agent
An LLM-driven program that plans, calls tools, observes results, and loops until it reaches a goal.
Definition
An agent is a program built around an LLM that can plan multi-step actions, call external tools, observe results, and loop until a goal is met. Unlike a single-turn prompt, an agent maintains state across iterations and decides its own next step. Common agent stacks: Claude Code, LangChain agents, Anthropic's Agent SDK, Make.com AI scenarios.
When to use
Use an agent when the task can't be solved in a single LLM call — when the model needs to discover information, take actions, evaluate results, and adapt before finishing.
See also
- MCP — Anthropic's open standard for connecting LLMs to external tools and data sources over JSON-RPC.
- Claude Code — Anthropic's official terminal-based coding agent, with MCP support and a plugin ecosystem.
- LangChain — Python and JavaScript framework for building LLM applications — chains, agents, memory, retrieval, and tool use.
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