createDeepAgent has the following configuration options:
- Model
- Tools
- System Prompt
- Middleware
- Subagents
- Backends (virtual filesystems)
- Human-in-the-loop
- Skills
- Memory
const agent = createDeepAgent({
name?: string,
model?: BaseLanguageModel | string,
tools?: TTools | StructuredTool[],
systemPrompt?: string | SystemMessage,
});
Model
By default,deepagents uses claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929. You can customize the model by passing any supported or LangChain model object.
Use the
provider:model format (for example openai:gpt-5) to quickly switch between models.- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Azure
- Google Gemini
- Bedrock Converse
👉 Read the OpenAI chat model integration docs
npm install @langchain/openai deepagents
pnpm install @langchain/openai deepagents
yarn add @langchain/openai deepagents
bun add @langchain/openai deepagents
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY = "your-api-key";
const agent = createDeepAgent({ model: "gpt-4.1" });
// this calls initChatModel for the specified model with default parameters
// to use specific model parameters, use initChatModel directly
import { initChatModel } from "langchain";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY = "your-api-key";
const model = await initChatModel("gpt-4.1");
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model,
temperature: 0,
});
import { ChatOpenAI } from "@langchain/openai";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model: new ChatOpenAI({
model: "gpt-4.1",
apiKey: "your-api-key",
temperature: 0,
}),
});
👉 Read the Anthropic chat model integration docs
npm install @langchain/anthropic deepagents
pnpm install @langchain/anthropic deepagents
yarn add @langchain/anthropic deepagents
bun add @langchain/anthropic deepagents
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "your-api-key";
const agent = createDeepAgent({ model: "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929" });
// this calls initChatModel for the specified model with default parameters
// to use specific model parameters, use initChatModel directly
import { initChatModel } from "langchain";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "your-api-key";
const model = await initChatModel("claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929");
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model,
temperature: 0,
});
import { ChatAnthropic } from "@langchain/anthropic";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model: new ChatAnthropic({
model: "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
apiKey: "your-api-key",
temperature: 0,
}),
});
👉 Read the Azure chat model integration docs
npm install @langchain/azure deepagents
pnpm install @langchain/azure deepagents
yarn add @langchain/azure deepagents
bun add @langchain/azure deepagents
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
process.env.AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY = "your-api-key";
process.env.AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT = "your-endpoint";
process.env.OPENAI_API_VERSION = "your-api-version";
const agent = createDeepAgent({ model: "azure_openai:gpt-4.1" });
// this calls initChatModel for the specified model with default parameters
// to use specific model parameters, use initChatModel directly
import { initChatModel } from "langchain";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
process.env.AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY = "your-api-key";
process.env.AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT = "your-endpoint";
process.env.OPENAI_API_VERSION = "your-api-version";
const model = await initChatModel("azure_openai:gpt-4.1");
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model,
temperature: 0,
});
import { AzureChatOpenAI } from "@langchain/openai";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model: new AzureChatOpenAI({
model: "gpt-4.1",
azureOpenAIApiKey: "your-api-key",
azureOpenAIApiEndpoint: "your-endpoint",
azureOpenAIApiVersion: "your-api-version",
temperature: 0,
}),
});
👉 Read the Google GenAI chat model integration docs
npm install @langchain/google-genai deepagents
pnpm install @langchain/google-genai deepagents
yarn add @langchain/google-genai deepagents
bun add @langchain/google-genai deepagents
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
process.env.GOOGLE_API_KEY = "your-api-key";
const agent = createDeepAgent({ model: "google-genai:gemini-2.5-flash-lite" });
// this calls initChatModel for the specified model with default parameters
// to use specific model parameters, use initChatModel directly
import { initChatModel } from "langchain";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
process.env.GOOGLE_API_KEY = "your-api-key";
const model = await initChatModel("google-genai:gemini-2.5-flash-lite");
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model,
temperature: 0,
});
import { ChatGoogleGenerativeAI } from "@langchain/google-genai";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model: new ChatGoogleGenerativeAI({
model: "gemini-2.5-flash-lite",
apiKey: "your-api-key",
temperature: 0,
}),
});
👉 Read the AWS Bedrock chat model integration docs
npm install @langchain/aws deepagents
pnpm install @langchain/aws deepagents
yarn add @langchain/aws deepagents
