agent-block
Single-purpose agent building block with built-in mesh communication.
What is agent-block?
A headless agent runtime. Each agent runs as a single process, executes its task, then exits. No rich interactive TUI, no sub-agent orchestration — orchestration belongs to the caller (shell, A2A, CI, etc.).
agent-block handles the infrastructure that individual agents shouldn't have to — mesh connectivity (A2A), MCP server management, LLM API access — so that Lua code focuses purely on domain logic.
Think of it like Envoy for agents: the process itself is simple, but the communication layer is fully capable.
Design Decisions
- Single run — One process, one task, one exit. Orchestration belongs to the caller (shell, A2A, CI, etc.), not inside the agent
- Headless — No terminal UI. Agents are composed via A2A/mesh protocols, not interactive prompts
- Runtime owns the protocol — Mesh, MCP, and HTTP are provided by the runtime. Lua code never deals with connection management or wire formats
- Lua for logic, Rust for plumbing — Domain logic in Lua. VM, networking, and protocol handling in Rust
Design documentation lives in the code
Settled design is written into the code's own documentation and nowhere else:
Rust crate and module docs (//!) plus item docs, and the --- module headers of
the embedded Lua libraries. There is no separate design document tree — a document
beside the code drifts and goes unread, a module doc is compiled, linted and read
with the code it describes.
The entry points for the kernel are the module docs of
crates/agent-block-core/src/knl/mod.rs (the kernel's invariants),
crates/agent-block-core/src/bridge/knl.rs (the syscall surface Lua sees) and
crates/agent-block-core/blocks/lib/knl/init.lua (the Lua kernel: session, device,
beat, Outcome, shapes). cargo doc --open renders the Rust side.
Architecture
The repository is a Cargo workspace with 4 crates (strict one-way
dependency bin → core → mcp → types):
| Crate | Role | Deps |
|---|---|---|
agent-block-types |
shared error + obs (sanitize_url 等) |
leaf |
agent-block-mcp |
rmcp wrapper + Lua↔JSON converters | types |
agent-block-core |
host runtime + Lua stdlib bridge + EventBus | mcp, types |
agent-block (bin) |
thin CLI on top of core |
core, mcp |
Downstream Rust applications can depend on agent-block-core (or just
agent-block-types for error/obs) without pulling in clap / the CLI.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ agent-block (binary) │
│ │
│ ┌─────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │
│ │ mlua-isle│ │ mesh-sdk │ │ llm-client│ │
│ │ (Lua VM) │ │ (relay) │ │ (API) │ │
│ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └─────┬─────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ ─────┴─────────────┴──────────────┴─────── │
│ Lua Stdlib Bridge │
│ mesh.send / mesh.on / llm.chat / fs.read │
│ tool.register / tool.call / log.* / env.* │
│ mcp.connect / mcp.call / mcp.list_tools │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
↕ WebSocket ↕ stdio
┌─────────────────┐ ┌──────────────────┐
│ agent-mesh │ │ MCP Servers │
│ relay │ │ (outline-mcp) │
└─────────────────┘ └──────────────────┘
Installation
# From crates.io
# Prebuilt binaries (GitHub Releases, built by cargo-dist for
# linux x86_64 / macOS x86_64 + aarch64 / windows x86_64).
# Handy in CI where a cargo build is too slow:
|
Windows PowerShell: use agent-block-installer.ps1 from the same release.
Per-platform archives (agent-block-<target>.tar.xz / .zip) with sha256
checksums are attached to each release for direct download.
Usage
# Basic
# A registered block, by name (see "Blocks and libraries" below)
# With project context
# With mesh
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=...
# Pass a prompt and system context from the CLI
CLI flags --prompt and -c / --context inject the _PROMPT and _CONTEXT Lua globals
into the script. Use them with agent.run:
-- my_agent.lua
local agent = require
local result = agent.
print
Neither takes an environment variable, and neither does --result. They are
what ONE run is, and an environment variable is inherited: a block that starts
another agent-block would be handing its child its own prompt and its own
result file to write over.
A caller with all of them to pass writes a file instead:
The file is the lowest of three layers — file, then environment (for the
knobs that have one), then argument — so a flag always wins over it. What
belongs to the host rather than to a run (where the databases live, the
sandbox, AGENT_BLOCK_HOME) stays an environment variable read from the
project's .env, which is that half's config file already.
What the exit code says
It says whether the process finished, not whether the work succeeded:
| Exit | The script |
|---|---|
0 |
ran and returned. Whatever it returned, including a value that says the work failed |
75 |
called job.defer(reason): it looked at what it needs, did not find it, and did not start (sysexits EX_TEMPFAIL; the job manager records this run as deferred) |
1 |
raised, or never got to run — a source that could not be read, a mesh that would not connect, two flags that contradict each other |
2 |
was never named: the command line itself did not parse (clap's own code, printed as a usage error) |
A block that reports failure in its return value exits 0, so a caller
testing $? alone will not see it. Two ways to be seen: raise (error(...),
which is exit 1), or return the JSON and have the caller read ok out of
the --result file. The file is written only when the script returns — a
raise leaves it absent, so a caller that reads it must handle that.
