AI agent glossary
Claude Agent SDK
Anthropic's library for building agents on the same foundation that powers Claude Code, available for TypeScript and Python.
The Claude Agent SDK gives you the agent harness behind Claude Code as a library you can use in your own programs. Instead of writing an agent loop from scratch, you configure an agent with a system prompt, tools, permissions, and MCP servers, then send it tasks.
It includes built-in tools for working with files and running commands, context management such as compaction, support for subagents and skills, and hooks that let you inspect or block actions before they happen.
It is a good fit when your agent looks like a capable generalist that works with files, code, and external services. For very narrow or tightly controlled flows, calling the Messages API directly can still be simpler.
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