langchain-agentkit 0.4.0

Composable middleware framework for LangGraph agents

langchain-agentkit

Composable middleware framework for LangGraph agents.

Build LangGraph agents with reusable middleware that composes tools and prompts. Two layers to choose from:

• agent metaclass — declare a class, get a complete ReAct agent with middleware-composed tools and prompts
• AgentKit — primitive composition engine for full control over graph topology

Migrating from langchain-skillkit? See Migration below. The old import path still works with a deprecation warning.

Installation

Requires Python 3.11+, langchain-core>=0.3, langgraph>=0.4.

pip install langchain-agentkit

Quick Start

The agent metaclass (recommended)

Declare a class that inherits from agent to get a StateGraph with an automatic ReAct loop:

from langchain_core.messages import HumanMessage, SystemMessage
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
from langchain_agentkit import agent, SkillsMiddleware, TasksMiddleware

class researcher(agent):
    llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4o")
    tools = [web_search]
    middleware = [SkillsMiddleware("skills/"), TasksMiddleware()]
    prompt = "You are a research assistant."

    async def handler(state, *, llm, prompt):
        messages = [SystemMessage(content=prompt)] + state["messages"]
        response = await llm.ainvoke(messages)
        return {"messages": [response], "sender": "researcher"}

# Compile and use
graph = researcher.compile()
result = graph.invoke({"messages": [HumanMessage("Size the B2B SaaS market")]})

# With checkpointer for interrupt() support
from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import InMemorySaver
graph = researcher.compile(checkpointer=InMemorySaver())

AgentKit for manual graph wiring

Use AgentKit when you need full control over graph topology — multi-node graphs, shared ToolNode, custom routing:

from langchain_agentkit import AgentKit, SkillsMiddleware, TasksMiddleware

kit = AgentKit([
    SkillsMiddleware("skills/"),
    TasksMiddleware(),
])

# In any graph node:
all_tools = my_tools + kit.tools
system_prompt = kit.prompt(state, config)

Standalone SkillKit

Use SkillKit directly for skill discovery without the middleware layer:

from langchain_agentkit import SkillKit

kit = SkillKit("skills/")
tools = kit.tools  # [Skill, SkillRead]

Examples

See examples/ for complete working code:

• standalone_node.py — Simplest usage: declare a node class, compile, invoke
• manual_wiring.py — Use SkillKit as a standalone toolkit with full graph control
• multi_agent.py — Compose multiple agents in a parent graph
• root_with_checkpointer.py — Multi-turn conversations with interrupt() and Command(resume=...)
• subgraph_with_checkpointer.py — Subgraph inherits parent's checkpointer automatically
• custom_state_type.py — Custom state shape via handler annotation + subgraph schema translation

API Reference

agent

Declarative agent builder. Subclassing produces a StateGraph. Call .compile() to get a runnable graph.

Class attributes:

Attribute	Required	Description
llm	Yes	Language model instance
tools	No	List of LangChain tools
middleware	No	Ordered list of Middleware instances
prompt	No	System prompt — inline string, file path, or list of either

Handler signature:

async def handler(state, *, llm, tools, prompt, config, runtime): ...

state is positional. Everything after * is keyword-only and injected by name — declare only what you need:

Parameter	Type	Description
state	dict	LangGraph state (positional, required)
llm	BaseChatModel	LLM pre-bound with all tools via bind_tools()
tools	list[BaseTool]	All tools (user tools + middleware tools)
prompt	str	Fully composed prompt (template + middleware sections)
config	RunnableConfig	LangGraph config for the current invocation
runtime	Any	LangGraph runtime context (passed through from graph kwargs)

Both sync and async handlers are supported — sync handlers are detected via inspect.isawaitable and awaited automatically.

Custom state types — annotate the handler's state parameter:

class MyState(TypedDict, total=False):
    messages: Annotated[list, add_messages]
    draft: dict | None

class my_agent(agent):
    llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4o")

    async def handler(state: MyState, *, llm):
        ...

Without an annotation, AgentState is used by default.

