5.8 KiB
Betty Framework Agents
⚙️ Integration Note: Claude Code Plugin System
Betty agents are Claude Code plugins. You do not invoke agents via standalone CLI commands (betty or direct Python scripts). Instead:
- Claude Code serves as the execution environment for all agent invocation
- Each agent is registered through its
agent.yamlmanifest - Agents become automatically discoverable and executable through Claude Code's natural language interface
- All routing, validation, and execution is handled by Claude Code via MCP (Model Context Protocol)
No separate installation step is needed beyond plugin registration in your Claude Code environment.
This directory contains agent manifests for the Betty Framework.
What are Agents?
Agents are intelligent orchestrators that compose skills with reasoning, context awareness, and error recovery. Unlike workflows (which follow fixed sequential steps) or skills (which execute atomic operations), agents can:
- Reason about requirements and choose appropriate strategies
- Iterate based on feedback and validation results
- Recover from errors with intelligent retry logic
- Adapt their approach based on context
Directory Structure
Each agent has its own directory containing:
agents/
├── <agent-name>/
│ ├── agent.yaml # Agent manifest (required)
│ ├── README.md # Documentation (auto-generated)
│ └── tests/ # Agent behavior tests (optional)
│ └── test_agent.py
Creating an Agent
Using meta.agent (Recommended)
Via Claude Code:
"Use meta.agent to create a my.agent that does [description],
with capabilities [list], using skills [skill.one, skill.two],
and iterative reasoning mode"
Direct execution (development/testing):
cat > /tmp/my_agent.md <<'EOF'
# Name: my.agent
# Purpose: What your agent does
# Capabilities: First capability, Second capability
# Skills: skill.one, skill.two
# Reasoning: iterative
EOF
python agents/meta.agent/meta_agent.py /tmp/my_agent.md
Manual Creation
-
Create agent directory:
mkdir -p agents/my.agent -
Create agent manifest (
agents/my.agent/agent.yaml):name: my.agent version: 0.1.0 description: "What your agent does" capabilities: - First capability - Second capability skills_available: - skill.one - skill.two reasoning_mode: iterative # or oneshot status: draft -
Validate and register:
Via Claude Code:
"Use agent.define to validate agents/my.agent/agent.yaml"Direct execution (development/testing):
python skills/agent.define/agent_define.py agents/my.agent/agent.yaml
Agent Manifest Schema
Required Fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
name |
string | Unique identifier (e.g., api.designer) |
version |
string | Semantic version (e.g., 0.1.0) |
description |
string | Human-readable purpose statement |
capabilities |
array[string] | List of what the agent can do |
skills_available |
array[string] | Skills the agent can orchestrate |
reasoning_mode |
enum | iterative or oneshot |
Optional Fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
status |
enum | draft, active, deprecated, archived |
context_requirements |
object | Structured context the agent needs |
workflow_pattern |
string | Narrative description of reasoning process |
example_task |
string | Concrete usage example |
error_handling |
object | Retry strategies and failure handling |
output |
object | Expected success/failure outputs |
tags |
array[string] | Categorization tags |
dependencies |
array[string] | Other agents or schemas |
Reasoning Modes
Iterative
Agent can retry with feedback, refine based on errors, and improve incrementally.
Use for:
- Validation loops (API design with validation feedback)
- Refinement tasks (code optimization)
- Error correction (fixing compilation errors)
Example:
reasoning_mode: iterative
error_handling:
max_retries: 3
on_validation_failure: "Analyze errors, refine spec, retry"
Oneshot
Agent executes once without retry.
Use for:
- Analysis and reporting (compatibility checks)
- Deterministic transformations (code generation)
- Tasks where retry doesn't help (documentation)
Example:
reasoning_mode: oneshot
output:
success:
- Analysis report
failure:
- Error details
Example Agents
See the documentation for example agent manifests:
- API Designer - Iterative API design
- Compliance Checker - Multi-domain compliance
Validation
All agent manifests are automatically validated for:
- Required fields presence
- Name format (
^[a-z][a-z0-9._-]*$) - Version format (semantic versioning)
- Reasoning mode enum (
iterativeoroneshot) - Skill references (all skills must exist in skill registry)
Registry
Validated agents are registered in /registry/agents.json:
{
"registry_version": "1.0.0",
"generated_at": "2025-10-23T00:00:00Z",
"agents": [
{
"name": "api.designer",
"version": "0.1.0",
"description": "Design RESTful APIs...",
"reasoning_mode": "iterative",
"skills_available": ["api.define", "api.validate"],
"status": "draft"
}
]
}
See Also
- Agent Schema Reference - Complete field reference
- Betty Architecture - Five-layer architecture
- Agent Implementation Plan - Implementation details