What Is an AI Agent?
An AI agent is a system built on top of a large language model that can autonomously plan, reason, and take actions to accomplish a goal — going beyond simple question-and-answer chat.
How Agents Work
- Goal: The user provides a high-level objective (“Research competitors and write a summary”)
- Planning: The agent breaks the goal into subtasks
- Action: It executes each step using tools — web search, file access, API calls
- Observation: It reads the results and decides what to do next
- Iteration: The loop continues until the goal is achieved
Agent vs. Chatbot
| Aspect | Chatbot | Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Interaction | Single turn Q&A | Multi-step workflow |
| Tools | None or limited | Multiple (search, code, APIs) |
| Autonomy | Responds to prompts | Plans and executes |
| Memory | Conversation only | Can persist state |
Key Components
- Function calling: How agents invoke tools
- MCP: Protocol for connecting to external tools and data
- Planning loop: The reasoning engine that decides what to do next
- Memory: Short-term (conversation) and long-term (persistent) context
Agents in Elvean
Elvean’s agentic tool calling lets models chain multiple actions together — search the web, analyze results, generate charts, and present findings — all in a single conversation turn.
Elvean brings all these concepts together in one native Mac app — local models, cloud APIs, agentic tools, and more.
Learn more about Elvean