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Interface: AgentOptions

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:96

Configuration options for the agent factory function.

Extends BaseAgentConfig with backward-compatible convenience fields. All BaseAgentConfig fields (rag, discovery, permissions, emergent, voice, etc.) are accepted and stored in config but are not actively wired in the lightweight agent — they will be consumed by agency() and the full runtime.

Extends​

  • BaseAgentConfig

Properties​

apiKey?​

optional apiKey: string

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1240

Override the provider API key instead of reading from environment variables.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.apiKey

avatar?​

optional avatar: AvatarConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1306

Avatar visual presentation configuration.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.avatar

baseUrl?​

optional baseUrl: string

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1242

Override the provider base URL (useful for local proxies or Ollama).

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.baseUrl

chainOfThought?​

optional chainOfThought: string | boolean

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:108

Chain-of-thought reasoning instruction.

  • false — disable CoT injection.
  • true (default for agents) — inject the default CoT instruction when tools are present.
  • string — inject a custom CoT instruction when tools are present.

channels?​

optional channels: Record<string, Record<string, unknown>>

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1311

Channel adapter configurations keyed by channel name. Values are channel-specific option objects passed through opaquely.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.channels

cognitiveMechanisms?​

optional cognitiveMechanisms: CognitiveMechanismsConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1348

Cognitive mechanisms config — 8 neuroscience-backed memory mechanisms. All HEXACO-modulated (emotionality, conscientiousness, openness, etc.).

  • Pass {} for sensible defaults (all 8 mechanisms enabled).
  • Omit entirely to disable (zero overhead — no code paths execute).
  • Provide per-mechanism overrides to tune individual parameters.

Requires memory to be enabled (true or a MemoryConfig object). If cognitiveMechanisms is set but memory is disabled, a warning is logged and the mechanisms config is ignored.

See​

Cognitive Mechanisms Docs

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.cognitiveMechanisms

controls?​

optional controls: ResourceControls

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1325

Resource limits (tokens, cost, time) applied to the entire run.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.controls

dependsOn?​

optional dependsOn: string[]

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1332

Names of other agents in the agency that must complete before this agent runs. Used with strategy: 'graph' to build an explicit dependency DAG. Agents with no dependsOn are roots and run first.

Example​

`dependsOn: ['researcher']` — this agent waits for `researcher` to finish.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.dependsOn

discovery?​

optional discovery: DiscoveryConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1288

Runtime capability discovery configuration.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.discovery

emergent?​

optional emergent: EmergentConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1302

Emergent agent synthesis configuration.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.emergent

fallbackProviders?​

optional fallbackProviders: FallbackProviderEntry[]

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:121

Ordered list of fallback providers to try when the primary provider fails with a retryable error (HTTP 402/429/5xx, network errors).

Defaults to auto-built chain when omitted — fallback is on by default. Pass [] for strict single-provider mode, or supply a custom array to control the chain. Applied to every generate(), stream(), and session.send() / session.stream() call made through this agent.

See​

GenerateTextOptions.fallbackProviders

guardrails?​

optional guardrails: string[] | GuardrailsConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1294

Guardrail policy identifiers or structured config.

  • string[] — shorthand; applies to both input and output.
  • GuardrailsConfig — full control with separate input/output lists.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.guardrails

hitl?​

optional hitl: HitlConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1300

Human-in-the-loop approval configuration.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.hitl

hostPolicy?​

optional hostPolicy: HostLLMPolicy

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:132

Host-level routing hints forwarded to the high-level generation helpers.

instructions?​

optional instructions: string

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1236

Free-form system instructions prepended to the system prompt.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.instructions

maxSteps?​

optional maxSteps: number

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1265

Maximum number of agentic steps (LLM calls) per invocation. Defaults to 5.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.maxSteps

maxTokens?​

optional maxTokens: number

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1277

Upper bound on completion tokens for each LLM call the agent makes. Forwarded to the underlying generateText / streamText call on every generate(), stream(), and session.send() invocation.

Caps tail spend when a model misbehaves and yaps past the intended output size — without it, calls fall back to the provider default (OpenAI 4096, Anthropic 4096-8192). Set to ~2× the agent's typical response size so normal calls finish naturally and only runaway generations hit the cap. Omit to use the provider default.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.maxTokens

memory?​

optional memory: boolean | MemoryConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1284

Memory configuration.

  • true — enable in-memory conversation history with default settings.
  • false — disable memory; every call is stateless.
  • MemoryConfig — full control over memory subsystems.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.memory

memoryProvider?​

optional memoryProvider: AgentMemoryProvider

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:191

Optional memory provider. When provided, memory auto-wires on all four agent call paths (see AgentMemoryProvider for hook contract).