75 is a value a shell testing "non-zero means broken" will get wrong. It
is the one exit code that means nothing broke:
Blocks and libraries
Two directories, two jobs, at three tiers:
<project>/.agent-block/blocks/… the project's own, kept out of the way
<project>/.agent-block/lib/… (`agent-block vendor` writes here)
<project>/blocks/<name>.lua | <name>/init.lua entry points — run by name
<project>/lib/<name>.lua | <name>/init.lua modules — require("<name>")
~/.agent-block/blocks/… the user's blocks, every project
~/.agent-block/lib/… the user's modules, every project
(`$AGENT_BLOCK_HOME` moves the pair)
A block is a script the host runs for the one value it returns. It is
callable by name — agent-block --block <name> from a shell, run_block over
MCP — and the two surfaces share one registry:
<project>/.agent-block/blocks/, then <project>/blocks/, then
$AGENT_BLOCK_HOME/blocks/, the nearer tier winning a clash. A module is
what a block requires: script_dir → <project>/.agent-block/lib/ →
<project>/lib/ → $AGENT_BLOCK_HOME/lib/ → embedded, first hit wins.
Nothing crosses: a file in blocks/ cannot be required, a file in lib/ is
never run by name, so a helper dropped beside a block does not become a
callable block by accident.
The ends of that order are the two halves of one rule. .agent-block/ is the
project's own directory — versioned with it, beside its .gitignore — and is
where agent-block vendor puts a copy of something embedded, so it is searched
first. ~/.agent-block/ is last because a file there changes every project
on the machine: it is the shared fallback for what every project should have,
and never the place to make one project behave.
The working shape is a script that grows a library:
blocks/summarize.lua write it, run it: agent-block -b summarize
lib/summarize_util.lua pull the reusable part out; require("summarize_util")
~/.agent-block/lib/summarize_util.lua mv it here when a second project wants it
crates/agent-block-core/blocks/lib/… upstream, once it is general (EMBEDDED_LIBS)
Going the other way — starting from something embedded and making it the project's — is Overriding a block or a module.
The file and its require name never change on the way up; each tier
resolves the same name. --project names the project root only (.env, the
sandbox write root, the kernel database) — it is not a library path.
Serving blocks over MCP
agent-block mcp serves the registered blocks to an MCP client as one
run_block tool. The same scripts the CLI runs become callable from an agent
that speaks MCP, without that agent knowing where they live:
That serves <project>/.agent-block/blocks/, <project>/blocks/ and
~/.agent-block/blocks/; --block-dir <dir> (repeatable) adds a directory
that lives elsewhere.
A block runs against its own model with its own credentials, so its LLM turns never enter the calling agent's context — only its return value does. That is the point of the mode: a caller strong at planning and review hands the loop off and gets one value back.
The contract is one line: a block returns a JSON string.
-- blocks/summarize.lua
-- Summarize the prompt. Returns { ok, text }.
local agent = require
local r = agent.
return std..
The host stringifies whatever the chunk evaluates to, and a Lua table
stringifies to table: 0x… — hence std.json.encode. _PROMPT / _CONTEXT
carry the tool's prompt / context arguments, exactly as the CLI flags do.
| Surface | Meaning |
|---|---|
tool run_block |
run one registered block; block is an enum of the registered names |
tools jobs_list / runs_list / run_get / job_run / run_stop |
the job manager's verbs, as a client of agent-block serve (--serve-url; see below) |
resource agent-block://guide |
the authoring contract, in full |
resource agent-block://blocks |
the registry as JSON |
resource agent-block://blocks/<name> |
one block's source |
A block is <name>.lua or <name>/init.lua directly inside a block root;
nothing deeper, and nothing under lib/, is callable. The roots themselves are
resolved and re-scanned per request — a new block is callable as soon as the
file lands, without restarting the server, and that includes a file dropped into
<project>/.agent-block/blocks/ while the server is up: it is served on the
next request. A block's leading -- comment is what the caller reads
as its description, so it is worth writing.
A Lua error comes back as a failed tool call carrying the message. A block that ran and concluded "no" should return normally and say so in its JSON: the two are different events and only the block knows which happened.
Because stdio transport owns stdout, this mode writes its logs to stderr, which
is where MCP clients surface server logs — including the ab.obs lines.
Running blocks on a schedule
agent-block serve is a thin job manager: a block that has a job.toml
beside it runs on that interval, each run in a process of its own, and the
manager keeps the record.
# blocks/drain/job.toml — beside blocks/drain/init.lua
= "2m" # since the previous run ended; omit to run only on request
= "10m" # the run's process group is killed at this; default 10m
= "..." # _PROMPT in the block; optional
= "..." # _CONTEXT; optional
A run is agent-block -s <block> started in the block's project root, so it
loads that project's .env and writes to that project's own session log —
labelled job=<name> and run=<run_id> (--label), which is how one run is
found among all of them (knl.views.sessions). The value the block returns —
the same JSON string run_block hands an MCP caller — is written under
~/.agent-block/runs/<job>/ (--result, which any agent-block -s run can
use) and is on the run's record as result,
whole up to 64 KiB and pointed at past it. The manager itself decides nothing it cannot
read back: every start and end is a record on its own log
(~/.agent-block/serve.sqlite), every counts from the previous end, one
run per job is live at a time, a run the manager did not survive is closed
as lost on the next start, and a restart continues the same record (each
start opens a session of its own and reads across all of them). Adding
the file adds the job; removing it removes the job; there is nothing to
write for a service manager beyond the one unit that runs serve itself
(docs/runbooks/job-serve.md has systemd and launchd units). A run inherits
the manager's environment, and under a service manager that is a short
PATH without the user's toolchains — a block that runs cargo or
agent-block finds them from a shell and, under the manager, only if the
unit says where; the runbook's units set it.
