264 Quickstart F05add62

This quickstart guide shows you how to create your first basic Strands agent, add built-in and custom tools to your agent, use different model providers, emit debug logs, and run the agent locally.

After completing this guide you can integrate your agent with a web server, implement concepts like multi-agent, evaluate and improve your agent, along with deploying to production and running at scale.

Install the SDK

First, ensure that you have Python 3.10+ installed.

We'll create a virtual environment to install the Strands Agents SDK and its dependencies in to.

python -m venv .venv

And activate the virtual environment:

• macOS / Linux: source .venv/bin/activate
• Windows (CMD): .venv\Scripts\activate.bat
• Windows (PowerShell): .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Next we'll install the strands-agents SDK package:

pip install strands-agents

The Strands Agents SDK additionally offers the [strands-agents-tools]({{ tools_pypi }}) ([GitHub]({{ tools_repo_home }})) and [strands-agents-builder]({{ agent_builder_pypi }}) ([GitHub]({{ agent_builder_repo_home }})) packages for development. The [strands-agents-tools]({{ tools_pypi }}) package is a community-driven project that provides a set of tools for your agents to use, bridging the gap between large language models and practical applications. The [strands-agents-builder]({{ agent_builder_pypi }}) package provides an agent that helps you to build your own Strands agents and tools.

Let's install those development packages too:

pip install strands-agents-tools strands-agents-builder

Strands MCP Server (Optional)

Strands also provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that can assist you during development. This server gives AI coding assistants in your IDE access to Strands documentation, development prompts, and best practices. You can use it with MCP-compatible clients like Q Developer CLI, Cursor, Claude, Cline, and others to help you:

• Develop custom tools and agents with guided prompts
• Debug and troubleshoot your Strands implementations
• Get quick answers about Strands concepts and patterns
• Design multi-agent systems with Graph or Swarm patterns

To use the MCP server, you'll need uv installed on your system. You can install it by following the official installation instructions.

Once uv is installed, configure the MCP server with your preferred client. For example, to use with Q Developer CLI, add to ~/.aws/amazonq/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "strands-agents": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["strands-agents-mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

See the MCP server documentation for setup instructions with other clients.

Configuring Credentials

Strands supports many different model providers. By default, agents use the Amazon Bedrock model provider with the Claude 4 model. To change the default model, refer to the Model Providers section.

To use the examples in this guide, you'll need to configure your environment with AWS credentials that have permissions to invoke the Claude 4 model. You can set up your credentials in several ways:

1. Environment variables: Set AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, and optionally AWS_SESSION_TOKEN
2. AWS credentials file: Configure credentials using aws configure CLI command
3. IAM roles: If running on AWS services like EC2, ECS, or Lambda, use IAM roles
4. Bedrock API keys: Set the AWS_BEARER_TOKEN_BEDROCK environment variable

Make sure your AWS credentials have the necessary permissions to access Amazon Bedrock and invoke the Claude 4 model.

Project Setup

Now we'll create our Python project where our agent will reside. We'll use this directory structure:

my_agent/
├── __init__.py
├── agent.py
└── requirements.txt

Create the directory: mkdir my_agent

Now create my_agent/requirements.txt to include the strands-agents and strands-agents-tools packages as dependencies:

strands-agents>=1.0.0
strands-agents-tools>=0.2.0

Create the my_agent/__init__.py file:

from . import agent

And finally our agent.py file where the goodies are:

from strands import Agent, tool
from strands_tools import calculator, current_time

# Define a custom tool as a Python function using the @tool decorator
@tool
def letter_counter(word: str, letter: str) -> int:
    """
    Count occurrences of a specific letter in a word.

