> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.interactive.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.interactive.ai/agents/readme.md).

# Overview

> **Context** — This is the documentation root for **Interactive Agents**: the framework and runtime for deploying AI agents on the InteractiveAI platform. It is self-contained: everything you need to design, build, test, deploy, and operate an agent is in these pages. No source-code access is required or assumed.

## What an Interactive Agent is

An Interactive Agent is a containerized service (the **agent server**) that runs one AI agent. The agent's entire identity and behaviour is declared in configuration — there is no per-agent code:

* A **manifest** (YAML) declares who the agent is, which model(s) it uses, which content it loads, and which systems it connects to.
* **Policies** are condition → action rules that shape behaviour on every turn (safety, compliance, tone, business rules).
* **Routines** are multi-step state machines that walk the agent through structured flows (look up an order, book a car, verify a document).
* **Tools** are functions the agent can call, served by MCP servers you run.
* A **knowledge base** (optional) grounds answers in your documents.
* A versioned **system prompt** and **glossaries** define persona and domain vocabulary.

Agents operate in two modes, often simultaneously:

| Mode               | Trigger                                                | Result delivery                                          |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Conversational** | A customer message (via the SDK or your integration)   | Typed events streamed back (replies, tool calls, status) |
| **Autonomous**     | `POST /routines/{id}/trigger` or a third-party webhook | A typed JSON result delivered to your callback URL       |

## How this documentation is organized

| Section                                             | Read it when you want to…                                                                       |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Concepts](/agents/concepts/architecture.md)        | Understand how the system works — architecture, the turn lifecycle, every configuration concept |
| [Guides](/agents/guides/quickstart.md)              | Do something — build your first agent, author routines, connect tools, deploy                   |
| [Reference](/agents/reference/manifest.md)          | Look up an exact field, endpoint, env var, or default                                           |
| [Operations](/agents/operations/troubleshooting.md) | Run agents in production — troubleshooting, security, versioning                                |

Pages under `reference/` marked `generated: true` are produced directly from the runtime's source of truth on every release and are exact for the version they document.

## Reading paths

**"I want a working agent today"** → [Quickstart](/agents/guides/quickstart.md) → [Authoring routines](/agents/guides/authoring-routines.md) → [Integrating the SDK](/agents/guides/integrating-the-sdk.md) → [Deploying](/agents/guides/deploying.md)

**"How do my systems and the agent talk to each other?"** → [Integration overview](/agents/guides/integration-overview.md) — every traffic direction (SDK, event delivery, triggers, callbacks, webhooks, tools) on one page, with links

**"I need to understand the model before I build"** → [Architecture](/agents/concepts/architecture.md) → [Conversation lifecycle](/agents/concepts/conversation-lifecycle.md) → [Policies](/agents/concepts/policies.md) → [Routines](/agents/concepts/routines.md)

**"I'm wiring a backend automation, not a chat UI"** → [Autonomous routines](/agents/concepts/autonomous-routines.md) → [Authoring autonomous routines](/agents/guides/authoring-autonomous-routines.md) → [Events & callbacks reference](/agents/reference/events-and-callbacks.md)

**"I operate a deployed agent"** → [Observability](/agents/guides/observability.md) → [Troubleshooting](/agents/operations/troubleshooting.md) → [Security](/agents/operations/security.md)

## For AI agents reading these docs

* [`llms.txt`](https://github.com/Interactive-AI-Labs/interactive-agent/blob/main/docs/agent/llms.txt) is a one-line-per-page index with stable links.
* [`llms-full.md`](https://github.com/Interactive-AI-Labs/interactive-agent/blob/main/docs/agent/llms-full.md) is the entire documentation concatenated into a single file, regenerated on every release — fetch it once and you have the full corpus.
* Machine-readable JSON Schemas for the manifest, routines, policies, glossaries, conversation events, and autonomous callbacks are published per version; see [Versioning](/agents/operations/versioning.md) for the download locations.
* Every code block in these docs is complete and copy-pasteable — nothing is elided.

## The example used throughout

All guides share one worked example: **DriveAway**, a car-rental agent named Mercedes with six routines (car search, booking, manage booking, locations, loyalty lookup, member signup), seven policies (minimum driver age, licence requirement, stay-on-topic, pricing disclaimer, cross-border restrictions, one-way surcharge, incident handoff), and one MCP tool server backing the booking system. The [Quickstart](/agents/guides/quickstart.md) builds it from scratch.


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# Agent Instructions
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## Querying This Documentation
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Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.