The listener answers with a bearer token (~/.agent-block/serve.token,
minted on first start) on every request:
| Route | Meaning |
|---|---|
GET /jobs |
the declarations, each with its last end and live run |
GET /runs?job=&limit= |
runs, newest first, each with the value the block returned (result) |
GET /runs/<id> |
one run, with the tail of its stderr |
POST /jobs/<name>/runs |
ask for a run now; the next tick starts it (202) |
DELETE /runs/<id> |
ask a live run to stop; the next tick kills its group (202) |
Loopback is the default and a tunnel (ssh -L, a mesh VPN) is how it is
reached from elsewhere; --bind 0.0.0.0:7788 is the opt-in to a wider bind,
behind the same token. Host and Origin must name a loopback host or the
bound address — a loopback bind on its own does not stop a page in a local
browser from reaching it.
Sandbox mode (Linux)
--sandbox wraps the whole process in an OS-level execution boundary built from
Landlock (filesystem + TCP) and a seccomp filter (io_uring).
It is off by default.
# Confine writes; TCP stays open
# Same, plus extra writable paths and no TCP at all
AGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_FS_RW=/opt/cache:/srv/data \
AGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_TCP=0 \
| Flag / Env var | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
--sandbox / AGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX |
off | Install the boundary at startup |
AGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_FS_RW |
(empty) | :-separated extra writable paths |
AGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_TCP |
true |
0 / false / no / off denies TCP bind + connect |
What it enforces:
- Reads and executes are unrestricted. PATH lookups, shared libraries and ordinary tooling keep working — the boundary is about mutation, not secrecy.
- Writes are denied except under the project root (
--project), the agent-block state dir (AGENT_BLOCK_HOME, default$HOME/.agent-block),/tmp,/dev/null,/dev/urandom,/dev/tty, and anything listed inAGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_FS_RW. Allowlist entries that do not exist are skipped. - io_uring is denied (
io_uring_setup/_enter/_registerreturnEPERM), since a ring bypasses the syscall-level view a seccomp filter has. - Child processes inherit it. Landlock rulesets and seccomp filters survive
fork/execve, sosh.execpayloads andmcp.connectservers run inside the same boundary with no extra wiring. The Luaos.*/io.*stdlib is left intact and caught at the OS layer instead. - Fail-closed startup. If the sandbox is requested but the kernel enforces
nothing, the process exits with an error instead of running unconfined, and
an unresolvable
--projectpath is a startup error (it is the primary write grant). A partial enforcement of the default rights on older Landlock ABIs logs a warning naming what was dropped and continues — except an explicitly requested TCP denial (AGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_TCP=0), which aborts startup on kernels older than 6.7 rather than silently failing open.
Operational notes:
- A build target outside
--projectneeds an explicit grant. The default write allowlist is only the project root,AGENT_BLOCK_HOME,/tmpand/dev/{null,urandom,tty}, so when the directory being worked on is not under--project(e.g. the checkout driving the run differs from the repo being built), add that checkout toAGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_FS_RW. - Toolchain cache dirs must be writable too.
~/.cargois not in the default allowlist, so cargo fails creating its registry cache (Permission denied). Either list it inAGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_FS_RWor point the cache at an allowed path withCARGO_HOME=/tmp/cargo— the latter works from cold, since TCP stays open and downloads still succeed.
KNOWN LIMITATIONS:
- Linux only. On other platforms
--sandboxis a startup error, never a silent no-op. - UDP and DNS are not restricted. Landlock's network rights cover TCP
bind/connect only, so
AGENT_BLOCK_SANDBOX_TCP=0does not stop UDP traffic (DNS included) or unix-domain sockets. - io_uring cannot be used inside the sandbox, including by dependencies that would otherwise pick it up opportunistically.
- TCP is a single on/off switch — no per-host or per-port granularity. This is an execution boundary, not a policy engine.
- The io_uring deny only exists on x86_64 / aarch64. On other Linux architectures no seccomp filter is compiled and the deny is skipped with a warning; the Landlock filesystem boundary still applies.
MCP Echo Harness
A self-contained reference MCP server for smoke-testing the agent-block MCP client bridge. Exposes tools, resources, prompts, logging, and sampling over stdio or HTTP.
# stdio (default) — connect via mcp.connect("echo", "target/debug/examples/echo_mcp_server", {})
# HTTP on an ephemeral port — prints ECHO_MCP_URL=http://127.0.0.1:<port>/mcp
# Also emit 5 log notifications (1-second intervals) and attempt a sampling round-trip
Verify from Lua (requires the server to be running with --transport http):
local url = os.
mcp.
print -- 2 tools: echo, slow_echo
print -- 2 resources: text://hello, text://note
print -- 1 prompt: greet
-- call slow_echo to exercise progress notifications
mcp.
print
See crates/agent-block/examples/verify_echo_harness.lua for the full verification script.
MCP Resource Subscribe Smoke Server
A standalone binary example for shell-level smoke-testing the Resource Subscribe API
(mcp.subscribe_resource / mcp.on_resource_update). Starts an HTTP MCP server with
resources.subscribe capability enabled and fires at least one notify_resource_updated
event after each subscribe call.
# Ephemeral port — prints SUBSCRIBE_TEST_SERVER_URL=http://127.0.0.1:<port>/mcp
# Fixed port
# Periodic notify every 500 ms (instead of single fire on subscribe)
Shell smoke (requires the server URL printed above):
# Expect: SUBSCRIBE_OK, RESOURCE_UPDATE_EV_OK, UPDATE_HITS=1, FIXTURE_DONE
See docs/runbooks/e2e-mcp-resource-subscribe.md for the full positive/negative verification
procedure (Step 2 = shell positive, Step 3 = negative against a server without subscribe
capability).