    Args:
        word (str): The input word to search in
        letter (str): The specific letter to count

    Returns:
        int: The number of occurrences of the letter in the word
    """
    if not isinstance(word, str) or not isinstance(letter, str):
        return 0

    if len(letter) != 1:
        raise ValueError("The 'letter' parameter must be a single character")

    return word.lower().count(letter.lower())

# Create an agent with tools from the community-driven strands-tools package
# as well as our custom letter_counter tool
agent = Agent(tools=[calculator, current_time, letter_counter])

# Ask the agent a question that uses the available tools
message = """
I have 4 requests:

1. What is the time right now?
2. Calculate 3111696 / 74088
3. Tell me how many letter R's are in the word "strawberry" 🍓
"""
agent(message)

This basic quickstart agent can perform mathematical calculations, get the current time, run Python code, and count letters in words. The agent automatically determines when to use tools based on the input query and context.

flowchart LR
    A[Input & Context] --> Loop

    subgraph Loop[" "]
        direction TB
        B["Reasoning (LLM)"] --> C["Tool Selection"]
        C --> D["Tool Execution"]
        D --> B
    end

    Loop --> E[Response]

More details can be found in the Agent Loop documentation.

Running Agents

Our agent is just Python, so we can run it using any mechanism for running Python!

To test our agent we can simply run:

python -u my_agent/agent.py

And that's it! We now have a running agent with powerful tools and abilities in just a few lines of code 🥳.

Understanding What Agents Did

After running an agent, you can understand what happened during execution through traces and metrics. Every agent invocation returns an AgentResult object with comprehensive observability data.

Traces provide detailed insight into the agent's reasoning process. You can access in-memory traces and metrics directly from the AgentResult, or export them using OpenTelemetry to observability platforms.

??? code "Example result.metrics.get_summary() output"

```python
result = agent("What is the square root of 144?")
print(result.metrics.get_summary())
```
```python
{
  "accumulated_metrics": {
    "latencyMs": 6253
  },
  "accumulated_usage": {
    "inputTokens": 3921,
    "outputTokens": 83,
    "totalTokens": 4004
  },
  "average_cycle_time": 0.9406174421310425,
  "tool_usage": {
    "calculator": {
      "execution_stats": {
        "average_time": 0.008260965347290039,
        "call_count": 1,
        "error_count": 0,
        "success_count": 1,
        "success_rate": 1.0,
        "total_time": 0.008260965347290039
      },
      "tool_info": {
        "input_params": {
          "expression": "sqrt(144)",
          "mode": "evaluate"
        },
        "name": "calculator",
        "tool_use_id": "tooluse_jR3LAfuASrGil31Ix9V7qQ"
      }
    }
  },
  "total_cycles": 2,
  "total_duration": 1.881234884262085,
  "traces": [
    {
      "children": [
        {
          "children": [],
          "duration": 4.476144790649414,
          "end_time": 1747227039.938964,
          "id": "c7e86c24-c9d4-4a79-a3a2-f0eaf42b0d19",
          "message": {
            "content": [
              {
                "text": "I'll calculate the square root of 144 for you."
              },
              {
                "toolUse": {
                  "input": {
                    "expression": "sqrt(144)",
                    "mode": "evaluate"
                  },
                  "name": "calculator",
                  "toolUseId": "tooluse_jR3LAfuASrGil31Ix9V7qQ"
                }
              }
            ],
            "role": "assistant"
          },
          "metadata": {},
          "name": "stream_messages",
          "parent_id": "78595347-43b1-4652-b215-39da3c719ec1",
          "raw_name": null,
          "start_time": 1747227035.462819
        },
        {
          "children": [],
          "duration": 0.008296012878417969,
          "end_time": 1747227039.948415,
          "id": "4f64ce3d-a21c-4696-aa71-2dd446f71488",
          "message": {
            "content": [
              {
                "toolResult": {
                  "content": [
                    {
                      "text": "Result: 12"
                    }
                  ],
                  "status": "success",
                  "toolUseId": "tooluse_jR3LAfuASrGil31Ix9V7qQ"
                }
              }
            ],
            "role": "user"
          },
          "metadata": {
            "toolUseId": "tooluse_jR3LAfuASrGil31Ix9V7qQ",
            "tool_name": "calculator"
          },
          "name": "Tool: calculator",
          "parent_id": "78595347-43b1-4652-b215-39da3c719ec1",
          "raw_name": "calculator - tooluse_jR3LAfuASrGil31Ix9V7qQ",
          "start_time": 1747227039.940119
        },
        {
          "children": [],
          "duration": 1.881267786026001,
          "end_time": 1747227041.8299048,
          "id": "0261b3a5-89f2-46b2-9b37-13cccb0d7d39",
          "message": null,
          "metadata": {},
          "name": "Recursive call",
          "parent_id": "78595347-43b1-4652-b215-39da3c719ec1",
          "raw_name": null,
          "start_time": 1747227039.948637
        }
      ],
      "duration": null,
      "end_time": null,
      "id": "78595347-43b1-4652-b215-39da3c719ec1",
      "message": null,
      "metadata": {},
      "name": "Cycle 1",
      "parent_id": null,
      "raw_name": null,
      "start_time": 1747227035.46276
    },
    {
      "children": [
        {
          "children": [],
          "duration": 1.8811860084533691,
          "end_time": 1747227041.829879,
          "id": "1317cfcb-0e87-432e-8665-da5ddfe099cd",
          "message": {
            "content": [
              {
                "text": "\n\nThe square root of 144 is 12."
              }
            ],
            "role": "assistant"
          },
          "metadata": {},
          "name": "stream_messages",
          "parent_id": "f482cee9-946c-471a-9bd3-fae23650f317",
          "raw_name": null,
          "start_time": 1747227039.948693
        }
      ],
      "duration": 1.881234884262085,
      "end_time": 1747227041.829896,
      "id": "f482cee9-946c-471a-9bd3-fae23650f317",
      "message": null,
      "metadata": {},
      "name": "Cycle 2",
      "parent_id": null,
      "raw_name": null,
      "start_time": 1747227039.948661
    }
  ]
}
```

