zeph-core
Core agent loop, configuration, context builder, metrics, vault, and sub-agent orchestration for Zeph.
Overview
Core orchestration crate for the Zeph agent. Manages the main agent loop, bootstraps the application from TOML configuration with environment variable overrides, and assembles the LLM context from conversation history, skills, and memory. Includes sub-agent orchestration with zero-trust permission grants, background execution, filtered tool/skill access, A2A-based in-process communication channels, and /agent CLI commands for runtime management. All other workspace crates are coordinated through zeph-core.
Key modules
| Module | Description |
|---|---|
agent |
Agent<C> — main loop driving inference and tool execution; ToolExecutor erased via Box<dyn ErasedToolExecutor> |
agent::tool_execution |
Tool call handling, redaction, and result processing |
agent::message_queue |
Message queue management |
agent::builder |
Agent builder API |
agent::commands |
Chat command dispatch (skills, feedback, skill management via /skill install and /skill remove, sub-agent management via /agent, etc.) |
agent::utils |
Shared agent utilities |
bootstrap |
AppBuilder — fluent builder for application startup |
channel |
Channel trait defining I/O adapters; LoopbackChannel / LoopbackHandle for headless daemon I/O; Attachment / AttachmentKind for multimodal inputs |
config |
TOML config with ZEPH_* env overrides; typed ConfigError (Io, Parse, Validation, Vault) |
context |
LLM context assembly from history, skills, memory; adaptive chunked compaction with parallel summarization |
cost |
Token cost tracking and budgeting |
daemon |
Background daemon mode with PID file lifecycle (optional feature) |
metrics |
Runtime metrics collection |
project |
Project-level context detection |
redact |
Regex-based secret redaction (AWS, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, GitLab, HuggingFace, npm, Docker) |
vault |
Secret storage and resolution via vault providers (age-encrypted read/write); scans ZEPH_SECRET_* keys to build the custom-secrets map used by skill env injection |
diff |
Diff rendering utilities |
pipeline |
Composable, type-safe step chains for multi-stage workflows |
subagent |
Sub-agent orchestration: SubAgentManager lifecycle with background execution, SubAgentDef TOML definitions, PermissionGrants zero-trust delegation, FilteredToolExecutor scoped tool access, A2A in-process channels, real-time status tracking |
Re-exports: Agent
Configuration
Key AgentConfig fields (TOML section [agent]):
| Field | Type | Default | Env override | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
name |
string | "zeph" |
— | Agent display name |
max_tool_iterations |
usize | 10 |
— | Max tool calls per turn |
summary_model |
string? | null |
— | Model used for context summarization |
auto_update_check |
bool | true |
ZEPH_AUTO_UPDATE_CHECK |
Check GitHub releases for a newer version on startup / via scheduler |
Key MemoryConfig fields (TOML section [memory]):
| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
vector_backend |
"qdrant" / "sqlite" |
"qdrant" |
Vector search backend |
token_safety_margin |
f32 | 1.0 |
Safety multiplier for token budget estimation (validated: must be >= 1.0) |
redact_credentials |
bool | true |
Scrub secrets and paths before LLM context injection |
autosave_assistant |
bool | false |
Persist assistant responses to semantic memory automatically |
autosave_min_length |
usize | 20 |
Minimum response length (chars) to trigger autosave |
[]
= true # set to false to disable update notifications
Set ZEPH_AUTO_UPDATE_CHECK=false to disable without changing the config file.
Sub-agent Commands
In-session commands for managing sub-agents:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
/agent list |
List available sub-agent definitions |
/agent spawn <name> <prompt> |
Spawn a sub-agent with a task prompt |
/agent bg <name> <prompt> |
Spawn a background sub-agent |
/agent status |
Show active sub-agents with state, turns, and elapsed time |
/agent cancel <id> |
Cancel a running sub-agent by ID prefix |
@agent_name <prompt> |
Mention shorthand for /agent spawn (disambiguated from file references) |
Sub-agents run as independent tokio tasks with their own LLM provider and filtered tool executor. Each sub-agent receives only explicitly granted tools, skills, and secrets via PermissionGrants.
Installation
License
MIT