Agent Asynchronous Loops

Introduction

In this example, we demonstrate how to use agents to communicate and exchange status updates in a decentralized system. Agents will send status messages to each other and handle acknowledgments in response. This example is useful for understanding how agents can interact, process messages, and maintain state.

Please check out the example code in our examples repo (opens in a new tab) to run this locally.

Supporting documentation

The scripts

Script 1

external_loop_attach.py
 
import asyncio
import contextlib
 
from uagents import Agent, Bureau, Context
 
loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
 
agent = Agent(
    name="looper",
    seed="<YOUR_SEED>",
)
 
bureau = Bureau(
    agents=[agent],
)
 
@agent.on_event("startup")
async def startup(ctx: Context):
    ctx.logger.info(">>> Looper is starting up.")
 
@agent.on_event("shutdown")
async def shutdown(ctx: Context):
    ctx.logger.info(">>> Looper is shutting down.")
 
async def coro():
    while True:
        print("Doing hard work...")
        await asyncio.sleep(1)
 
if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("Attaching the agent or bureau to the external loop...")
    loop.create_task(coro())
 
    # > when attaching the agent to the external loop
    loop.create_task(agent.run_async())
 
    # > when attaching a bureau to the external loop
    # loop.create_task(bureau.run_async())
 
    with contextlib.suppress(KeyboardInterrupt):
        loop.run_forever()

This script demonstrates how to run an agent using an external event loop. For this example to run correctly, remember to provide a seed phrase to the agent. It initializes an agent and attaches it to a loop where it performs continuous background work (coro() function) alongside the agent's operations. You can choose to run either the agent or the entire bureau with the external loop. This approach provides greater flexibility when integrating the agent with other asynchronous tasks.

Script 2

external_loop_run.py
 
import asyncio
 
from uagents import Agent, Bureau, Context
 
loop = asyncio.get_event_loop()
 
agent = Agent(
    name="looper",
    seed="<YOUR_SEED>",
    loop=loop,
)
 
bureau = Bureau(
    agents=[agent],
    loop=loop,
)
 
@agent.on_event("startup")
async def startup(ctx: Context):
    ctx.logger.info(">>> Looper is starting up.")
 
@agent.on_event("shutdown")
async def shutdown(ctx: Context):
    ctx.logger.info(">>> Looper is shutting down.")
 
async def coro():
    while True:
        print("Doing hard work...")
        await asyncio.sleep(1)
 
if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("Starting the external loop from the agent or bureau...")
    loop.create_task(coro())
 
    # > when starting the external loop from the agent
    agent.run()
 
    # > when starting the external loop from the bureau
    # bureau.run()

This script shows how to run an agent with its own internal event loop. For this example to run correctly, remember to provide a seed phrase to the agent. The agent is initialized with the loop, and both the agent and its background coroutine (coro() function) run within the same loop. This setup simplifies the integration by keeping everything within a single event loop, which can be advantageous for applications where you want the agent's lifecycle tightly coupled with its event handling function.

Expected Output

Script 1:


Attaching the agent or bureau to the external loop...
Doing hard work...
Doing hard work...
Doing hard work...
>>> Looper is starting up.

Script 2:


Starting the external loop from the agent or bureau...
Doing hard work...
Doing hard work...
Doing hard work...
>>> Looper is starting up.

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