This observability data helps you debug agent behavior, optimize performance, and understand the agent's reasoning process. For detailed information, see Observability, Traces, and Metrics.

Console Output

Agents display their reasoning and responses in real-time to the console by default. You can disable this output by setting callback_handler=None when creating your agent:

agent = Agent(
    tools=[calculator, current_time, letter_counter],
    callback_handler=None,
)

Learn more in the Callback Handlers documentation.

Debug Logs

To enable debug logs in our agent, configure the strands logger:

import logging
from strands import Agent

# Enables Strands debug log level
logging.getLogger("strands").setLevel(logging.DEBUG)

# Sets the logging format and streams logs to stderr
logging.basicConfig(
    format="%(levelname)s | %(name)s | %(message)s",
    handlers=[logging.StreamHandler()]
)

agent = Agent()

agent("Hello!")

See the Logs documentation for more information.

Model Providers

Identifying a configured model

Strands defaults to the Bedrock model provider using Claude 4 Sonnet. The model your agent is using can be retrieved by accessing model.config:

from strands import Agent

agent = Agent()

print(agent.model.config)
# {'model_id': 'us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0'}

You can specify a different model in two ways:

1. By passing a string model ID directly to the Agent constructor
2. By creating a model provider instance with specific configurations

Using a String Model ID

The simplest way to specify a model is to pass the model ID string directly:

from strands import Agent

# Create an agent with a specific model by passing the model ID string
agent = Agent(model="anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0")

Amazon Bedrock (Default)

For more control over model configuration, you can create a model provider instance:

import boto3
from strands import Agent
from strands.models import BedrockModel

# Create a BedrockModel
bedrock_model = BedrockModel(
    model_id="anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0",
    region_name="us-west-2",
    temperature=0.3,
)

agent = Agent(model=bedrock_model)

For the Amazon Bedrock model provider, see the Boto3 documentation to configure credentials for your environment. For development, AWS credentials are typically defined in AWS_ prefixed environment variables or configured with the aws configure CLI command.

You will also need to enable model access in Amazon Bedrock for the models that you choose to use with your agents, following the AWS documentation to enable access.

More details in the Amazon Bedrock Model Provider documentation.

