12-Factor Agents Compliance Analysis

Reference: 12-Factor Agents

Input Parameters

Analysis Framework

Factor 1: Natural Language to Tool Calls

Principle: Convert natural language inputs into structured, deterministic tool calls using schema-validated outputs.

Search Patterns:

# Look for Pydantic schemas
grep -r "class.*BaseModel" --include="*.py"
grep -r "TaskDAG\|TaskResponse\|ToolCall" --include="*.py"

# Look for JSON schema generation
grep -r "model_json_schema\|json_schema" --include="*.py"

# Look for structured output generation
grep -r "output_type\|response_model" --include="*.py"

File Patterns: **/agents/*.py, **/schemas/*.py, **/models/*.py

Compliance Criteria:

Anti-patterns:

• json.loads(llm_response) without schema validation
• output.split() or regex parsing of LLM responses
• dict[str, Any] return types from agents
• No validation between LLM output and handler execution

Factor 2: Own Your Prompts

Principle: Treat prompts as first-class code you control, version, and iterate on.

Search Patterns:

# Look for embedded prompts
grep -r "SYSTEM_PROMPT\|system_prompt" --include="*.py"
grep -r '""".*You are' --include="*.py"

# Look for template systems
grep -r "jinja\|Jinja\|render_template" --include="*.py"
find . -name "*.jinja2" -o -name "*.j2"

# Look for prompt directories
find . -type d -name "prompts"

File Patterns: **/prompts/**, **/templates/**, **/agents/*.py

Compliance Criteria:

Anti-patterns:

• f"You are a {role}..." inline in agent methods
• Prompts mixed with business logic
• No way to iterate on prompts without code changes
• No prompt versioning or A/B testing capability

Factor 3: Own Your Context Window

Principle: Control how history, state, and tool results are formatted for the LLM.

Search Patterns:

# Look for context/message management
grep -r "AgentMessage\|ChatMessage\|messages" --include="*.py"
grep -r "context_window\|context_compiler" --include="*.py"

# Look for custom serialization
grep -r "to_xml\|to_context\|serialize" --include="*.py"

# Look for token management
grep -r "token_count\|max_tokens\|truncate" --include="*.py"

File Patterns: **/context/*.py, **/state/*.py, **/core/*.py

Compliance Criteria:

Anti-patterns:

• Unbounded message accumulation
• Large artifacts embedded inline (diffs, files)
• No agent-specific context filtering
• Same context for all agent types

Factor 4: Tools Are Structured Outputs

Principle: Tools produce schema-validated JSON that triggers deterministic code, not magic function calls.

Search Patterns:

# Look for tool/response schemas
grep -r "class.*Response.*BaseModel" --include="*.py"
grep -r "ToolResult\|ToolOutput" --include="*.py"

# Look for deterministic handlers
grep -r "def handle_\|def execute_" --include="*.py"

# Look for validation layer
grep -r "model_validate\|parse_obj" --include="*.py"

File Patterns: **/tools/*.py, **/handlers/*.py, **/agents/*.py

Compliance Criteria:

Anti-patterns:

• Tool handlers that directly execute LLM output
• eval() or exec() on LLM-generated code
• No separation between decision (LLM) and execution (code)
• Magic method dispatch based on string matching

Factor 5: Unify Execution State

Principle: Merge execution state (step, retries) with business state (messages, results).

Search Patterns:

# Look for state models
grep -r "ExecutionState\|WorkflowState\|Thread" --include="*.py"

# Look for dual state systems
grep -r "checkpoint\|MemorySaver" --include="*.py"
grep -r "sqlite\|database\|repository" --include="*.py"

# Look for state reconstruction
grep -r "load_state\|restore\|reconstruct" --include="*.py"

File Patterns: **/state/*.py, **/models/*.py, **/database/*.py

Compliance Criteria:

Anti-patterns:

• Retry count stored separately from task state
• Error history in logs but not in state
• LangGraph checkpoints + separate database storage
• No unified event thread

Factor 6: Launch/Pause/Resume

Principle: Agents support simple APIs for launching, pausing at any point, and resuming.

Search Patterns:

# Look for REST endpoints
grep -r "@router.post\|@app.post" --include="*.py"
grep -r "start_workflow\|pause\|resume" --include="*.py"

# Look for interrupt mechanisms
grep -r "interrupt_before\|interrupt_after" --include="*.py"

# Look for webhook handlers
grep -r "webhook\|callback" --include="*.py"

File Patterns: **/routes/*.py, **/api/*.py, **/orchestrator/*.py

Compliance Criteria:

Anti-patterns:

• Blocking input() or confirm() calls
• No way to resume after process restart
• Approval only at plan level, not per-tool
• No webhook-based resume from external systems

Factor 7: Contact Humans with Tools

Principle: Human contact is a tool call with question, options, and urgency.

Search Patterns:

# Look for human input mechanisms
grep -r "typer.confirm\|input(\|prompt(" --include="*.py"
grep -r "request_human_input\|human_contact" --include="*.py"

# Look for approval patterns
grep -r "approval\|approve\|reject" --include="*.py"

# Look for structured question formats
grep -r "question.*options\|HumanInputRequest" --include="*.py"

File Patterns: **/agents/*.py, **/tools/*.py, **/orchestrator/*.py

Compliance Criteria:

Anti-patterns:

• typer.confirm() in agent code
• Human contact hardcoded at specific graph nodes
• No way for agents to ask clarifying questions
• Single response format (yes/no only)

Factor 8: Own Your Control Flow

Principle: Custom control flow, not framework defaults. Full control over routing, retries, compaction.

Search Patterns:

# Look for routing l