Lua API
llm.*
llm.chat(messages, opts)— LLM call (Anthropic Messages API)
tool.*
tool.register(name, schema, handler [, meta])— Register a tool. Optionalmeta = { group = "..." }assigns the tool to a named group for use withagent.run({ tool_groups = {...} }).tool.call(name, input)— Call a registered tooltool.list()— List registered tool namestool.schema()— Anthropic tools-format schema array (includesgroupfield when set)
mcp.*
Support status, capability matrix, and the tool-grouping design rationale
live in docs/architecture/mcp-support.md.
mcp.connect(name, command, args, opts)— Spawn MCP server over stdio + initialize handshake.opts.trace_context(bool, defaultfalse) injects__ab_obsintocall_toolarguments;opts.cwd(string) overrides the subprocess working directory (default: project root). The spawned server is a child process, so — exactly likesh.execchildren — it does not inherit the host's own credential variables (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY,OPENAI_API_KEY,AGENT_BLOCK_MESH_SECRET_KEY). A server that legitimately needs one is handed it explicitly:mcp.connect(name, cmd, args, { env = { ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = "..." } })—opts.envis a string→string table applied after the removal, and is the only way to pass a stripped variable through. Every other variable is still inherited (this is not an allowlist); a non-stringopts.envvalue raises an error rather than being dropped.mcp.connect_http(name, url, opts)— Connect to an MCP server over HTTP transport.opts.transport = "sse" | "http"(default"http"= Streamable HTTP;"sse"= SSE).opts.headerstable is forwarded as request headers.mcp.call(name, tool_name, arguments)— Call an MCP toolmcp.list_tools(name)— List available toolsmcp.list_resources(name)— List resources exposed by the server. Returns{ ok=true, resources=[{uri, name, description, mimeType, ...}] }.mcp.list_resource_templates(name)— List resource URI templates exposed by the server. Returns{ ok=true, resource_templates=[{uriTemplate, name, ...}] }.mcp.read_resource(name, uri)— Read a resource by URI. Returns{ ok=true, contents=[{uri, mimeType, text|blob}] }.mcp.list_prompts(name)— List prompt templates exposed by the server. Returns{ ok=true, prompts=[{name, description, arguments}] }.mcp.get_prompt(name, prompt_name, args)— Retrieve a rendered prompt template. Returns{ ok=true, description, messages=[{role, content}] }.mcp.complete(name, ref, arg_name, arg_value)— Request completion suggestions (MCP Completion typeahead, Phase 3).refis{type="ref/prompt", name=...}or{type="ref/resource", uri=...}. Returns{ ok=true, values=[...], total=number?, has_more=bool? }or{ ok=false, error=str }.mcp.on_progress(name, handler)— Register a per-server progress notification callback.handler(token, progress, total, message)is called for eachnotifications/progressevent from the named server. Handler must be a pure Lua function.mcp.on_log(name, handler)— Register a per-server log notification callback.handler(level, logger, data)is called for eachnotifications/messageevent from the named server. When no handler is registered the notification is forwarded to the Rusttracingtarget"lua"at the corresponding level (debug/info/notice/warning/ error/critical/alert/emergency). Handler must be a pure Lua function.mcp.cancel(name, request_id)— Send anotifications/cancellednotification to the named server for the givenrequest_id. Also fired automatically whenmcp.calltimes out. Explicit use is only needed for manual cancellation flows.mcp.set_sampling_handler(server_name, handler)— Register a per-server Lua function to respond tosampling/createMessagerequests from the MCP server.handler(params)receives theCreateMessageRequesttable and must return a table matchingCreateMessageResult({ model, stop_reason, role, content }). When no handler is registered the server receivesmethod_not_found.mcp.set_elicitation_handler(server_name, fn)— Register a per-server Lua function to respond toelicitation/createrequests originating from the MCP server (server→client, Form variant only).fn(server_name, message, schema_json)must return a table withaction = "accept"|"decline"|"cancel"and (for accept) acontenttable conforming to the schema. Url-variant elicitation requests are always declined without reaching the callback. Handler must be a pure Lua function.mcp.set_roots_handler(server_name, fn)— Register a per-server Lua function to respond toroots/listrequests originating from the MCP server (server→client direction).fn(server_name)must return a Lua array of root tables, each with at least aurifield and an optionalnamefield (e.g.{ { uri="file:///home/user", name="home" } }). When no handler is registered the server receivesmethod_not_found. Handler must be a pure Lua function; C functions and Rust-bound callbacks are not supported.mcp.notify_roots_list_changed(name)— Send anotifications/roots/list_changednotification to the named server (client→server, fire-and-forget). Use this whenever the client's set of filesystem roots changes so the server can re-request the updated list viaroots/list. Failures are logged atwarnlevel and silently discarded.mcp.server_info(name)— Return the server'sInitializeResultas a Lua table. Returns{ ok=true, server_info={serverInfo, capabilities, ...