How I break down an Agent project

When I look at an Agent project, I try not to “just read the README.” I walk a fixed checklist. Next time the project changes, the notes still line up.

First: what problem does it solve?

• Who is the user, and what are the inputs and outputs?
• Is it a chat assistant, a workflow orchestrator, or an autonomous agent with tools?
• What does success look like: one finished task, or an ongoing session?

Write the goal down. Architecture judgments need that yardstick.

Then: the execution path

I usually sketch one main path:

flowchart LR
  entry["Entry"] --> plan["Plan / route"]
  plan --> tools["Tools"]
  tools --> memory["Memory"]
  memory --> done["Done or fall back"]

In steps:

1. Entry (UI / API / cron)
2. Planning / routing (Planner, Router, or neither)
3. Tools and outside systems (search, code, DB, third-party APIs)
4. Memory and state (short context, long-term memory, session store)
5. Stop conditions and failure fallbacks

A typical call as a sequence:

sequenceDiagram
  participant U as User
  participant A as Agent
  participant T as Tool
  participant M as Memory

  U->>A: Task
  A->>M: Read context
  A->>T: Call tool
  T-->>A: Result
  A->>M: Write state
  A-->>U: Answer

Most project differences sit in how tools and memory are traded off.

Finally: write three things down

• What it does well — patterns worth copying
• What I disagree with — why, and what I’d change
• A reusable checklist for the next build

More breakdowns will land here. If you have a project you want torn down, send it over.