Zett Agent

Small core. Yours to shape.

Documentation · Quickstart · Examples

Zett Agent is a small Python runtime for tool-calling agents. One provider-neutral loop calls a model, runs the tools it asks for, and streams every step back to your application. Start with a model and a few functions. Add skills, session storage, approvals, or delegation without adopting an application framework.

• Provider-neutral. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, and Ollama behind one protocol.
• Tools from functions. Annotate a Python function; the schema, validation, and dispatch are generated.
• Capabilities on demand. Load skill instructions when needed; discover deferred tools on supported Responses endpoints.
• Streaming first. Partial text, reasoning, tool calls, and results for terminals and UIs.
• Durable when you want it. In-memory history by default, SQLite or your own store on request.
• Your application stays yours. Embed the loop in a script, terminal, UI, or service; add lifecycle behavior with extensions.

Read the documentation or start with the complete tool-calling example below. Python 3.10+, typed, MIT licensed.

Install

pip install zett-agent

uv add zett-agent

Quickstart

Set OPENAI_MODEL to a model that supports tool calling and OPENAI_API_KEY to your credential. This example makes a real network request and may incur charges. Save it as agent.py and run python agent.py:

import asyncio
import os

from zett_agent.client import create_agent
from zett_agent.providers.openai import OpenAIProvider
from zett_agent.tools.base import tool


@tool(guidelines="Use for exact integer addition.")
def add(left: int, right: int) -> int:
    """Add two integers exactly."""
    return left + right


async def main() -> None:
    model = OpenAIProvider(
        model=os.environ["OPENAI_MODEL"],
        api_key=os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"],
    )
    try:
        client = await create_agent(model, tools=[add])
        reply = await client.run("Use add to calculate 20 plus 22.")
        print(reply.content)
    finally:
        await model.aclose()


asyncio.run(main())

The model can request add; the runtime validates its arguments, runs it, returns the result, and asks the model to finish. reply.content contains the final answer. Calling client.run(...) again continues the same in-memory conversation. The exact answer and tool choice depend on the model.

No API key yet? Your first agent is a complete, deterministic tutorial with no network access, and Streaming tools exercises the same tool round trip offline.

Choose a provider

Swap the adapter without changing local tools, callbacks, or the client API. Use response=True on an OpenAI-compatible adapter only when your endpoint supports Responses; Chat Completions is the default.

See Connect a model provider for complete setup with each provider, reasoning effort, retries, proxies, and cache routing. Model features are endpoint-specific; a common adapter protocol does not guarantee identical capabilities.

Stream to a terminal or UI

Dispatch callbacks receive events as they arrive; run() still returns the final answer.

from zett_agent.dispatcher import AgentEventDispatcher
from zett_agent.events import AgentEvent


class Console(AgentEventDispatcher):
    async def on_text_delta_event(self, event: AgentEvent) -> None:
        print(event.delta, end="", flush=True)


client = await create_agent(model, event_dispatcher=Console())
await client.run("Summarize this repository.")

If you need cancellation or forwarding, consume the stream directly with async with aclosing(client.stream(...)) as events. See Streaming.

Tools

Decorate a typed function; Zett Agent builds the schema and turns the docstring into model-facing guidance.

from zett_agent.tools.base import tool


@tool
def add(left: int, right: int) -> int:
    """Add two integers exactly.

    Args:
        left: First operand.
        right: Second operand.

    Guidelines:
        - Use for exact integer addition.
    """
    return left + right

Register it with create_agent(model, tools=[add]). The model can then request the call, and the runtime validates arguments, runs it, appends the result, and asks the model to continue. Filesystem and shell tools live in FileSystemExtension and CodingExtension. See Define and register tools.

Each tool needs typed arguments, a description, and at least one guideline. Use @tool(guidelines="...") for a short function or a Guidelines section in its docstring. Guidelines help the model choose tools; they do not enforce permissions.

Keep and restore conversations

AgentRunConfig.session_id identifies a conversation. Add a persistence extension to survive restarts:

from zett_agent.agent import AgentRunConfig
from zett_agent.extensions.sqlite import SQLiteSessionExtension

config = AgentRunConfig(session_id="project-notes")
storage = SQLiteSessionExtension("sessions.sqlite")
try:
    client = await create_agent(model, config=config, extensions=[storage])
    reply = await client.run("Remember my preference for Python.")
finally:
    await storage.close()

Run this inside an async function with a configured model. Reopen the same database and session ID to continue after restart. Explicit extension lists replace default history and tool guidance; include ToolGuidelinesExtension() if you register tools. Close the provider separately when finished. See Keep and restore conversations.

Embed it safely

Your application owns credentials, session access, and tool permissions. File, shell, and MCP tools are not sandboxed. Prompts, AGENTS.md, and skills guide behavior but do not authorize actions.

Set application deadlines, close partially consumed streams, and serialize each conversation. Cancellation stops unfinished work; it does not undo already completed tool side effects. Follow Integrate an application for concurrency, errors, timeouts, and shutdown.

Built-in extensions

Pass the ones you need; extensions=[...] replaces the optional defaults.

Use an extension when behavior belongs inside the request lifecycle; use an AgentEventDispatcher for display-only callbacks. You never subclass Agent or write a second loop. See Extend the runtime.

Documentation

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or newer (CI covers 3.10 through 3.14).
• No Node.js or external service is required by the library itself.

Development

uv sync
uv run pytest
uv run ruff check src tests examples
make docs-live         # preview the manual with live reload at http://127.0.0.1:8000
make docs-serve        # build once, then serve the static HTML
make check             # lint, tests with coverage, and documentation checks

make docs-live rebuilds on every edit under docs/ or src/, and reloads the open browser page. Pass DOCS_PORT=8080 to change the port and DOCS_OPEN= to skip opening a browser. make docs builds once without serving.

The repository layout:

• src/zett_agent/ — the runtime published as zett-agent.
• docs/ — the Sphinx manual; make docs-serve previews it locally.
• examples/ — runnable programs, most of which need no API key.

ZettCode, the terminal coding agent built on this runtime, lives in its own repository: https://github.com/Chang-LeHung/zettcode.

License

MIT