Middleware protocol

Any class with tools (property) and prompt(state, config) (method) satisfies the protocol via structural subtyping — no base class needed:

class MyMiddleware:
    @property
    def tools(self) -> list[BaseTool]:
        return [my_tool]

    def prompt(self, state: dict, config: RunnableConfig) -> str | None:
        return "You have access to my_tool."

Built-in middleware:

Middleware	Tools	Prompt
SkillsMiddleware(skills_dirs)	Skill, SkillRead	Progressive disclosure skill list with load instructions
TasksMiddleware()	TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskGet	Base agent behavior + task context with status icons

TasksMiddleware

Task management middleware with Command-based tools that update graph state via LangGraph's ToolNode.

# Default — auto-creates task tools
mw = TasksMiddleware()

# Custom tools
mw = TasksMiddleware(task_tools=[my_create, my_update])

# Custom task formatter
mw = TasksMiddleware(formatter=my_format_function)

Task tools use InjectedState to read tasks from state and return Command(update={"tasks": [...]}) to apply changes. Task state is updated locally within the agent's graph, visible to the prompt on every ReAct loop iteration. When used as a subgraph, state flows back to the parent graph on completion.

You can also create task tools directly:

from langchain_agentkit import create_task_tools

tools = create_task_tools()  # [TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskGet]

AgentKit(middleware, prompt=None)

Composition engine that merges tools and prompts from middleware.

• tools — All tools from all middleware, deduplicated by name (first middleware wins, cached)
• prompt(state, config) — Template + middleware sections, joined with double newline (dynamic per call)

Prompt templates can be inline strings, file paths, or a list of either:

kit = AgentKit(middleware, prompt="You are helpful.")
kit = AgentKit(middleware, prompt=Path("prompts/system.txt"))
kit = AgentKit(middleware, prompt=["prompts/base.txt", "Extra instructions"])

node

The original skill-aware metaclass. Uses skills attribute instead of middleware. Consider migrating to agent for the full middleware composition model — agent adds middleware, prompt, and config injection.

class my_agent(node):
    llm = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4o")
    tools = [web_search]
    skills = "skills/"  # str, list[str], or SkillKit instance

    async def handler(state, *, llm, tools, runtime): ...

AgentState

Minimal LangGraph state type with task support:

Field	Type	Description
messages	Annotated[list, add_messages]	Conversation history with LangGraph message reducer
sender	str	Name of the last node that produced output
tasks	list[dict[str, Any]]	Task list managed by TasksMiddleware tools

Extend with your own fields:

class MyState(AgentState):
    current_project: str
    iteration_count: int

Security

• Path traversal prevention: Skill file paths resolved to absolute and checked against skill directories. Reference file names reject . and .. patterns.
• Name validation: Skill names validated per AgentSkills.io spec — lowercase alphanumeric + hyphens, 1-64 chars.
• Tool scoping: Each agent only has access to the tools declared in its tools attribute plus middleware-provided tools.
• Prompt trust boundary: Prompt templates and middleware prompt sections are set by the developer at construction time, not by end-user input.

Migrating from langchain-skillkit

langchain-agentkit v0.4.0 is the successor to langchain-skillkit. The old import path works with a deprecation warning:

# Still works — emits DeprecationWarning
from langchain_skillkit import node, SkillKit, AgentState

# Update to:
from langchain_agentkit import node, SkillKit, AgentState

What changed:

Before (langchain-skillkit)	After (langchain-agentkit)
from langchain_skillkit import ...	from langchain_agentkit import ...
node with skills attribute	node (unchanged) + new agent with middleware
SkillKit only	SkillKit + SkillsMiddleware + TasksMiddleware
No middleware system	Middleware protocol + AgentKit composition
Handler injectables: llm, tools, runtime	agent adds: prompt, config

Migration steps:

1. Update imports from langchain_skillkit to langchain_agentkit
2. Existing node subclasses work unchanged
3. Optionally migrate node to agent for middleware support:
   • Replace skills = "skills/" with middleware = [SkillsMiddleware("skills/")]
   • Add prompt and config injectables as needed

Contributing

git clone https://github.com/rsmdt/langchain-agentkit.git
cd langchain-agentkit
uv sync --extra dev
uv run pytest --tb=short -q
uv run ruff check src/ tests/
uv run mypy src/