Agent Architecture

Deep dive into NikCLI agent system architecture

Agent System Overview

NikCLI’s agent system is the core of its autonomous development capabilities. Built on a service-oriented architecture, it provides a sophisticated multi-agent environment where specialized AI agents collaborate to handle complex development tasks.

Universal Agent

Single comprehensive agent with full-stack development capabilities

Specialized Agents

Domain-specific agents for React, Backend, DevOps, and more

Agent Orchestration

Coordinated execution with dependency management

Stream Processing

Real-time communication and progress tracking

Architectural Principles

1. Service-Oriented Design

The agent system follows a modular service architecture where each component has well-defined responsibilities:

2. Agent Lifecycle Management

Each agent follows a structured lifecycle with clear phases:

1. Initialization

   Agent is created with specific configuration and capabilities

   const agent = await agentFactory.createAgent({
     type: 'universal',
     permissions: agentPermissions,
     context: workspaceContext
   });
   

2. Task Reception

   Agent receives task with context and requirements

   const task: AgentTask = {
     id: nanoid(),
     description: "Create authentication system",
     context: projectContext,
     requirements: taskRequirements
   };
   

3. Planning & Analysis

   Agent analyzes task and creates execution plan

   const plan = await agent.createExecutionPlan(task);
   

4. Execution

   Agent executes plan with real-time progress updates

   const stream = agent.executeTask(task, plan);
   

5. Completion

   Agent reports results and cleanup

   const result = await agent.completeTask(taskId);
   

3. Communication Patterns

Agents communicate through structured message streams:

Agent-to-System

interface AgentMessage {
  type: 'progress' | 'result' | 'error' | 'request';
  agentId: string;
  taskId: string;
  payload: any;
  timestamp: number;
}

Core Components

Agent Manager (src/cli/core/agent-manager.ts)

The central orchestrator for all agent operations:

Agent Registry

Maintains a registry of all available agents and their capabilities:

class AgentManager {
  private agents: Map<string, BaseAgent> = new Map();
  private capabilities: Map<string, AgentCapability[]> = new Map();
  
  registerAgent(agent: BaseAgent): void {
    this.agents.set(agent.id, agent);
    this.capabilities.set(agent.id, agent.getCapabilities());
  }
  
  findAgentForTask(task: AgentTask): BaseAgent | null {
    // Intelligence matching algorithm
  }
}

Task Distribution

Intelligently distributes tasks to the most suitable agents:

async distributeTask(task: AgentTask): Promise<AgentExecution> {
  const suitableAgents = this.findSuitableAgents(task);
  const bestAgent = this.selectBestAgent(suitableAgents, task);
  
  return await bestAgent.executeTask(task);
}

Parallel Execution

Coordinates multiple agents working on related tasks:

async executeParallel(tasks: AgentTask[]): Promise<AgentExecution[]> {
  const executions = tasks.map(task => this.distributeTask(task));
  return await Promise.all(executions);
}

Agent Factory (src/cli/core/agent-factory.ts)

Responsible for creating and configuring agent instances:

Agent Creation

class AgentFactory {
  async createAgent(config: AgentConfig): Promise<BaseAgent> {
    const AgentClass = this.getAgentClass(config.type);
    const agent = new AgentClass(config);
    
    await this.configureAgent(agent, config);
    await this.validateAgent(agent);
    
    return agent;
  }
}

Blueprint System

interface AgentBlueprint {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  type: AgentType;
  specialization: string;
  capabilities: AgentCapability[];
  configuration: AgentConfig;
  prompts: PromptTemplate[];
}

Dynamic Configuration

async configureAgent(agent: BaseAgent, config: AgentConfig): Promise<void> {
  // Apply permissions
  agent.setPermissions(config.permissions);
  
  // Set up tools
  agent.registerTools(config.allowedTools);
  
