AgentFramework.Kernel

AgentFramework.Kernel is a minimal .NET 8 library for building agents based on the MAPE-K loop and related control-loop architectures.

It provides:

• A kernel that orchestrates agent execution.
• A pluggable middleware pipeline.
• Extensible loop profiles (e.g. MAPE-K, reactive loops).
• Minimal abstractions to keep agents composable and testable.

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📦 Installation

From NuGet:

dotnet add package AgentFramework.Kernel

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🚀 Quick Start

Create a kernel, a profile, and run a tick:

using AgentFramework.Kernel;
using AgentFramework.Kernel.Abstractions;

var profile = new TestProfile(); // sample profile (see HelloKernel)
var kernel = new AgentKernel(profile, new IKernelMiddleware[]
{
    new LoggingMiddleware()
});

await kernel.StartAsync();
await kernel.TickAsync();
await kernel.StopAsync();

👉 See the HelloKernel sample for a runnable console app.

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🧩 Key Concepts

Kernel

The AgentKernel is the control loop runner.
It starts, stops, and executes ticks, invoking each step defined by the active profile.

Profiles

A ILoopProfile defines the ordered steps an agent executes.
Examples:

• MAPE-K (Monitor → Analyze → Plan → Execute → Knowledge update).
• Reactive loop (Sense → Act).

Profiles are the extensibility point for experimenting with different agent families.

Middleware

Middleware implements IKernelMiddleware and runs before/after each step:

• Tracing
• Logging
• Metrics
• Policy enforcement

Context

KernelContext flows through the pipeline and provides:

• The current StepId
• Cancellation token
• A scratchpad (Items) for cross-cutting state

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🧪 Samples & Tests

• samples/HelloKernel – minimal console app showing a test profile and logging middleware.
• tests/AgentFramework.Kernel.Tests – xUnit smoke tests for kernel contracts.

Run tests:

make test

Run the sample:

make hello-kernel

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🔄 Versioning & Releases

• Versions are managed by semantic-release and git tags (vX.Y.Z).
• Pre-1.0: breaking changes bump minor, not major (preMajor:true).
• Package versions are injected at build time via MinVer.
• See CHANGELOG.md for release history.

Dry-run a release locally:

make release-dry-run

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🤝 Contributing

1. Fork & clone
2. Run make build / make test
3. Add features with Conventional Commit messages (feat: ..., fix: ...)
4. Open a PR

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📄 License

MIT © David Runemalm