  • getContext runs before each LLM call; result prepended as a system message.
  • observe runs after each LLM call as fire-and-forget.

model?​

optional model: string

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1229

Model identifier. Accepted in two formats:

  • "provider:model" — e.g. "openai:gpt-4o".
  • Plain model name when provider is also set.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.model

name?​

optional name: string

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1238

Display name for the agent, injected into the system prompt.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.name

observability?​

optional observability: ObservabilityConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1321

Observability and telemetry configuration.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.observability

on?​

optional on: AgencyCallbacks

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1323

Event callbacks fired at various lifecycle points during the run.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.on

onAfterGeneration()?​

optional onAfterGeneration: (result) => Promise<void | GenerationHookResult>

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:180

Post-generation hook, called after each LLM step.

Parameters​

result​

GenerationHookResult

Returns​

Promise<void | GenerationHookResult>

onBeforeGeneration()?​

optional onBeforeGeneration: (context) => Promise<void | GenerationHookContext>

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:178

Pre-generation hook, called before each LLM step.

Parameters​

context​

GenerationHookContext

Returns​

Promise<void | GenerationHookContext>

onBeforeToolExecution()?​

optional onBeforeToolExecution: (info) => Promise<ToolCallHookInfo | null>

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:182

Pre-tool-execution hook.

Parameters​

info​

ToolCallHookInfo

Returns​

Promise<ToolCallHookInfo | null>

onFallback()?​

optional onFallback: (error, fallbackProvider) => void

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:128

Callback invoked when a fallback provider is about to be tried.

Parameters​

error​

Error

The error that triggered the fallback.

fallbackProvider​

string

The provider identifier being tried next.

Returns​

void

output?​

optional output: unknown

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1317

Output schema for structured generation. Accepts a Zod schema at runtime; typed as unknown here to avoid a hard dependency on the zod package in the types layer.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.output

permissions?​

optional permissions: PermissionsConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1298

Fine-grained tool and resource permission overrides.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.permissions

personality?​

optional personality: Partial<{ agreeableness: number; conscientiousness: number; emotionality: number; extraversion: number; honesty: number; openness: number; }>

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1247

HEXACO-inspired personality trait overrides (0–1 scale). Encoded as a human-readable trait string appended to the system prompt.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.personality

provenance?​

optional provenance: ProvenanceConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1319

Provenance and audit-trail configuration.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.provenance

provider?​

optional provider: string

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1234

Provider name (e.g. "openai", "anthropic", "ollama"). Auto-detected from environment API keys when omitted.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.provider

rag?​

optional rag: RagConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1286

Retrieval-Augmented Generation configuration.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.rag

responseSchema?​

optional responseSchema: ZodType<unknown, unknown, $ZodTypeInternals<unknown, unknown>>

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:176

Optional Zod schema for validating the LLM's structured output.

When provided, the agent's generate() result includes a parsed field with the Zod-validated and typed output. JSON extraction and validation happen automatically in the onAfterGeneration hook. On validation failure, the agent retries internally (up to controls.maxValidationRetries ?? 1).

When omitted, behavior is unchanged — result.parsed is undefined. This is a non-breaking additive change.

Example​

import { z } from 'zod';
const myAgent = agent({
  name: 'Extractor',
  instructions: 'Extract entities as JSON',
  responseSchema: z.object({ entities: z.array(z.string()) }),
});
const result = await myAgent.generate('Find entities in: ...');
console.log(result.parsed?.entities); // string[]

router?​

optional router: IModelRouter

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:130

Model router for intelligent provider selection per-call.

routerParams?​

optional routerParams: Partial<ModelRouteParams>

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:152

Routing hints passed to the model router's selectModel() call.

Useful for declaring capability requirements up-front so the router can pick a model that actually supports what the agent needs:

agent({
  name: 'World Architect',
  router: policyAwareRouter,
  routerParams: { requiredCapabilities: ['json_mode'] },
  output: WorldIdentitySchema,
});

When omitted, the router receives a minimal default params object (taskHint only, plus function_calling in requiredCapabilities when tools are declared).

security?​

optional security: object

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1296

Security tier controlling permitted tools and capabilities.

tier​

tier: SecurityTier

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.security

skills?​

optional skills: SkillEntry[]

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:196

Optional skill entries to inject into the system prompt. Skill content is appended to the system prompt as markdown sections.

systemBlocks?​

optional systemBlocks: SystemContentBlock[]

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:203

Structured system prompt blocks with cache breakpoints. When provided, takes precedence over the assembled string from instructions, name, personality, and skills. Use this for prompt caching support with Anthropic.

tools?​

optional tools: AdaptableToolInput

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1263

Tools available to the agent on every call.

Accepts:

  • a named high-level tool map
  • an ExternalToolRegistry (Record, Map, or iterable)
  • a prompt-only ToolDefinitionForLLM[]

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.tools

usageLedger?​

optional usageLedger: AgentOSUsageLedgerOptions

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/agent.ts:101

Top-level usage ledger shorthand for backward compatibility. When present, forwarded to observability.usageLedger internally.

voice?​

optional voice: VoiceConfig

Defined in: packages/agentos/src/api/types.ts:1304

Voice interface configuration.

Inherited from​

BaseAgentConfig.voice