bun add @langchain/aws deepagents
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
// Follow the steps here to configure your credentials:
// https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/getting-started.html
const agent = createDeepAgent({ model: "bedrock:gpt-4.1" });
// this calls initChatModel for the specified model with default parameters
// to use specific model parameters, use initChatModel directly
import { initChatModel } from "langchain";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
// Follow the steps here to configure your credentials:
// https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/getting-started.html
const model = await initChatModel("bedrock:gpt-4.1");
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model,
temperature: 0,
});
import { ChatBedrockConverse } from "@langchain/aws";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
// Follow the steps here to configure your credentials:
// https://docs.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/latest/userguide/getting-started.html
const agent = createDeepAgent({
model: new ChatBedrockConverse({
model: "gpt-4.1",
region: "us-east-2",
temperature: 0,
}),
});
Tools
In addition to built-in tools for planning, file management, and subagent spawning, you can provide custom tools:import { tool } from "langchain";
import { TavilySearch } from "@langchain/tavily";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
import { z } from "zod";
const internetSearch = tool(
async ({
query,
maxResults = 5,
topic = "general",
includeRawContent = false,
}: {
query: string;
maxResults?: number;
topic?: "general" | "news" | "finance";
includeRawContent?: boolean;
}) => {
const tavilySearch = new TavilySearch({
maxResults,
tavilyApiKey: process.env.TAVILY_API_KEY,
includeRawContent,
topic,
});
return await tavilySearch._call({ query });
},
{
name: "internet_search",
description: "Run a web search",
schema: z.object({
query: z.string().describe("The search query"),
maxResults: z.number().optional().default(5),
topic: z
.enum(["general", "news", "finance"])
.optional()
.default("general"),
includeRawContent: z.boolean().optional().default(false),
}),
},
);
const agent = createDeepAgent({
tools: [internetSearch],
});
System prompt
Deep agents come with a built-in system prompt. The default system prompt contains detailed instructions for using the built-in planning tool, file system tools, and subagents. When middleware add special tools, like the filesystem tools, it appends them to the system prompt. Each deep agent should include a custom system prompt specific to its specific use case.import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
const researchInstructions = `You are an expert researcher. ` +
`Your job is to conduct thorough research, and then ` +
`write a polished report.`;
const agent = createDeepAgent({
systemPrompt: researchInstructions,
});
Middleware
Middleware provides a way to more tightly control what happens inside an agent. You can provide additional middleware to extend functionality, add tools, or implement custom hooks:import { tool, createMiddleware } from "langchain";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
import * as z from "zod";
const getWeather = tool(
({ city }: { city: string }) => {
return `The weather in ${city} is sunny.`;
},
{
name: "get_weather",
description: "Get the weather in a city.",
schema: z.object({
city: z.string(),
}),
}
);
let callCount = 0;
const logToolCallsMiddleware = createMiddleware({
name: "LogToolCallsMiddleware",
wrapToolCall: async (request, handler) => {
// Intercept and log every tool call - demonstrates cross-cutting concern
callCount += 1;
const toolName = request.toolCall.name;
console.log(`[Middleware] Tool call #${callCount}: ${toolName}`);
console.log(
`[Middleware] Arguments: ${JSON.stringify(request.toolCall.args)}`
);
// Execute the tool call
const result = await handler(request);
// Log the result
console.log(`[Middleware] Tool call #${callCount} completed`);
return result;
},
});
const agent = await createDeepAgent({
model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
tools: [getWeather] as any,
middleware: [logToolCallsMiddleware] as any,
});
Subagents
To isolate detailed work and avoid context bloat, use subagents:import os
from typing import Literal
from tavily import TavilyClient
from deepagents import create_deep_agent
tavily_client = TavilyClient(api_key=os.environ["TAVILY_API_KEY"])
def internet_search(
query: str,
max_results: int = 5,
topic: Literal["general", "news", "finance"] = "general",
include_raw_content: bool = False,
):
"""Run a web search"""
return tavily_client.search(
query,
max_results=max_results,
include_raw_content=include_raw_content,
topic=topic,
)
research_subagent = {
"name": "research-agent",
"description": "Used to research more in depth questions",
"system_prompt": "You are a great researcher",
"tools": [internet_search],
"model": "openai:gpt-4.1", # Optional override, defaults to main agent model
}
subagents = [research_subagent]
agent = create_deep_agent(
model="claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
subagents=subagents
)
Backends
You can provide your deep agent with one of the following virtual filesystems:- StateBackend
- FilesystemBackend
- StoreBackend
- CompositeBackend
An ephemeral filesystem backend stored in
langgraph state.
