LangChain Agent Fundamentals

from langchain.agents import create_agent
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field

class ContactInfo(BaseModel):
    name: str
    email: str
    phone: str = Field(description="Phone number with area code")

# Option 1: Agent with structured output
agent = create_agent(model="gpt-4.1", tools=[search], response_format=ContactInfo)
result = agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Find contact for John"}]})
print(result["structured_response"])  # ContactInfo(name='John', ...)

# Option 2: Model-level structured output (no agent needed)
from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI
model = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4.1")
structured_model = model.with_structured_output(ContactInfo)
response = structured_model.invoke("Extract: John, john@example.com, 555-1234")
# ContactInfo(name='John', email='john@example.com', phone='555-1234')

import { ChatOpenAI } from "@langchain/openai";
import { z } from "zod";

const ContactInfo = z.object({
  name: z.string(),
  email: z.string().email(),
  phone: z.string().describe("Phone number with area code"),
});

// Model-level structured output
const model = new ChatOpenAI({ model: "gpt-4.1" });
const structuredModel = model.withStructuredOutput(ContactInfo);
const response = await structuredModel.invoke("Extract: John, john@example.com, 555-1234");
// { name: 'John', email: 'john@example.com', phone: '555-1234' }

from langchain_anthropic import ChatAnthropic
agent = create_agent(model=ChatAnthropic(model="claude-sonnet-4-5", temperature=0), tools=[...])

# WRONG: Vague or missing description
@tool
def bad_tool(input: str) -> str:
    """Does stuff."""
    return "result"

# CORRECT: Clear, specific description with Args
@tool
def search(query: str) -> str:
    """Search the web for current information about a topic.

    Use this when you need recent data or facts.

    Args:
        query: The search query (2-10 words recommended)
    """
    return web_search(query)

// WRONG: Vague description
const badTool = tool(async ({ input }) => "result", {
  name: "bad_tool",
  description: "Does stuff.", // Too vague!
  schema: z.object({ input: z.string() }),
});

// CORRECT: Clear, specific description
const search = tool(async ({ query }) => webSearch(query), {
  name: "search",
  description: "Search the web for current information about a topic. Use this when you need recent data or facts.",
  schema: z.object({
    query: z.string().describe("The search query (2-10 words recommended)"),
  }),
});

# WRONG: No persistence - agent forgets between calls
agent = create_agent(model="anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5", tools=[search])
agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "I'm Bob"}]})
agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What's my name?"}]})
# Agent doesn't remember!

# CORRECT: Add checkpointer and thread_id
from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import MemorySaver

agent = create_agent(
    model="anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5",
    tools=[search],
    checkpointer=MemorySaver(),
)
config = {"configurable": {"thread_id": "session-1"}}
agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "I'm Bob"}]}, config=config)
agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "What's my name?"}]}, config=config)
# Agent remembers: "Your name is Bob"

// WRONG: No persistence
const agent = createAgent({ model: "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5", tools: [search] });
await agent.invoke({ messages: [{ role: "user", content: "I'm Bob" }] });
await agent.invoke({ messages: [{ role: "user", content: "What's my name?" }] });
// Agent doesn't remember!

// CORRECT: Add checkpointer and thread_id
import { MemorySaver } from "@langchain/langgraph";

const agent = createAgent({
  model: "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4-5",
  tools: [search],
  checkpointer: new MemorySaver(),
});
const config = { configurable: { thread_id: "session-1" } };
await agent.invoke({ messages: [{ role: "user", content: "I'm Bob" }] }, config);
await agent.invoke({ messages: [{ role: "user", content: "What's my name?" }] }, config);
// Agent remembers: "Your name is Bob"

# WRONG: No iteration limit - could loop forever
result = agent.invoke({"messages": [("user", "Do research")]})

# CORRECT: Set recursion_limit in config
result = agent.invoke(
    {"messages": [("user", "Do research")]},
    config={"recursion_limit": 10},  # Stop after 10 steps
)

// WRONG: No iteration limit
const result = await agent.invoke({ messages: [["user", "Do research"]] });

// CORRECT: Set recursionLimit in config
const result = await agent.invoke(
  { messages: [["user", "Do research"]] },
  { recursionLimit: 10 }, // Stop after 10 steps
);

# WRONG: Trying to access result.content directly
result = agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]})
print(result.content)  # AttributeError!

# CORRECT: Access messages from result dict
result = agent.invoke({"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]})
print(result["messages"][-1].content)  # Last message content

// WRONG: Trying to access result.content directly
const result = await agent.invoke({ messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }] });
console.log(result.content); // undefined!

// CORRECT: Access messages from result object
const result = await agent.invoke({ messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello" }] });
console.log(result.messages[result.messages.length - 1].content); // Last message content