Building an agent without starting from the model: agent = model + context + memory + tools + harness + evals
edalgomezn · reddit · 2026-09-19
A practitioner's write-up from Project Chatty argues an agent is 'model + context + memory + tools + permissions + harness + evaluation', and the model is only one component. Key points: define clear objectives with explicit human control boundaries, use progressive context retrieval (start minimal, fetch more as needed), and layer memory by provenance and freshness instead of storing everything, separating sources, derived knowledge, operational state, decisions, and procedures.
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