This filesystem only persists for a single thread.# By default we provide a StateBackend
agent = create_deep_agent()
# Under the hood, it looks like
from deepagents.backends import StateBackend
agent = create_deep_agent(
backend=(lambda rt: StateBackend(rt)) # Note that the tools access State through the runtime.state
)
The local machine’s filesystem.
This backend grants agents direct filesystem read/write access.
Use with caution and only in appropriate environments.
For more information, see FilesystemBackend.
from deepagents.backends import FilesystemBackend
agent = create_deep_agent(
backend=FilesystemBackend(root_dir=".", virtual_mode=True)
)
A filesystem that provides long-term storage that is persisted across threads.
from langgraph.store.memory import InMemoryStore
from deepagents.backends import StoreBackend
agent = create_deep_agent(
backend=(lambda rt: StoreBackend(rt)), # Note that the tools access Store through the runtime.store
store=InMemoryStore()
)
A flexible backen where you can specify different routes in the filesystem to point towards different backends.
from deepagents import create_deep_agent
from deepagents.backends import CompositeBackend, StateBackend, StoreBackend
from langgraph.store.memory import InMemoryStore
composite_backend = lambda rt: CompositeBackend(
default=StateBackend(rt),
routes={
"/memories/": StoreBackend(rt),
}
)
agent = create_deep_agent(
backend=composite_backend,
store=InMemoryStore() # Store passed to create_deep_agent, not backend
)
Human-in-the-loop
Some tool operations may be sensitive and require human approval before execution. You can configure the approval for each tool:from langchain.tools import tool
from deepagents import create_deep_agent
from langgraph.checkpoint.memory import MemorySaver
@tool
def delete_file(path: str) -> str:
"""Delete a file from the filesystem."""
return f"Deleted {path}"
@tool
def read_file(path: str) -> str:
"""Read a file from the filesystem."""
return f"Contents of {path}"
@tool
def send_email(to: str, subject: str, body: str) -> str:
"""Send an email."""
return f"Sent email to {to}"
# Checkpointer is REQUIRED for human-in-the-loop
checkpointer = MemorySaver()
agent = create_deep_agent(
model="claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
tools=[delete_file, read_file, send_email],
interrupt_on={
"delete_file": True, # Default: approve, edit, reject
"read_file": False, # No interrupts needed
"send_email": {"allowed_decisions": ["approve", "reject"]}, # No editing
},
checkpointer=checkpointer # Required!
)
Skills
You can use skills to provide your deep agent with new capabilities and expertise. While tools tend to cover lower level functionality like native file system actions or planning, skills can contain detailed instructions on how to complete tasks, reference info, and other assets, such as templates. These files are only loaded by the agent when the agent has determined that the skill is useful for the current prompt. This progressive disclosure reduces the amount of tokens and context the agent has to consider upon startup. For example skills, see Deep Agent example skills. To add skills to your deep agent, pass them as an argument tocreate_deep_agent:
- StateBackend
- StoreBackend
- FilesystemBackend
import { createDeepAgent, type FileData } from "deepagents";
import { MemorySaver, Command } from "@langchain/langgraph";
import { createInterface } from "node:readline/promises";
import { stdin as input, stdout as output } from "node:process";
const checkpointer = new MemorySaver();
function createFileData(content: string): FileData {
const now = new Date().toISOString();
return {
content: content.split("\n"),
created_at: now,
modified_at: now,
};
}
const skillsFiles: Record<string, FileData> = {};
const skillUrl =
"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/langchain-ai/deepagentsjs/refs/heads/main/examples/skills/langgraph-docs/SKILL.md";
const response = await fetch(skillUrl);
const skillContent = await response.text();
skillsFiles["/skills/langgraph-docs/SKILL.md"] = createFileData(skillContent);
const agent = await createDeepAgent({
checkpointer,
// IMPORTANT: deepagents skill source paths are virtual (POSIX) paths relative to the backend root.
