Agents and harnesses

A practical guide to building agents (PDF)

by OpenAI

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Plain-language foundations: when to build an agent, orchestration, guardrails.

This guide frames decisions about when an agent is appropriate, how work is coordinated and where safeguards belong. Read it before selecting a framework so that the task determines the architecture.

Level

Beginner

Models

any

Category

Agents and harnesses

Tags

design-patterns

Source date

date not stated

Added

2026-10-18

Last verified

2026-10-18

Status

ok

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