What are AI Agents?

AI agents are smart programs that can plan, decide, and act on their own to reach a goal — kind of like how AI code assistants write and refactor code for you without you micromanaging every step.

Think about using an AI tool like Cursor or GitHub Copilot. You don't tell it exactly what lines of code to write — you just ask, "Refactor this function" or "Generate a unit test," and it figures out the details.

That's how AI agents work:

• They understand a goal
• Plan what steps are needed
• And take action to complete the goal, adapting if things change

In development, AI agents power tools that can:

• Auto-generate code snippets
• Optimize SQL queries
• Troubleshoot bugs by reading logs
• Or even make architectural suggestions based on your codebase

Under the hood, they often manage state (keeping track of progress) and apply decision-making algorithms to pick smart next moves — just like how a human would.

Simple Example:

// Very basic "agent" idea: auto-fixing a linter error
function aiFixLintError(code) {
  if (code.hasLintError) {
    return autoFix(code);
  } else {
    return code;
  }
}

Here, the agent checks the "state" of the code and fixes issues automatically — no detailed instructions needed.