skills: ["/skills/"],
});
const config = {
configurable: {
thread_id: `thread-${Date.now()}`,
},
};
let result = await agent.invoke(
{
messages: [
{
role: "user",
content: "what is langraph? Use the langgraph-docs skill if available.",
},
],
files: skillsFiles,
} as any,
config
);
import { createDeepAgent, StoreBackend, type FileData } from "deepagents";
import {
InMemoryStore,
MemorySaver,
type BaseStore,
} from "@langchain/langgraph";
const checkpointer = new MemorySaver();
const store = new InMemoryStore();
function createFileData(content: string): FileData {
const now = new Date().toISOString();
return {
content: content.split("\n"),
created_at: now,
modified_at: now,
};
}
const skillUrl =
"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/langchain-ai/deepagentsjs/refs/heads/main/examples/skills/langgraph-docs/SKILL.md";
const response = await fetch(skillUrl);
const skillContent = await response.text();
const fileData = createFileData(skillContent);
await store.put(["filesystem"], "/skills/langgraph-docs/SKILL.md", fileData);
const backendFactory = (config: { state: unknown; store?: BaseStore }) => {
return new StoreBackend({
state: config.state,
store: config.store ?? store,
});
};
const agent = await createDeepAgent({
backend: backendFactory,
store: store,
checkpointer,
// IMPORTANT: deepagents skill source paths are virtual (POSIX) paths relative to the backend root.
skills: ["/skills/"],
});
const config = {
configurable: {
thread_id: `thread-${Date.now()}`,
},
};
let result = await agent.invoke(
{
messages: [
{
role: "user",
content: "what is langraph? Use the langgraph-docs skill if available.",
},
],
},
config
);
import {
createDeepAgent,
createSkillsMiddleware,
createSettings,
FilesystemBackend,
} from "deepagents";
import { MemorySaver } from "@langchain/langgraph";
const settings = createSettings({
});
const agent = await createDeepAgent({
backend: (config) =>
new FilesystemBackend({ rootDir: "/Users/user/{project}" }),
skills: [path.join(process.cwd(), ".deepagents/skills")],
interruptOn: {
read_file: true,
write_file: true,
delete_file: true,
},
checkpointer, // Required!
});
const config = {
configurable: {
thread_id: `thread-${Date.now()}`,
},
};
let result = await agent.invoke(
{
messages: [
{
role: "user",
content: "what is langraph? Use the langgraph-docs skill if available.",
},
]
} as any,
config
);
Memory
UseAGENTS.md files to provide extra context to your deep agent.
You can pass one or more file paths to the memory parameter when creating your deep agent:
- StateBackend
- StoreBackend
- Filesystem
import { createDeepAgent, type FileData } from "deepagents";
import { MemorySaver } from "@langchain/langgraph";
const AGENTS_MD_URL =
"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/langchain-ai/deepagents/refs/heads/master/examples/text-to-sql-agent/AGENTS.md";
async function fetchText(url: string): Promise<string> {
const res = await fetch(url);
if (!res.ok) {
throw new Error(`Failed to fetch ${url}: ${res.status} ${res.statusText}`);
}
return await res.text();
}
const agentsMd = await fetchText(AGENTS_MD_URL);
const checkpointer = new MemorySaver();
function createFileData(content: string): FileData {
const now = new Date().toISOString();
return {
content: content.split("\n"),
created_at: now,
modified_at: now,
};
}
const agent = await createDeepAgent({
memory: ["/AGENTS.md"],
checkpointer: checkpointer,
});
const result = await agent.invoke(
{
messages: [
{
role: "user",
content: "Please tell me what's in your memory files.",
},
],
// Seed the default StateBackend's in-state filesystem (virtual paths must start with "/").
