Quick tour of all five layers
1
Layer 1 · Prompt
Say it clearly — role, instructions, output format.
2
Layer 2 · Context
Put the right thing in the window — memory, knowledge, compression.
3
Layer 3 · Harness
Let it act and check it — tools, guardrails, approval.
4
Layer 4 · Loop
Decide when to stop — iteration caps, budgets, completion checks.
5
Layer 5 · Graph
Wire agents together — routing, parallelisation, orchestration.
The five layers in depth
Layer 1 · Prompt — Did I say it clearly?
Layer 1 · Prompt — Did I say it clearly?
Layer 2 · Context — Is the right thing in the window?
Layer 2 · Context — Is the right thing in the window?
Layer 3 · Harness — Can it act, and be checked?
Layer 3 · Harness — Can it act, and be checked?
Agent = Model + Harness. Tool dispatch, plus the guides that steer before acting and the sensors that observe after.Learn more: Tools, MCP, Guardrails, Approval, Hooks.
Layer 4 · Loop — When do we stop?
Layer 4 · Loop — When do we stop?
Hard iteration caps, budget ceilings, no-progress detection and completion checks — every brake is explicit.Learn more: Execution, Reflection, Autonomy, Budget, Doom-Loop Detection.
Layer 5 · Graph — Who runs when, and who checks whom?
Layer 5 · Graph — Who runs when, and who checks whom?
Topology as a versionable artifact: prompt chaining, routing, parallelisation, orchestrator-worker.Learn more: AgentFlow, Conditions, Process.
⬡ Outside the stack: Managed Agents — Where does it actually run?
⬡ Outside the stack: Managed Agents — Where does it actually run?
The harness is commoditising; where the agent executes is the next multiplier. Rather than burning your laptop’s CPU, hand an agent a short-lived cloud sandbox — repo, tools and tests run there.Learn more: Managed Agents, E2B, Modal, Daytona, Docker, Local.
Sandboxes shut themselves down when idle (
auto_shutdown, idle_timeout_s), and a post-setup snapshot is reused so the next run skips the image pull and dependency install. Commit a .praisonai/environment.yaml and the environment travels with the repo.Manage running sandboxes from the CLI — both commands take required positional arguments:
Which layer is my bug in?
Related
Layer 1 · Prompt
Role, instructions, and output format.
Layer 2 · Context
Memory, knowledge, and compression.
Layer 3 · Harness
Tools, guardrails, and approval.
Layer 4 · Loop
Iteration caps, budgets, and completion checks.
Layer 5 · Graph
Routing, parallelisation, and orchestration.
⬡ Managed Agents
Where the agent actually runs.

