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Building AI agents is a journey. This guide takes you from understanding the fundamentals of large language models (LLMs) through progressively more powerful agent patterns, helping you understand when and why to reach for each capability.
Each step in the journey builds on the previous one, adding complexity only when the scenario demands it. Along the way, you'll learn the trade-offs of each approach so you can make informed decisions for your own applications.
| Step | What you'll learn | When you need it |
|---|---|---|
| LLM Fundamentals | How LLMs work and what they can (and can't) do | You're new to LLMs or want to understand the foundation |
| From LLMs to Agents | What makes an agent more than a chat completion call, and creating your first agent with instructions | You want to understand the agent abstraction |
| Adding Tools | Extending agents with function tools and MCP servers | Your agent needs to interact with the real world |
| Adding Skills | Packaging reusable agent capabilities | You want modular, shareable agent behaviors |
| Adding Middleware | Intercepting and customizing agent behavior | You need guardrails, logging, or behavioral overrides |
| Context Providers | Injecting memory and dynamic context | Your agent needs to remember or access external knowledge |
| Agents as Tools | Using one agent as a tool for another | You want agent composition |
| Agent-to-Agent (A2A) | Inter-agent communication across boundaries | Your agents need to communicate across services or organizations |
| Workflows | Orchestrating multi-agent, multi-step processes | You need explicit control over complex, multi-step execution |
How to use this guide
- New to AI agents? Start from the beginning and work through each step.
- Experienced developer? Jump to the step that matches your current challenge.
- Evaluating Agent Framework? Read the "When to use" and "Trade-offs" sections on each page to understand the design space.
Tip
Each page includes a "When to use this" section and a "Trade-offs" table to help you decide if that pattern fits your scenario.