  // Configure AI provider
  agent.setAIProvider(config.aiProvider);
}

Agent Stream (src/cli/core/agent-stream.ts)

Manages real-time communication and progress tracking:

Stream Management

class AgentStream {
  private streams: Map<string, EventEmitter> = new Map();
  
  createStream(agentId: string): EventEmitter {
    const stream = new EventEmitter();
    this.streams.set(agentId, stream);
    return stream;
  }
  
  broadcast(agentId: string, event: string, data: any): void {
    const stream = this.streams.get(agentId);
    stream?.emit(event, data);
  }
}

Progress Tracking

interface ProgressUpdate {
  agentId: string;
  taskId: string;
  progress: number; // 0-100
  stage: string;
  message: string;
  timestamp: number;
}

Error Handling

handleAgentError(agentId: string, error: AgentError): void {
  this.logError(agentId, error);
  this.notifyUser(error);
  
  if (error.recoverable) {
    this.attemptRecovery(agentId, error);
  } else {
    this.terminateAgent(agentId);
  }
}

Agent Types

Universal Agent

The Universal Agent is NikCLI’s flagship agent with comprehensive development capabilities:

class UniversalAgent extends BaseAgent {
  capabilities = [
    'full-stack-development',
    'project-analysis',
    'code-generation',
    'refactoring',
    'testing',
    'documentation',
    'deployment',
    'debugging'
  ];
  
  async executeTask(task: AgentTask): Promise<AgentExecution> {
    // Analyze task complexity
    const analysis = await this.analyzeTask(task);
    
    // Create execution plan
    const plan = await this.createExecutionPlan(task, analysis);
    
    // Execute with real-time updates
    return await this.executePlan(plan);
  }
}

Capabilities:

• Frontend Development: React, Vue, Angular components and applications
• Backend Development: APIs, databases, server-side logic
• DevOps Operations: CI/CD, containerization, deployment
• Code Analysis: Refactoring, optimization, debugging
• Testing: Unit tests, integration tests, E2E tests
• Documentation: Code comments, README files, API docs

Specialized Agents

React Agent

class ReactAgent extends BaseAgent {
  specialization = 'React Development';
  
  capabilities = [
    'component-creation',
    'hook-development',
    'state-management',
    'styling-solutions',
    'performance-optimization'
  ];
  
  async createComponent(spec: ComponentSpec): Promise<ReactComponent> {
    // React-specific component generation
  }
}

Agent Orchestration

Multi-Agent Coordination

NikCLI’s orchestration system coordinates multiple agents for complex tasks:

Task Decomposition

The orchestrator breaks complex tasks into manageable subtasks:

Automatic Decomposition

async decomposeTask(task: AgentTask): Promise<SubTask[]> {
  const analysis = await this.analyzeComplexity(task);
  
  if (analysis.complexity > COMPLEXITY_THRESHOLD) {
    return await this.createSubTasks(task, analysis);
  }
  
  return [task]; // Simple task, no decomposition needed
}

Dependency Resolution

interface TaskDependency {
  taskId: string;
  dependsOn: string[];
  canParallelize: boolean;
  priority: number;
}

async resolveDependencies(tasks: SubTask[]): Promise<ExecutionOrder> {
  const dependencyGraph = this.buildDependencyGraph(tasks);
  return this.topologicalSort(dependencyGraph);
}

Resource Allocation

async allocateResources(tasks: SubTask[]): Promise<ResourceAllocation> {
  const availableAgents = this.getAvailableAgents();
  const resourceRequirements = this.calculateRequirements(tasks);
  
  return this.optimizeAllocation(availableAgents, resourceRequirements);
}

Security and Permissions

Permission System

Each agent operates within a defined permission framework:

interface AgentPermissions {
  fileOperations: {
    read: string[]; // Allowed paths
    write: string[];
    execute: string[];
  };
  
  commandExecution: {
    allowed: string[]; // Allowed commands
    blocked: string[]; // Explicitly blocked
    requireApproval: string[]; // Need user approval
  };
  
  networkAccess: {
    enabled: boolean;
    allowedDomains: string[];
    blockedDomains: string[];
  };
  
  systemAccess: {
    environmentVariables: boolean;
    processManagement: boolean;
    systemConfiguration: boolean;
  };
}