} }on success. Useful for inspecting which MCP capability groups (resources, prompts, tools, etc.) a server declares. Returns{ ok=false, error="..." }if the server is not connected.mcp.ping(name)— Send apingkeepalive request to the named server and measure round-trip latency. Returns{ ok=true, latency_ms=N }on success or{ ok=false, error="..." }on failure (unknown server, timeout, or RPC error).mcp.subscribe_resource(server, uri)— Send aresources/subscribeRPC for the given resource URI. Returns{ ok=true }on success or{ ok=false, error="..." }on failure. Requires the server to declare theresources.subscribecapability.mcp.unsubscribe_resource(server, uri)— Send aresources/unsubscribeRPC to stop receiving change notifications for the given URI. Same return shape assubscribe_resource.mcp.on_resource_update(server, callback)— Register a per-server callback fornotifications/resources/updatedevents.callback(ev)whereev = { type="resource_update", server, uri }. Handler must be a pure Lua function.mcp.on_resources_list_changed(server, callback)— Register a per-server callback fornotifications/resources/list_changedevents.callback(ev)whereev = { type="resources_list_changed", server }.mcp.on_tools_list_changed(server, callback)— Register a per-server callback fornotifications/tools/list_changedevents.callback(ev)whereev = { type="tools_list_changed", server }.mcp.on_prompts_list_changed(server, callback)— Register a per-server callback fornotifications/prompts/list_changedevents.callback(ev)whereev = { type="prompts_list_changed", server }.mcp.disconnect(name)— Disconnect server
mesh.*
mesh.send(agent_id, payload)— Synchronous send (raises Lua error on failure)mesh.request(agent_id, payload)— Request-responsemesh.agent_id()— Own AgentId
std.fs.* (mlua-batteries)
std.fs.read(path),std.fs.write(path, content),std.fs.glob(pattern),std.fs.exists(path)std.fs.walk(dir),std.fs.copy(src, dst),std.fs.mkdir(path),std.fs.remove(path)std.fs.is_file(path),std.fs.is_dir(path),std.fs.read_binary(path),std.fs.write_binary(path, bytes)std.fs.tool_specs(opts)/std.fs.register_tools(opts)— the LLM-facing file tools (agent-block):fs_readandfs_edit(line-addressed, checked against anexpectof the current text) by default; opt in throughopts.allowedtofs_write,fs_rollbackandfs_search_replace, which addresses an edit by a unique verbatim snippet and carries it out asfs_editwith the same checks — the form to offer a model that reconstructsexpectfrom memory instead of copying it
sh.*
sh.exec(cmd, opts)— Execute a shell command.opts.cwd(default: project root),opts.timeout(seconds, default 30),opts.label(a name for the command's process group, seesh.kill). On timeout the child's whole process group is SIGKILLed, not left running; the result then saystimed_out = truebesideerror.sh.kill(label)— End the process group of thesh.execstarted withopts.label = label, from any coroutine; answerstrueif there was one. SIGTERM first, so a command that is itself anagent-blockhost can forward the end to its own commands, SIGKILL after twice the task grace if the group is still there. The awaitingsh.execreturns withkilled = truebeside whatever exit code that left (none for a signalled process, 130 for a nested host that forwarded it). This is how one coroutine ends a command another is awaiting — aborting the awaiting task does not reach a command already running.- Children inherit the environment except the host's own credential variables:
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY,OPENAI_API_KEYandAGENT_BLOCK_MESH_SECRET_KEYare removed from everysh.execchild, so code the agent runs (including code it just wrote) cannot read the keys the host itself uses. - A script that legitimately needs an API key must be given its own — pass it under a different variable name, or through the block conf (
api_key/api_key_env). Customapi_key_envnames are not stripped, and this is not an allowlist: every other variable is still inherited. - The same set is removed from MCP server subprocesses spawned by
mcp.connect; that path takes an explicitopts.envtable for servers that need a key (seemcp.*above).
std.json.* (mlua-batteries)
std.json.encode(value),std.json.decode(str),std.json.encode_pretty(value)
std.env.* (mlua-batteries + agent-block extensions)
std.env.get(key),std.env.set(key, value),std.env.get_or(key, default),std.env.home()std.env.agent_id(),std.env.project_root()— agent-block specific
std.path.* / std.time.* (mlua-batteries)
std.path.join(...),std.path.basename(path),std.path.dirname(path)std.time.now(),std.time.sleep(secs),std.time.measure(fn)
std.kv.* (mlua-batteries, SQLite-backed)
std.kv.get(ns, key)— retrieve a value by namespace + key; returnsnilif absentstd.kv.set(ns, key, value)— store a value (any Lua value, JSON-encoded internally)std.kv.delete(ns, key)— delete a key; returnstrueif it existed,falseotherwisestd.kv.list(ns, prefix?)— list keys in a namespace, optionally filtered by prefixstd.kv.register_tools()— registerkv_get,kv_set,kv_delete,kv_listas LLM-callable tools
Storage: AGENT_BLOCK_HOME/kv.sqlite (override via AGENT_BLOCK_KV_PATH; :memory: supported).
std.sql.* (mlua-batteries, SQLite-backed)
std.sql.execute(sql, params?)— execute a DML statement; returns{ affected = N }std.sql.query(sql, params?)— execute a query; returns an array of row tablesstd.sql.register_tools()— registersql_execute,sql_queryas LLM-callable tools
Storage: AGENT_BLOCK_HOME/sql.sqlite (override via AGENT_BLOCK_SQL_PATH; :memory: supported).
std.ts.* (agent-block, SQLite-backed TSDB)
std.ts.append(series, value, tags?, at?)— append a data point;valueis a Lua number or table (JSON-encoded, losslessly decoded on read);tagsis an optional{key=value}table;atis an optional Unix timestamp in milliseconds (default: now)std.ts.query(series, opts)— range query;optsfields:from,to(integer ms) — time range (default: full range)tags(table) — AND-filter; each key-value pair uses SQLitejson_extractagg(string) —"count"|"sum"|"avg"|"last"(optional)bucket_ms(integer) — bucket width; requiresagg; produces time-bucketed rowslimit,offset(integer) — pagination
std.ts.last(series, tags?)— most-recent data point; same tag AND-filter asquerystd.ts.register_tools()— registerts_append,ts_query,ts_lastas LLM-callable tools
Ordering guarantee: raw-path results (query without agg) are ordered by (ts ASC, rowid ASC);
last and query with agg="last" resolve same-millisecond ties by (ts DESC, rowid DESC) so
the last-appended row always wins. This is a deterministic SQLite rowid tie-breaker — no DDL or
index change is required.