files: { "/AGENTS.md": createFileData(agentsMd) },
} as any,
{ configurable: { thread_id: "12345" } }
);
import { createDeepAgent, StoreBackend, type FileData } from "deepagents";
import {
InMemoryStore,
MemorySaver,
type BaseStore,
} from "@langchain/langgraph";
const AGENTS_MD_URL =
"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/langchain-ai/deepagents/refs/heads/master/examples/text-to-sql-agent/AGENTS.md";
async function fetchText(url: string): Promise<string> {
const res = await fetch(url);
if (!res.ok) {
throw new Error(`Failed to fetch ${url}: ${res.status} ${res.statusText}`);
}
return await res.text();
}
const agentsMd = await fetchText(AGENTS_MD_URL);
function createFileData(content: string): FileData {
const now = new Date().toISOString();
return {
content: content.split("\n"),
created_at: now,
modified_at: now,
};
}
const store = new InMemoryStore();
const fileData = createFileData(agentsMd);
await store.put(["filesystem"], "/AGENTS.md", fileData);
const checkpointer = new MemorySaver();
const backendFactory = (config: { state: unknown; store?: BaseStore }) => {
return new StoreBackend({
state: config.state,
store: config.store ?? store,
});
};
const agent = await createDeepAgent({
backend: backendFactory,
store: store,
checkpointer: checkpointer,
memory: ["/AGENTS.md"],
});
const result = await agent.invoke(
{
messages: [
{
role: "user",
content: "Please tell me what's in your memory files.",
},
],
},
{ configurable: { thread_id: "12345" } }
);
import { createDeepAgent, FilesystemBackend } from "deepagents";
import { MemorySaver } from "@langchain/langgraph";
// Checkpointer is REQUIRED for human-in-the-loop
const checkpointer = new MemorySaver();
const agent = await createDeepAgent({
backend: (config) =>
new FilesystemBackend({ rootDir: "/Users/user/{project}" }),
memory: ["./AGENTS.md", "./.deepagents/AGENTS.md"],
interruptOn: {
read_file: true,
write_file: true,
delete_file: true,
},
checkpointer, // Required!
});
Structured ouput
Deep agents support structured ouput. You can set a desired structured output schema by passing it as theresponseFormat argument to the call to createDeepAgent().
When the model generates the structured data, it’s captured, validated, and returned in the ‘structuredResponse’ key of the agent’s state.
import { tool } from "langchain";
import { TavilySearch } from "@langchain/tavily";
import { createDeepAgent } from "deepagents";
import { z } from "zod";
const internetSearch = tool(
async ({
query,
maxResults = 5,
topic = "general",
includeRawContent = false,
}: {
query: string;
maxResults?: number;
topic?: "general" | "news" | "finance";
includeRawContent?: boolean;
}) => {
const tavilySearch = new TavilySearch({
maxResults,
tavilyApiKey: process.env.TAVILY_API_KEY,
includeRawContent,
topic,
});
return await tavilySearch._call({ query });
},
{
name: "internet_search",
description: "Run a web search",
schema: z.object({
query: z.string().describe("The search query"),
maxResults: z.number().optional().default(5),
topic: z
.enum(["general", "news", "finance"])
.optional()
.default("general"),
includeRawContent: z.boolean().optional().default(false),
}),
}
);
const weatherReportSchema = z.object({
location: z.string().describe("The location for this weather report"),
temperature: z.number().describe("Current temperature in Celsius"),
condition: z
.string()
.describe("Current weather condition (e.g., sunny, cloudy, rainy)"),
humidity: z.number().describe("Humidity percentage"),
windSpeed: z.number().describe("Wind speed in km/h"),
forecast: z.string().describe("Brief forecast for the next 24 hours"),
});
const agent = await createDeepAgent({
responseFormat: weatherReportSchema,
tools: [internetSearch],
});
const result = await agent.invoke({
messages: [
{
role: "user",
content: "What's the weather like in San Francisco?",
},
],
});
console.log(result.structuredResponse);
// {
// location: 'San Francisco, California',
// temperature: 18.3,
// condition: 'Sunny',
// humidity: 48,
// windSpeed: 7.6,
// forecast: 'Clear skies with temperatures remaining mild. High of 18°C (64°F) during the day, dropping to around 11°C (52°F) at night.'
// }
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