Chapter 1: Getting Started

Welcome to Chapter 1: Getting Started. In this part of ADK Python Tutorial: Production-Grade Agent Engineering with Google's ADK, you will build an intuitive mental model first, then move into concrete implementation details and practical production tradeoffs.

This chapter gets ADK running locally so you can validate the core developer loop quickly.

Learning Goals

• install ADK in a clean Python environment
• create a minimal agent project structure
• run with ADK CLI and web tools
• avoid first-run setup pitfalls

Quick Setup Pattern

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install google-adk

Then create a minimal agent module and run:

adk web path/to/agents_dir

First-Use Checklist

1. confirm Python and environment are healthy
2. install google-adk and launch the UI
3. run one user turn through your root agent
4. verify tool calls and events appear as expected

Source References

• ADK README: Installation
• ADK Quickstart
• ADK CLI Documentation

Summary

You now have ADK installed and a working baseline invocation flow.

Next: Chapter 2: Architecture and Runner Lifecycle

Source Code Walkthrough

contributing/samples/runner_debug_example/main.py

The contributing/samples/runner_debug_example/main.py shows the simplest valid ADK usage: creating a runner, passing a user message, and printing the response. This maps directly to the "first agent run" goal of Chapter 1 — it demonstrates the minimal boilerplate needed to go from zero to a working agent in a local environment.