Head First AI Agents
A brain-friendly guide to building LLM-based agents
A brain-friendly guide to building LLM-based agents — for people who are brand new to all of it. You've used ChatGPT. You've heard people talk about AI agents that can do things — book the flight, read the spreadsheet, send the email, fix the bug. This book takes you from what even is an agent? to shipping a real one of your own. No machine-learning PhD required. No prior agent experience assumed. We build the brain, give it hands, give it memory, give it knowledge, and then wire the whole thing together with LangChain.
Part 1 — Getting Started
1.
What's an Agent, Really?
1,782 words
2.
Meet the Brain
2,441 words
3.
The Agent Loop
2,536 words
Part 2 — Giving the Agent Abilities
4.
Tools — Giving the Agent Hands
2,415 words
5.
Memory — Giving the Agent a Past
2,175 words
6.
Planning — One Step at a Time
2,394 words
Part 3 — Knowledge and Frameworks
7.
RAG — Giving the Agent Knowledge
2,432 words
8.
LangChain — The Wiring That Holds It Together
2,375 words
9.
Multi-Agent Systems
2,018 words
Part 4 — Shipping It
10.
Guardrails and Safety
1,992 words
11.
Evaluation and Testing
2,251 words
12.
Ship It — Your First Real Agent
1,720 words