---
title: "The agent loop"
description: "An agent is a model in a loop: goal in, then repeated think → call tool → observe until done. What separates toy demos from production agents — planning de"
canonical_url: "https://fanout.sh/ai-engineering/lessons/ai-agents"
md_url: "https://fanout.sh/ai-engineering/lessons/ai-agents.md"
access: "public"
---

# The agent loop

An agent is a model in a loop: goal in, then repeated think → call tool → observe until done. What separates toy demos from production agents — planning de

## Public overview

An agent is a model in a loop: goal in, then repeated think → call tool → observe until done. What separates toy demos from production agents — planning depth, error recovery, memory, and knowing when a plain workflow beats an autonomous loop.

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