Storage: AGENT_BLOCK_HOME/ts.sqlite (override via AGENT_BLOCK_TS_PATH; :memory: supported).
Embedded blocks: four layers
The crate's blocks/ directory is baked into the binary, so require("agent") works
after cargo install with no path configuration. A filesystem copy of a module in a
lib/ tier normally wins over the embedded one — but the four layers below differ in
whether that is the intended way to change them.
| layer | modules | how to change it |
|---|---|---|
| kernel + declaration | knl, knl_adapter, knl_types, lshape (and lshape.t / .check / .reflect / .luacats) |
Sealed — a filesystem copy fails the run rather than replacing the module. The kernel is one thing across Rust and Lua, held together by declaration tests a Lua-side replacement would pass while meaning something else. Change it upstream. AGENT_BLOCK_UNSEAL=1 downgrades the refusal to a warning, for work on the kernel itself and not for shipping. |
| shell packs | policy, supervisor |
Do not shadow: a pack is a value you hand to knl.device or consult in your own loop, not a registry the host reads. The two are one set — a loop is composed from both — and a model's limits are not a third pack: they go into the seams the kernel already has (fold / filters / cost / tool_policy, the loop's predicates, the supervisor's tree) and into what the Port declares (LLMPort:profile); see the policy module header. For a partial change, delegate through embedded.<name>. |
| consumers | agent, coding |
Copy-on-write is the intended way — agent-block vendor agent (or vendor coding) writes the file the idiom used to have you write by hand, into .agent-block/lib/, and it is the module your scripts get. A hand-written lib/agent/init.lua in the project root still works and still wins over the user tier. For a partial change, delegate through embedded.<name>. coding.run is the loop that edits files until a verify command passes; examples/coding_loop.lua is a block over it. |
| utilities | llm_proto (with .openai / .anthropic), mcp_tools, session |
Shadowing works, but knl_adapter requires llm_proto and mcp_tools, so replacing either replaces a sealed module's dependency. Prefer delegation. |
Resolution order, highest priority first: the script's own directory →
project_root/.agent-block/lib/ → project_root/lib/ → $AGENT_BLOCK_HOME/lib/ →
embedded. blocks/ directories are not on it (see
Blocks and libraries). The seal is checked once at start over
those filesystem roots, before the script runs; the error names the module and the file
that would have replaced it.
Delegation — a shadowing module reaching the one it replaced:
-- project_root/lib/agent/init.lua
local base = require
local M = setmetatable
return M
embedded.<name> resolves from memory and only from memory: every embedded module is
registered a second time under that prefix, ahead of the filesystem roots, so a
lib/embedded/ directory cannot stand in for it. The alias evaluates the embedded
source under its own name, which means require("agent") (yours) and
require("embedded.agent") (the base) are two tables — exactly the pair the idiom needs.
It exists for sealed modules too: require("embedded.knl") reads the kernel, which is
fine; replacing it is what the seal refuses.
Promotion runs the other way. A module that starts as project_root/lib/<name>/init.lua
moves to ~/.agent-block/lib/ when a second project wants it, and becomes an embedded
lib by a change upstream once it proves general — the same file, moved under
crates/agent-block-core/blocks/ and listed in EMBEDDED_LIBS. Projects still carrying
their own copy keep resolving to it until they delete it.
Overriding a block or a module
Three steps, and the middle one is the only one that is yours:
# 3. when it proves general, send it upstream
vendor writes <project>/.agent-block/lib/<name>/init.lua, the first tier of the
require path — so the copy is what require("session") resolves, in this project
and nowhere else. Every embedded entry goes there, agent and coding included:
they are modules the scripts that use them require, so a copy has to land where
require looks. Nothing vendors into .agent-block/blocks/, which is for the
project's own entry-point scripts. A module is written whole,
sub-modules included
(vendor llm_proto writes openai.lua and anthropic.lua beside its init.lua); you
cannot vendor llm_proto.openai on its own, because half a module on disk and half in
memory is two versions of it under one name. Step 3 is a change upstream — a pull request —
and not a move to ~/.agent-block/: a file there answers for every project on the
machine, which is the opposite of what "this project needs it different" means.
agent-block vendor --list what can be vendored, and what this project already has
agent-block vendor --path <dir> write somewhere other than the project root
agent-block vendor --force overwrite a copy that is already there
--list prints one line per embedded root — name, lib (everything the binary
carries is a module to a project), whether it is
sealed or a pack, and vendored when this project has a copy — with sub-modules
folded under the root they belong to (lshape (+t, check, reflect, luacats)). An
existing copy is never overwritten without --force, because by then it is the
project's own and likely edited.
Two layers answer back. A sealed module is refused outright (knl is sealed: a
project cannot shadow it) — the copy would only fail the next run; read it with
require("embedded.knl"). A pack (policy, supervisor) is written, but with a
warning, because a pack is a value you hand to knl.device and not a registry the host
reads, so a whole copy is rarely the change that was meant.
