Development Principles

Core development principles and philosophy for the Robota SDK v2.0.

Project Overview

The Robota SDK v2.0 is a unified TypeScript library for building AI agents with:

• Unified Architecture: Everything consolidated in @robota-sdk/agents
• Type-Safe Design: Zero any types, complete TypeScript safety
• Multi-Provider Support: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI with seamless switching
• Plugin-Based Extensibility: Modular plugin system for extending functionality
• Performance-First: Built-in analytics and monitoring

Core Architecture Principles

1. Type Safety First

Zero Any/Unknown Policy: Complete elimination of any and unsafe unknown types

// ✅ Good: Fully typed
interface AgentConfig {
    name: string;
    model: string;
    provider: string;
    aiProviders: Record<string, BaseAIProvider>;
    systemMessage?: string;
    tools?: Tool[];
    plugins?: BasePlugin[];
}

// ❌ Bad: Using any
interface BadConfig {
    providers: any; // Never use this
    options: any;   // Always type explicitly
}

2. Unified Package Design

Single Source of Truth: @robota-sdk/agents contains all core functionality

• BaseAgent: Foundation for all agent implementations
• BaseAIProvider: Unified provider interface
• BaseTool: Type-safe tool system
• BasePlugin: Extensible plugin architecture
• AgentFactory: Template-based agent creation

3. Provider Agnostic Architecture

Seamless Provider Switching: No vendor lock-in

// Switch providers at runtime
agent.setModel({ provider: 'openai', model: 'gpt-4' });
agent.setModel({ provider: 'anthropic', model: 'claude-3-sonnet' });
agent.setModel({ provider: 'google', model: 'gemini-1.5-flash' });

4. Plugin-First Extensibility

Modular Design: Core functionality extended through plugins

const agent = new Robota({
    plugins: [
        new ExecutionAnalyticsPlugin(),
        new ConversationHistoryPlugin(),
        new LoggingPlugin(),
        new ErrorHandlingPlugin()
    ]
});

5. Performance and Monitoring

Built-in Analytics: Every agent includes performance monitoring

// Get comprehensive stats
const stats = agent.getStats();
console.log(`Success rate: ${stats.successRate}`);
console.log(`Average duration: ${stats.averageDuration}ms`);

Development Philosophy

1. Developer Experience First

Intuitive APIs: Make common tasks simple, complex tasks possible

// Simple: Basic agent in 3 lines
const agent = new Robota({
    name: 'SimpleAgent',
    provider: 'openai',
    model: 'gpt-3.5-turbo'
});

// Complex: Full featured agent with all options
const advancedAgent = new Robota({
    name: 'AdvancedAgent',
    provider: 'openai',
    model: 'gpt-4',
    tools: [calculatorTool, weatherTool],
    plugins: [analyticsPlugin, loggingPlugin],
    systemMessage: 'Advanced system prompt'
});

2. Fail Fast and Safe

Error Handling: Catch errors at compile time when possible

// TypeScript catches provider mismatches
const agent = new Robota({
    name: 'MyAgent',
    aiProviders: [openaiProvider],
    defaultModel: {
        provider: 'openai',
        model: 'gpt-4'
    }
    // TypeScript ensures provider exists in aiProviders array
});

3. Resource Management

Automatic Cleanup: Prevent memory leaks and resource exhaustion

// Always clean up
try {
    const response = await agent.run(input);
    return response;
} finally {
    await agent.destroy(); // Clean up resources
}

Code Quality Standards

1. Type Safety Requirements

• No any types: Use specific types or generic constraints
• Strict TypeScript: Enable all strict compiler options
• Generic patterns: Use type parameters for reusable components
• Branded types: Use for domain-specific values

2. Testing Standards

// Test all public APIs
describe('Robota Agent', () => {
    it('should handle basic conversation', async () => {
        const agent = createTestAgent();
        const response = await agent.run('Hello');
        expect(response).toBeDefined();
        expect(typeof response).toBe('string');
    });
    
    it('should clean up resources', async () => {
        const agent = createTestAgent();
        await agent.destroy();
        // Verify cleanup
    });
});

