harness-sdk/README.md

Strands Agents

A model-driven approach to building AI agents in just a few lines of code.

Documentation ◆ Samples ◆ Tools ◆ Agent Builder ◆ MCP Server

Strands Agents is a simple yet powerful SDK that takes a model-driven approach to building and running AI agents. From simple conversational assistants to complex autonomous workflows, from local development to production deployment, Strands Agents scales with your needs.

This monorepo contains the Python SDK, TypeScript SDK, documentation site, and supporting packages:

Directory	Description
strands-py/	Python SDK: agent loop, model providers, tools (PyPI · releases)
strands-ts/	TypeScript SDK: agent loop, model providers, tools (npm · releases)
strandly/	Developer CLI for local builds and workspace tooling
site/	Source for the strandsagents.com documentation site (Astro/Starlight)
team/	Governance and cross-SDK process docs (tenets, decisions, PR & compatibility guidelines, and designs/ proposals)

Why Strands

Build an agent harness. Control it end-to-end.

• Build your way. Any model, any cloud. Context management, execution limits, and observability built in before you write a line of config. Swap backends when you scale; your code stays the same.
• Model agnostic. First-class support for Amazon Bedrock, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Gemini, plus many more providers and custom ones.
• Stay in control. The agent loop traces every decision by default. Hooks let you intercept any step to log it, validate it, or redirect it.
• Deliver outcomes that work. Guardrails catch mistakes before they run. Steering handlers let agents correct themselves instead of failing silently.

MCP, streaming, multi-agent patterns, and structured output are all built in.

Quick Start

Both SDKs default to the Amazon Bedrock model provider, so you'll need AWS credentials configured and model access enabled for Claude Sonnet. The Quickstart Guide covers configuring other providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama, and more).

Python

Requires Python 3.10+:

pip install strands-agents strands-agents-tools

from strands import Agent
from strands_tools import calculator

agent = Agent(tools=[calculator])
agent("What is the square root of 1764")

The Python SDK README covers tools, model providers, MCP, and bidirectional streaming.

TypeScript

Requires Node.js 20+:

npm install @strands-agents/sdk

import { Agent } from '@strands-agents/sdk'

const agent = new Agent()
const result = await agent.invoke('What is the square root of 1764?')
console.log(result)

More in the TypeScript SDK README, including Zod-typed tools, structured output, and multi-agent patterns.

Documentation

For detailed guidance & examples, explore our documentation:

• User Guide
• Quick Start Guide
• Agent Loop
• Examples
• API Reference: Python · TypeScript
• Production & Deployment Guide

The docs themselves live in this monorepo under site/, and doc PRs are welcome alongside code changes.

Development

Git operations (commits, branches, PRs) are done from the repo root. Each package has its own toolchain:

Python SDK (strands-py/):

cd strands-py
pip install hatch
hatch test        # run unit tests
hatch fmt         # format & lint

TypeScript SDK (strands-ts/):

npm ci            # install from repo root
npm run build     # build
npm test          # run unit tests

Documentation site (site/):

cd site
npm install
npm run dev       # local dev server at http://localhost:4321/

Contributing ❤️

We welcome contributions! See our Contributing Guide for details on:

• Reporting bugs & features
• Development setup
• Contributing via Pull Requests
• Code of Conduct
• Reporting of security issues

Stay in touch with the team

Come meet the Strands team and other users on Discord

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE.APACHE file for details.

Security

See CONTRIBUTING for more information.