Testing and Debugging Your .do Agents with the SDK

Building powerful agentic applications on the .do platform requires not only writing great code but also ensuring it works as expected. This is where the .do SDK shines, offering comprehensive tools and strategies for testing and debugging your agents effectively.

The .do SDK is a Software Development Kit designed to help developers seamlessly integrate with and extend the capabilities of the .do platform. It provides libraries, tools, and documentation, making the development process smoother and enabling you to build custom agents, automate workflows, and connect external services with ease.

Let's explore how the SDK empowers you to ensure the reliability and performance of your .do agents.

The Importance of Testing Your Agents

Agentic applications often involve complex logic and interactions with various data sources and external services. Without thorough testing, you risk deploying agents that produce incorrect results, encounter unexpected errors, or fail to perform their intended tasks. Robust testing helps you:

• Identify bugs early: Catching issues during development is significantly cheaper and easier to fix than after deployment.
• Ensure correctness: Verify that your agent's logic produces the desired outputs for various inputs and scenarios.
• Improve reliability: Build confidence that your agent will consistently perform its function under different conditions.
• Simplify maintenance: Well-tested code is easier to understand and modify in the future.

Leveraging the .do SDK for Effective Testing

The .do SDK provides several features and approaches that facilitate comprehensive testing of your agents:

1. Direct Code Interaction:

The SDK allows you to interact with your agent's core logic directly within your development environment. Instead of solely relying on running the agent within the .do platform's workflow, you can instantiate your agent's code, provide simulated inputs, and observe the outputs programmatically. This enables:

• Unit Testing: Test individual components or functions of your agent in isolation. Use popular testing frameworks in your chosen language (e.g., Jest for TypeScript/JavaScript, Pytest for Python) to write tests that assert the behavior of specific parts of your agent's code.
• Integration Testing: Test how different parts of your agent interact with each other and with simulated external services or data.

Code Example (TypeScript):

import { Agent } from '@do/sdk';

// Assuming your agent's core logic is in a class or function
describe('MyAgent', () => {
  it('should process input correctly', async () => {
    const myAgent = new Agent('my-agent-id'); // Or instantiate your agent's class directly

    const result = await myAgent.run({
      input: { data: 'test data for processing' }
    });

    // Assert the expected output or behavior
    expect(result).toHaveProperty('output');
    // Add more specific assertions based on your agent's logic
  });

  // Add more test cases for different scenarios, edge cases, and error handling
});

2. Simulated Data and Environments:

The SDK helps you mock external dependencies and provide controlled inputs. This is crucial for testing scenarios that might be difficult or costly to replicate in a live environment. You can:

• Mock external API calls: Simulate responses from external services your agent interacts with.
• Provide mock data: Feed your agent with predefined data to test specific processing paths.
• Control environment variables: Simulate different configurations and settings.

3. Local Development and Execution:

While eventually deployed on the .do platform, the SDK encourages local development workflows. This allows for faster iteration, debugging, and testing without the overhead of deploying to the cloud for every minor change.

Debugging Your .do Agents with the SDK

Beyond testing, effective debugging is essential for identifying and resolving issues in your agent's code. The .do SDK facilitates debugging in several ways:

1. Detailed Error Reporting:

The SDK's libraries are designed to provide informative error messages and stack traces. When an error occurs during agent execution (either locally or through SDK calls), you'll receive details that help pinpoint the source of the problem.

2. Logging and Tracing:

Implement robust logging within your agent's code using standard logging libraries supported by your programming language. The SDK enables you to capture and view these logs during local runs and potentially integrate with .do platform logging features for centralized monitoring.

3. Debugging Tools in Your IDE:

Since you are developing locally using standard programming languages, you can leverage the powerful debugging tools available in your Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Set breakpoints, step through your code line by line, inspect variables, and analyze the execution flow to understand why your agent is behaving unexpectedly.

How to Get Started:

Getting started with testing and debugging your .do agents using the SDK is straightforward.

• Install the SDK: Download the SDK according to the instructions in the .do platform developer documentation.
• Set up your development environment: Ensure you have the necessary tools for your chosen programming language and a testing framework installed.
• Write unit and integration tests: Start writing tests that cover the core logic of your agent.
• Utilize logging: Add logging statements to track the execution flow and variable values.
• Use your IDE's debugger: Learn how to set breakpoints and step through your code to diagnose issues.

By embracing the testing and debugging capabilities offered by the .do SDK, you can build more reliable, robust, and high-performing agentic applications on the .do platform. Start incorporating these practices into your development workflow today to ensure your agents deliver their intended value.