Security Policies

Execution Policies

class ExecutionPolicy {
  validateCommand(command: string, agent: BaseAgent): boolean {
    const permissions = agent.getPermissions();
    
    // Check if command is explicitly blocked
    if (permissions.commandExecution.blocked.includes(command)) {
      return false;
    }
    
    // Check if command is in allowed list
    if (!permissions.commandExecution.allowed.includes(command)) {
      return false;
    }
    
    return true;
  }
}

Performance Optimization

Caching and Memoization

Agents use sophisticated caching to improve performance:

Context Caching

class ContextCache {
  private cache = new Map<string, ProjectContext>();
  
  async getContext(projectPath: string): Promise<ProjectContext> {
    if (this.cache.has(projectPath)) {
      return this.cache.get(projectPath)!;
    }
    
    const context = await this.analyzeProject(projectPath);
    this.cache.set(projectPath, context);
    return context;
  }
}

Response Caching

class ResponseCache {
  async getCachedResponse(
    prompt: string,
    context: string
  ): Promise<string | null> {
    const cacheKey = this.generateCacheKey(prompt, context);
    return await this.cache.get(cacheKey);
  }
}

Incremental Updates

async updateContext(
  projectPath: string,
  changes: FileChange[]
): Promise<void> {
  const existingContext = await this.getContext(projectPath);
  const updatedContext = this.applyIncrementalChanges(
    existingContext,
    changes
  );
  
  this.cache.set(projectPath, updatedContext);
}

Error Handling and Recovery

Resilient Agent Operations

The agent system includes comprehensive error handling:

Error Classification

enum ErrorType {
  RECOVERABLE = 'recoverable',
  FATAL = 'fatal',
  USER_ACTION_REQUIRED = 'user_action_required',
  PERMISSION_DENIED = 'permission_denied'
}

class AgentError extends Error {
  constructor(
    message: string,
    public type: ErrorType,
    public agentId: string,
    public taskId: string,
    public recoveryStrategy?: RecoveryStrategy
  ) {
    super(message);
  }
}

Recovery Strategies

interface RecoveryStrategy {
  maxRetries: number;
  backoffStrategy: 'linear' | 'exponential';
  fallbackAgent?: string;
  userNotification: boolean;
}

async executeWithRecovery(
  agent: BaseAgent,
  task: AgentTask
): Promise<AgentExecution> {
  let retries = 0;
  const maxRetries = task.recoveryStrategy?.maxRetries || 3;
  
  while (retries < maxRetries) {
    try {
      return await agent.executeTask(task);
    } catch (error) {
      if (this.shouldRetry(error)) {
        retries++;
        await this.wait(this.calculateBackoff(retries));
      } else {
        throw error;
      }
    }
  }
}

Graceful Degradation

async handleAgentFailure(
  failedAgent: BaseAgent,
  task: AgentTask
): Promise<void> {
  // Try fallback agent
  const fallbackAgent = this.findFallbackAgent(failedAgent, task);
  if (fallbackAgent) {
    await fallbackAgent.executeTask(task);
    return;
  }
  
  // Graceful degradation
  await this.notifyUserOfFailure(failedAgent, task);
  await this.savePartialProgress(task);
}

Next Steps

Universal Agent

Deep dive into the Universal Agent’s capabilities

Specialized Agents

Learn about domain-specific agent implementations

Agent Orchestration

Master multi-agent coordination and workflows

Custom Agents

Create your own specialized agents

The agent system is designed to be extensible. You can create custom agents for specific domains or integrate with external tools and services through the MCP (Model Context Protocol) system.