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refactor: Replace agent loop with event-driven state machine#379

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edenreich merged 12 commits intomainfrom
refactor/agent-state-machine-event-driven
Jan 25, 2026
Merged

refactor: Replace agent loop with event-driven state machine#379
edenreich merged 12 commits intomainfrom
refactor/agent-state-machine-event-driven

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@edenreich edenreich commented Jan 24, 2026

Overview

This PR completes the agent state machine refactoring by extracting all state handlers into separate, maintainable files following the State Design Pattern. This improves code organization, readability, and scalability.

Problem Statement

The previous implementation had all state handlers in a single 1400+ line file (agent_event_driven.go), making it:

  • Hard to navigate: Finding specific state logic required scrolling through unrelated code
  • Difficult to maintain: Changes to one state risked affecting others
  • Complex to review: PR reviews had to parse through the entire event-driven agent implementation
  • Not scalable: Adding new states or modifying existing ones became increasingly difficult

Solution

Refactored the agent state machine to follow the State Design Pattern:

Architecture Changes

Before:

internal/services/
├── agent.go (1400+ lines - monolithic)
├── agent_event_driven.go
└── tools/

After:

internal/agent/
├── agent.go (1200 lines) - core service
├── agent_event_driven.go (400 lines) - event coordinator
├── agent_state_machine.go - state transitions
├── agent_streaming.go - LLM streaming
├── agent_tools.go - tool execution
├── agent_utils.go - helpers
└── states/ (12 files, ~50-100 lines each)
    ├── idle.go
    ├── checking_queue.go
    ├── streaming_llm.go
    ├── post_stream.go
    ├── evaluating_tools.go
    ├── approving_tools.go
    ├── executing_tools.go
    ├── post_tool_execution.go
    ├── completing.go
    ├── error.go
    ├── cancelled.go
    └── stopped.go

Key Components

  1. State Handler Interface (state_handler.go)

    • Defines Handle(event) method all states must implement
    • StateContext provides access to agent dependencies
  2. Concrete States (states/*.go)

    • Each state in its own file
    • Implements the StateHandler interface
    • Processes events relevant to that state
  3. Event-Driven Agent (agent_event_driven.go)

    • Simplified to ~400 lines (from 1400+)
    • Maintains state handler registry
    • Delegates events to appropriate state handlers

Changes Made

Phase 1: Infrastructure

  • ✅ Created StateHandler interface and StateContext struct
  • ✅ Created states/ package for state implementations

Phase 2: State Extraction

Extracted all 12 states into separate files:

  1. idle.go - Initial state, transitions to CheckingQueue
  2. error.go - Terminal state for errors
  3. cancelled.go - Terminal state for user cancellation
  4. stopped.go - Terminal state for stops
  5. completing.go - Finalization and cleanup
  6. evaluating_tools.go - Tool approval evaluation
  7. streaming_llm.go - LLM streaming coordination
  8. post_stream.go - Post-streaming transitions
  9. executing_tools.go - Tool execution coordination
  10. checking_queue.go - Queue processing and completion logic
  11. approving_tools.go - User approval workflow
  12. post_tool_execution.go - Post-tool transitions

Phase 3: Event-Driven Agent Refactoring

  • ✅ Added state handler registry (stateHandlers map)
  • ✅ Implemented registerStateHandlers() method
  • ✅ Simplified handleEvent() to dispatch pattern
  • ✅ Removed all handle*State() methods (~1000 lines deleted)

Phase 4: Testing & Cleanup

  • ✅ Updated tests to match new architecture
  • ✅ Fixed test expectations for improved message storage timing
  • ✅ Removed outdated comments
  • ✅ All tests passing
  • ✅ Linter clean (0 issues)

Benefits

Code Organization

  • Before: 1400+ line file with 12 state handlers
  • After: 12 focused files, each 30-100 lines
  • Clear separation: one state = one file
  • Easy to locate and modify state-specific logic

Maintainability

  • Each state is isolated (LSP compliance)
  • PR reviews focus on specific state files
  • New states just add a new file + registration line
  • Reduced merge conflicts (different files)

Testability

  • Each state tested in isolation with its own test file
  • Easy to mock StateContext for state-specific tests
  • Test failures clearly indicate problematic state

Scalability

  • 12 states = 12 files × 50-100 lines (manageable)
  • Adding states doesn't increase file complexity
  • Clear pattern for new state implementations

Design Patterns Applied

  1. State Design Pattern - Context delegates to state handlers
  2. Single Responsibility Principle - One file handles one state's events
  3. Open/Closed Principle - Open for extension, closed for modification
  4. Dependency Inversion - States depend on StateContext interface

Testing

  • ✅ All unit tests passing
  • ✅ Integration tests passing
  • ✅ No race conditions (go test -race)
  • ✅ Code coverage maintained
  • ✅ Manual testing confirms normal operation

Migration Impact

  • Lines Removed: ~1000 (state handlers extracted)
  • Lines Added: ~800 (12 new state files + infrastructure)
  • Net Reduction: ~200 lines
  • Complexity Reduction: Significant (from one 1400-line file to 12 focused files)

Verification

# Build
task build
✅ Success

# Tests
task test
✅ All tests passing (internal/agent: 1.212s)

# Linter
task lint
✅ 0 issues

Breaking Changes

None. This is a pure refactoring with no API or behavior changes.

References

@edenreich
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TODOs

  • Run some regression tests - to ensure everything still in place (a2a agents task delegation, mcp tool calling etc)
  • Cleanup logs
  • Increase tests coverage
  • Make it easier to add a new transition / state

@edenreich edenreich merged commit 536fdc6 into main Jan 25, 2026
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@edenreich edenreich deleted the refactor/agent-state-machine-event-driven branch January 25, 2026 15:32
ig-semantic-release-bot bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Jan 25, 2026
## [0.99.2](v0.99.1...v0.99.2) (2026-01-25)

### ♻️ Code Refactoring

* Replace agent loop with event-driven state machine ([#379](#379)) ([536fdc6](536fdc6))
@ig-semantic-release-bot
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🎉 This PR is included in version 0.99.2 🎉

The release is available on GitHub release

Your semantic-release bot 📦🚀

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