Additional Model Providers

Strands Agents supports several other model providers beyond Amazon Bedrock:

• Anthropic - Direct API access to Claude models
• Amazon Nova - API access to Amazon Nova models
• LiteLLM - Unified interface for OpenAI, Mistral, and other providers
• Llama API - Access to Meta's Llama models
• Mistral - Access to Mistral models
• Ollama - Run models locally for privacy or offline use
• OpenAI - Access to OpenAI or OpenAI-compatible models
• Writer - Access to Palmyra models
• Cohere community - Use Cohere models through an OpenAI compatible interface
• CLOVA Studio community - Korean-optimized AI models from Naver Cloud Platform
• FireworksAI community - Use FireworksAI models through an OpenAI compatible interface
• Custom Providers - Build your own provider for specialized needs

Capturing Streamed Data & Events

Strands provides two main approaches to capture streaming events from an agent: async iterators and callback functions.

Async Iterators

For asynchronous applications (like web servers or APIs), Strands provides an async iterator approach using stream_async(). This is particularly useful with async frameworks like FastAPI or Django Channels.

import asyncio
from strands import Agent
from strands_tools import calculator

# Initialize our agent without a callback handler
agent = Agent(
    tools=[calculator],
    callback_handler=None  # Disable default callback handler
)

# Async function that iterates over streamed agent events
async def process_streaming_response():
    prompt = "What is 25 * 48 and explain the calculation"

    # Get an async iterator for the agent's response stream
    agent_stream = agent.stream_async(prompt)

    # Process events as they arrive
    async for event in agent_stream:
        if "data" in event:
            # Print text chunks as they're generated
            print(event["data"], end="", flush=True)
        elif "current_tool_use" in event and event["current_tool_use"].get("name"):
            # Print tool usage information
            print(f"\n[Tool use delta for: {event['current_tool_use']['name']}]")

# Run the agent with the async event processing
asyncio.run(process_streaming_response())

The async iterator yields the same event types as the callback handler callbacks, including text generation events, tool events, and lifecycle events. This approach is ideal for integrating Strands agents with async web frameworks.

See the Async Iterators documentation for full details.

Note, Strands also offers an invoke_async() method for non-iterative async invocations.

Callback Handlers (Callbacks)

We can create a custom callback function (named a callback handler) that is invoked at various points throughout an agent's lifecycle.

Here is an example that captures streamed data from the agent and logs it instead of printing:

import logging
from strands import Agent
from strands_tools import shell

logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger()

# Define a simple callback handler that logs instead of printing
tool_use_ids = []
def callback_handler(**kwargs):
    if "data" in kwargs:
        # Log the streamed chunks
        logger.info(f"{kwargs['delta']}")
    elif "current_tool_use" in kwargs:
        tool = kwargs["current_tool_use"]
        if tool["toolUseId"] not in tool_use_ids:
            # Log the tool use
            logger.info(f"[Using tool: {tool.get('name')}]")
            tool_use_ids.append(tool["toolUseId"])

# Create an agent with the callback handler
agent = Agent(
    tools=[shell],
    callback_handler=callback_handler
)

# Ask the agent a question
result = agent("What operating system am I using?")

# Print only the last response
print(f"\n{result}")

The callback handler is called in real-time as the agent thinks, uses tools, and responds.

See the Callback Handlers documentation for full details.

Next Steps

Ready to learn more? Check out these resources:

• Examples - Examples for many use cases, multi-agent systems, autonomous agents, and more
• Community Supported Tools - The strands-agents-tools package provides many powerful example tools for your agents to use during development
• [Strands Agent Builder]({{ agent_builder_repo_home }}) - Use the accompanying strands-agents-builder agent builder to harness the power of LLMs to generate your own tools and agents
• Agent Loop - Learn how Strands agents work under the hood
• State & Sessions - Understand how agents maintain context and state across a conversation or workflow
• Multi-agent - Orchestrate multiple agents together as one system, with each agent completing specialized tasks
• Observability & Evaluation - Understand how agents make decisions and improve them with data
• Operating Agents in Production - Taking agents from development to production, operating them responsibly at scale