A field guide by Chain of Thought

The AI Agent
Handbook

Everything you need to understand the AI agent space. Built from hundreds of hours of research, updated continuously, and written for smart people who don't have time for noise.

1

What Agents Actually Are

Build the mental model. Kill the confusion.

2

How Agents Work Under the Hood

Technical intuition without requiring a CS degree.

3

Inside the Loop

What actually happens when an agent runs.

4

When Agents Break

Security, verification, and why benchmarks lie.

5

How to Think About Agents

Frameworks for evaluating what's real.

6

The Landscape

Who's building what. Opinionated. Updated weekly.

7

Getting Started

Practical on-ramps depending on who you are.

8

The Reading List

Curated further reading, tiered by depth.

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