GitHub - humanlayer/12-factor-agents: What are the principles we can use to build LLM-powered software that is actually good enough to put in the hands of production customers?

Summary

Summarized wtih ChatGPT

The text discusses principles for building effective LLM-powered software, emphasizing the need for a structured approach akin to the “12 Factor Apps.” It highlights that many existing AI agents are not truly agentic and often rely on deterministic code. The author encourages developers to incorporate modular concepts from agent building into their existing products for better results.

Key Takeaways:

1. Understand and apply the 12 factors for building reliable LLM applications.
2. Focus on integrating small, modular concepts into existing software rather than reinventing the wheel.
3. Engage with the developer community for feedback and collaboration on improving AI frameworks.

Highlights from Article

n building HumanLayer, I’ve talked to at least 100 SaaS builders (mostly technical founders) looking to make their existing product more agentic. The journey usually goes something like:

Decide you want to build an agent Product design, UX mapping, what problems to solve Want to move fast, so grab $FRAMEWORK and get to building Get to 70-80% quality bar Realize that 80% isn’t good enough for most customer-facing features Realize that getting past 80% requires reverse-engineering the framework, prompts, flow, etc. Start over from scratch

In building HumanLayer, I’ve talked to at least 100 SaaS builders (mostly technical founders) looking to make their existing product more agentic. The journey usually goes something like: Decide you want to build an agent Product design, UX mapping, what problems to solve Want to move fast, so grab $FRAMEWORK and get to building Get to 70-80% quality bar 5a. Realize that 80% isn’t good enough for most customer-facing features 5b. Realize that getting past 80% requires reverse-engineering the framework, prompts, flow, etc Start over from scratch

• Current day agents typically hit a ceiling on quality - 80% or so.

BUT, the fastest way I’ve seen for builders to get high-quality AI software in the hands of customers is to take small, modular concepts from agent building, and incorporate them into their existing product

All material owns to the authors, of course. If I’m highlighting or writing notes on this, I mostly likely recommend reading the original article, of course.

See other recent things I’ve read here.