• Category Organization - Group tools by purpose (memory, file_ops, web, etc.)
• Retry Logic - Automatic retries with exponential backoff
• Error Recovery - Smart error messages with hints and suggestions
• Auto-Documentation - Generate markdown/JSON/YAML docs from metadata
• Tool Discovery - Filter and search tools by name, category, capabilities

Generate Documentation

# In Python
from asterix import Agent

agent = Agent()

# Generate tool reference
docs = agent._tool_registry.generate_registry_docs(format="markdown")
with open("TOOL_REFERENCE.md", "w") as f:
    f.write(docs)

# Export tool catalog
catalog = agent._tool_registry.export_tool_catalog("json")
with open("tool_catalog.json", "w") as f:
    f.write(catalog)

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/your-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add your feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/your-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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🙏 Acknowledgments

• Built with Groq and OpenAI
• Vector storage by Qdrant
• Inspired by Letta

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📞 Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions
• Documentation: Full Docs

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So that everyone can build better agents without worrying about memory (Let's hope OpenAI doesn't make this library meaningless)