For a partial change — keeping the embedded behaviour and adding to it — do not vendor
at all: shadow and delegate through embedded.<name>, as above.
agent (StdPkg — require("agent"))
Built-in ReAct loop module. Available without any path configuration after cargo install.
local agent = require
local result = agent.
if result.
-- result fields: ok, content, usage{input_tokens,output_tokens,total_tokens}, num_turns, error, messages
Correlation ids
There is no option for them. agent.run reads AGENT_BLOCK_TRACE_ID, AGENT_BLOCK_RUN_ID, AGENT_BLOCK_AGENT_ID and AGENT_BLOCK_AGENT_NAME off the environment and stamps whichever are set onto the run's seed event as meta labels — the same four the HTTP bridge puts on its ab.obs http_request / http_response lines. So the session log is selected by the id the log lines are grepped by:
session:
With AGENT_BLOCK_AGENT_ID unset the obs lines still carry a per-process id the host makes up, and the seed event carries no agent_id; set it and both sides agree.
Provider Switching
By default agent.run uses the Anthropic Messages API. Pass provider = "openai" to route to any OpenAI-compatible endpoint (vLLM, llama.cpp, OpenRouter, RunPod, etc.):
-- Anthropic (default) — requires ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
local result = agent.
-- OpenAI — requires OPENAI_API_KEY (or opts.api_key)
local result = agent.
-- Local vLLM / llama.cpp / RunPod — custom base_url
local result = agent.
Environment variables used per provider:
| provider | default key env | override via |
|---|---|---|
anthropic |
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY |
opts.api_key / opts.api_key_env |
openai |
OPENAI_API_KEY |
opts.api_key / opts.api_key_env |
opts.base_url overrides the endpoint root. Default for openai is https://api.openai.com/v1.
cache_control, context_management, and context_management_config are Anthropic-only: they are operative when provider="anthropic" (or unset) and emit a warn-level log message then are ignored when provider="openai".
Protocol options (llm_proto)
Request building lives in the llm_proto package, reached through the provider Port every block's device carries. The vocabulary is OpenAI's; each adapter renames or drops what its provider does not accept, so the same options work on both paths.
local result = agent.
Notable translations:
| you pass | Anthropic | OpenAI | vLLM / llama.cpp / Ollama |
|---|---|---|---|
tool_choice = "required" |
{type="any"} |
"required" |
as OpenAI (ignored by Ollama) |
parallel_tool_calls = false |
tool_choice.disable_parallel_tool_use |
top-level | top-level |
thinking = { effort = ... } |
{type="adaptive"} + output_config.effort (4.7+) or {type="enabled", budget_tokens} (4.5 and earlier) |
reasoning_effort |
chat_template_kwargs (+ reasoning_effort); Ollama takes reasoning_effort only |
stop |
stop_sequences |
stop |
stop |
max_tokens |
max_tokens |
max_completion_tokens on o-series / gpt-5, else max_tokens |
max_tokens |
Combinations the API would reject are refused locally instead: forced tool use under manual extended thinking, a thinking budget that does not fit in max_tokens, and tools plus reasoning on gpt-5.6+. Values a model cannot accept (temperature on reasoning models, temperature ~= 1 on Claude past Opus 4.6, top_k on api.openai.com) are dropped with a warn rather than sent.
Responses are normalized to one shape regardless of provider: reasoning arrives as a thinking content block whether the server sent reasoning_content, reasoning, Anthropic thinking blocks, or raw <think> tags in the text; usage carries cache_read_input_tokens / cache_creation_input_tokens / thinking_tokens on both paths.
Key behaviours:
- MCP servers listed in
mcp_serversare connected automatically and disconnected on exit (even on error). - Each entry may use the stdio form
{ name, command, args }or the HTTP form{ name, url, transport_opts }. Both forms can coexist in the same list. - Pass
sampling = fninagent.runopts to register a single Lua function as thesampling/createMessagehandler for every connected MCP server (mcp.set_sampling_handleris called per server automatically). - Pass
enable_resources = trueinagent.runopts to automatically register{server}__mcp_list_resourcesand{server}__mcp_read_resourceas LLM-callable tools for each connected server that declares theresourcescapability. Defaultfalse. If a server does not declareresources, the opt-in is silently skipped (logged atinfo). - Pass
enable_prompts = trueinagent.runopts to automatically register{server}__mcp_list_promptsand{server}__mcp_get_promptas LLM-callable tools for each connected server that declares thepromptscapability. Defaultfalse. Capability check and silent skip apply the same way asenable_resources. - Pass
on_progress = fn(ev)inagent.runopts to receive progress notifications from all connected MCP servers. The callback is called with an envelope table{ type="progress", server, token, progress, total, message }. No capability gate — all servers are registered. User callback errors are swallowed and logged atwarn. - Pass
progress_to_log = trueinagent.runopts to bridge progress notifications tolog.infoautomatically. Ignored whenon_progressis also set (callback takes priority). Defaultfalse. - Pass
on_log = fn(ev)inagent.runopts to receive log notifications from servers that declare theloggingcapability. The callback is called with an envelope table{ type="log", server, level, logger, data }. Servers without logging capability are silently skipped (logged atinfo). User callback errors are swallowed and logged atwarn. - Pass
log_to_stderr = trueinagent.runopts to bridge server log notifications tolog.debug|info|warn|errorautomatically. Ignored whenon_logis also set (callback takes priority). Logging capability gate applies the same way ason_log. Defaultfalse. - MCP tool names are namespaced as
server_name__tool_nameto avoid collisions. - MCP tools are automatically assigned to a group for use with
