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There does seem to be a need for a semi-deterministic workflow where nodes in the workflow are agentic, i.e., powered by LLMs, but the workflow itself remains d

by avilay 2mo ago

There does seem to be a need for a semi-deterministic workflow where nodes in the workflow are agentic, i.e., powered by LLMs, but the workflow itself remains deterministic. Lets say my daily workflow is to download a PDF from some website, extract some information from it, and email that information. I cannot just ask an agent to script this workflow, because the website will keep changing, the PDF layout will keep changing, etc. I need a "download agent", an "extract info" agent, and so on which will examine the website, PDF, etc. and generate any one-off scripts everytime the workflow is run.

Yopolo 2mo ago
And without an LLM you wouldn't even try? I don't mind semi-deterministic for plenty of things. But these agents like hermes, can codify a skill to be deterministic.
dugmartin 2mo ago
My solution for that is to use skills and add a omnibus shell script in each particular skill folder that does all the deterministic steps and then write the skill markdown to only use the script, usually passing a command line step parameter to the script. I also usually add a note in the skill markdown that it should monitor how it calls the script and suggest any improvements when the skill is used. As an example I have a `today` skill that has a today.sh script that can check my email, bug tracker, calendars, custom timesheet system and other systems via the script and then the skill assembles a nice summary of what is happening today along with a suggested schedule.
rpunkfu 2mo ago
This is exactly what I’ve been building with ctx.traits :) https://ctx.company/traits/docs/ https://ctx.company/traits/docs/
nijave 2mo ago
n8n will do that
ashu1461 2mo ago
I guess the tradeoff is doing it in a workflow builder vs just dumping all your requirements in a single agent, With LLMs getting smarter, they can create sub agents automatically if required and take the abstraction away from the user.

by avilay 2mo ago

Yopolo 2mo ago

And without an LLM you wouldn't even try? I don't mind semi-deterministic for plenty of things. But these agents like hermes, can codify a skill to be deterministic.

dugmartin 2mo ago

My solution for that is to use skills and add a omnibus shell script in each particular skill folder that does all the deterministic steps and then write the skill markdown to only use the script, usually passing a command line step parameter to the script. I also usually add a note in the skill markdown that it should monitor how it calls the script and suggest any improvements when the skill is used. As an example I have a `today` skill that has a today.sh script that can check my email, bug tracker, calendars, custom timesheet system and other systems via the script and then the skill assembles a nice summary of what is happening today along with a suggested schedule.

rpunkfu 2mo ago

This is exactly what I’ve been building with ctx.traits :) https://ctx.company/traits/docs/ https://ctx.company/traits/docs/

nijave 2mo ago

n8n will do that

ashu1461 2mo ago

I guess the tradeoff is doing it in a workflow builder vs just dumping all your requirements in a single agent, With LLMs getting smarter, they can create sub agents automatically if required and take the abstraction away from the user.