3. Documentation Requirements

• API Documentation: Every public method documented
• Examples: Real-world usage examples for all features
• Type Documentation: Complex types explained
• Migration Guides: Clear upgrade paths

Architecture Patterns

1. Facade Pattern

Simplified Interfaces: Hide complexity behind simple APIs

// Complex internal implementation hidden behind simple facade
const team = await createTeam({
    agents: [agent1, agent2, agent3],
    workflow: 'sequential'
});

2. Plugin Pattern

Extensible Architecture: Core functionality + optional plugins

export abstract class BasePlugin<TStats = PluginStats> {
    abstract name: string;
    abstract onAgentStart?(): Promise<void>;
    abstract onAgentStop?(): Promise<void>;
    abstract getStats(): TStats;
}

3. Factory Pattern

Template-Based Creation: Standardized agent creation

const factory = new AgentFactory({
    providers: { openai: openaiProvider },
    defaultProvider: 'openai'
});

const agent = await factory.createFromTemplate('helpful-assistant');

4. Provider Pattern

Abstraction Layer: Unified interface across different AI services

export abstract class BaseAIProvider {
    abstract generateResponse(messages: UniversalMessage[]): Promise<string>;
    abstract generateStream(messages: UniversalMessage[]): AsyncIterable<StreamChunk>;
    abstract getSupportedModels(): string[];
}

Performance Principles

1. Monitoring First

Built-in Analytics: Every operation monitored by default

// Automatic performance tracking
const plugin = new ExecutionAnalyticsPlugin({
    maxEntries: 10000,
    trackErrors: true,
    performanceThreshold: 5000
});

2. Streaming Support

Real-time Responses: Support streaming across all providers

const stream = await agent.stream(input);
for await (const chunk of stream) {
    process.stdout.write(chunk.content);
}

3. Resource Efficiency

Memory Management: Prevent leaks and optimize usage

// Plugin-specific cleanup
export class ConversationHistoryPlugin extends BasePlugin {
    async onAgentStop(): Promise<void> {
        // Clean up conversation history
        this.clearHistory();
    }
}

Security Principles

1. Input Validation

Type-Safe Inputs: Validate at the type level

// Tool parameters are validated by TypeScript
const weatherTool = createFunctionTool(
    'getWeather',
    'Get weather information',
    {
        type: 'object',
        properties: {
            location: { type: 'string' },
            units: { type: 'string', enum: ['celsius', 'fahrenheit'] }
        },
        required: ['location']
    },
    async (params) => { /* implementation */ }
);

2. Error Boundaries

Safe Error Handling: Prevent error propagation

// Plugin errors don't crash the agent
try {
    await plugin.onAgentStart();
} catch (error) {
    console.error(`Plugin ${plugin.name} failed to start:`, error);
    // Continue without this plugin
}

Migration and Compatibility

1. Backward Compatibility

Smooth Migrations: Clear upgrade paths from v1.x

// v1.x (deprecated)
const robota = new Robota({
    systemPrompt: 'You are helpful',
    aiProviders: { openai: provider },
    currentProvider: 'openai'
});

// v2.0 (current)
const robota = new Robota({
    name: 'MyAgent',
    aiProviders: [provider],
    defaultModel: {
        provider: 'openai',
        model: 'gpt-4',
        systemMessage: 'You are helpful'
    }
});

2. Feature Flags

Safe Rollouts: New features behind flags

const agent = new Robota({
    features: {
        experimentalStreaming: true,
        betaAnalytics: false
    }
});

Development References

Core Documentation

• Getting Started - Quick start guide
• Core Concepts - Architecture overview
• Building Agents - Advanced patterns

Development Guides

• TypeScript Standards - Type safety requirements
• Testing Guidelines - Testing strategies
• Error Handling - Error handling patterns
• Performance Optimization - Performance best practices

Package Information

• Package Publishing - Release process
• Build and Deployment - Build configuration
• Documentation Guidelines - Documentation standards