tool_groups. Group resolution follows this priority: (1) the tool's_meta.groupfield (string, non-empty) declared by the server takes precedence — rmcp serialisesTool.metaas_metavia#[serde(rename = "_meta")]; (2) fallback to the server name. Passtool_groups = { "outline" }(for example) toagent.runto include only tools from that MCP server. This aligns with the MCP SEP-986 tool-name prefix grouping guidance and themcp__<server>__*convention used by Claude Code. Tools without an explicit group (e.g. plain registered Lua tools) fall into the"default"group. - Tool dispatch: MCP tools via
mcp.call(), registered Lua tools viatool.call(). - Never throws — all errors returned as
{ ok=false, error="..." }. - Context editing is on by default: once the conversation crosses ~80K input tokens, Anthropic evicts all but the most recent 3 tool-use / tool-result pairs server-side so the loop can keep running. Works on Sonnet 4 / Sonnet 4.5 / Haiku 4.5 / Opus 4 / 4.1 / 4.5. Pass
context_management = falseto disable, orcontext_management_config = { edits = { ... } }to replace the default entirely (the whole table is forwarded asbody.context_management; no partial merge). on_turn(info)is handed exactly four keys —turn_number,content,tool_calls,usage— and returningfalsefrom it stops the run. What the server did with context editing is not among them; the response that carried it is in the session log asllm_response.agentis a consumer block: a locallib/agent/init.luain the project root replaces it, and can delegate to the embedded one throughrequire("embedded.agent"). See Embedded blocks: four layers.- No block emits an LLM dump. Each model call is recorded in the session log (
llm_request/llm_response/llm_call_failed) instead, andAGENT_BLOCK_LLM_DUMPis gone with the layer that read it.
lshape (Vendored package — require("lshape"))
lshape is vendored under blocks/lib/lshape/ so scripts can use schema validation
and LuaCATS generation without external installation.
local lshape = require
local T = lshape.
local User = T.
local ok, why = lshape..
assert
Lua kernel (knl — require("knl"))
knl is the Lua half of a kernel/shell split. Rust owns the session: an
append-only event log, a budget the owner granted it, and a scope it is written
under. Lua owns the beat — one model call plus the tools that call asks for
— and the device it runs against, a frozen bundle of policy (llm, tools,
tool_policy, fold, filters, system, cost). knl.beat(session, device)
takes the two separately because they differ in owner, lifetime and mutability.
There is no run loop: a caller writes the loop, which is why the primitive is
one beat.
local kernel = require
local adapter = require
local device = kernel.
kernel. -- the bracket closes either way
Views come in two tiers. A built-in view is a kernel read reached with
s:view(name, opts?), and there are exactly two fixed reads —
s:events(from) and view("tail", { n }). Everything else is a query
view: a named Lua function running one SELECT through s:query(sql, params?, opts?) over the published event table. knl.views.beats /
tool_pairs / ledger / usage are the four shipped, and a consumer's own
view is a function of the same form — nothing about the four is privileged.
The event table is events, and its columns are what knl.api().schema
publishes: position (the log's global order, and its key), stream, seq,
epoch_ms, kind, schema_version, meta and data. A read within one
session orders by seq; a read across sessions orders by position. The beat
a fact belongs to is a meta label, reached with json_extract(meta, '$.beat'). The store underneath is an eventsdb SQLite log — one database
per file, opened once per process, so the sessions in it are streams of one
log and a session tree is one transaction. A knl.sqlite written by an
earlier release is brought forward on the first open, once.
Reading a run from outside
A run's facts land in a session in the project's kernel database, and the
process that wants them back is usually not the one that wrote them — a job
manager, a test, a person after the fact. agent-block knl export is that
door: a session id in, JSON Lines out, one record per line, no Lua involved.
# The log as it is stored: every kind, upcast to today's shape
agent-block knl export --session <ID> --as events
# The conversation it holds: msg_user / llm_response / tool_call / tool_result,
# one record each, carrying beat / seq / epoch_ms / kind
agent-block knl export --session <ID> --as messages
--store <PATH> reads some other database; without it the project's own is
used, resolved from -p/--project exactly as knl.open{} resolves it for a
script that names no store. A session that is not there is a one-line
error: on stderr and exit 1, not an empty answer.
The design is in three module docs: crates/agent-block-core/src/knl/mod.rs
(the kernel's invariants), crates/agent-block-core/src/bridge/knl.rs (the
syscall surface Lua sees) and
crates/agent-block-core/blocks/lib/knl/init.lua (this half: beat, device,
Outcome, shapes, views).
log.*
log.info/warn/error/debug(msg)
Testing
Rust (e2e + integration)
cargo test --workspace
Lua block unit specs (mlua-lspec)
The whole suite runs in one command:
just test-lua # every spec
just test-lua window_spec # one, by filename substring
Two kinds of file are picked up: the fixtures under
crates/agent-block/tests/fixtures/*_test.lua, and each block's own specs under
crates/agent-block-core/blocks/lib/<block>/spec/. Both run with the mlua-lspec
framework (describe / it / expect) and need no API keys and no network.
The embedded blocks expose their pure, I/O-free helpers through a
_test_helpers() accessor so a spec can reach them.
What a spec can reach is what needs no kernel: knl is a syscall bridge the
pure runner does not have, so a loop that opens a session is covered by the
Rust e2e suite in the full host (tests/e2e_knl_beat.rs) and the specs cover
what sits around it. Each spec file's header documents how to run it on its
own.
License
Licensed under either of
- Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
- MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
at your option.
Contribution
Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.