Skip to content

Equivalence Guide

This page maps common “agent SDK” patterns to Alloy’s simpler primitives. The goal is the same functionality with less surface area and clearer types.

Agents with tools → Command with tools

  • SDK: Define an agent and attach tools the model can call.
  • Alloy: Write Python tools with @tool, then declare a @command(..., tools=[...]).

See: examples/30-tools/02_command_with_tools.py.

Deterministic workflows → Chain commands

  • SDK: Orchestrate multiple agents (research → draft → edit).
  • Alloy: Chain typed commands; pass outputs as inputs.

See: examples/50-composition/03_recursive_analysis.py.

Parallel agents → asyncio.gather on .async_()

  • SDK: Run agents in parallel.
  • Alloy: Call .async_() on commands and await asyncio.gather(...).

Tip: call .async_() and use await asyncio.gather(...) to run commands concurrently.

Handoffs → Routing command

  • SDK: Agent handoffs/transfer.
  • Alloy: A small routing command decides and you call the specialized command.

See: examples/50-composition/02_routing_triage.py.

Dynamic system prompts → ask(..., system=...) or configure(...)

  • SDK: Dynamic system messages.
  • Alloy: Set system per call (ask(..., system=...)) or as a default via configure(default_system=...).

Tip: pass a system per call or set a default via configure(default_system=...).

Streaming outputs → .stream() / ask.stream_async()

  • SDK: Stream token deltas or high‑level events.
  • Alloy: Stream text chunks (Iterable[str] or AsyncIterable[str]).

See: examples/80-patterns/04_streaming_updates.py and examples/80-patterns/08_streaming_limits.py.

Lifecycle hooks → Wrap calls (optional)

Alloy doesn’t expose built‑in lifecycle hooks. If needed, wrap calls in your app layer (e.g., log start/stop around calling a command) or introduce a tiny helper decorator. This keeps the core library small and predictable.