Chapter 1: Getting Started

April 13, 2026 · View on GitHub

Welcome to Chapter 1: Getting Started. In this part of Strands Agents Tutorial: Model-Driven Agent Systems with Native MCP Support, you will build an intuitive mental model first, then move into concrete implementation details and practical production tradeoffs.

This chapter gets a first Strands agent running with minimal setup.

Learning Goals

  • install Strands SDK and companion tools package
  • run a first tool-enabled agent call
  • establish a clean local development loop
  • avoid common setup mistakes

Quick Setup Pattern

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install strands-agents strands-agents-tools

Minimal usage:

from strands import Agent
from strands_tools import calculator

agent = Agent(tools=[calculator])
agent("What is the square root of 1764?")

Source References

Summary

You now have Strands installed with a working first invocation.

Next: Chapter 2: Agent Loop and Model-Driven Architecture

Source Code Walkthrough

Use the following upstream sources to verify getting started details while reading this chapter:

  • src/strands/agent/agent.py — the primary Agent class that developers instantiate to run agent loops; this is the entry point for any Strands agent and the first class to understand when getting started.
  • examples/ — the official examples directory with minimal working agents demonstrating tool registration, model selection, and basic invocation patterns.

Suggested trace strategy:

  • read the Agent.__init__ signature to understand required and optional parameters (model, tools, system_prompt)
  • trace a simple agent("hello") call through agent.py to see the full invocation path from user input to model response
  • check examples/ for the simplest possible working example to use as a baseline for first runs

How These Components Connect

flowchart LR
    A[agent = Agent(model, tools)] --> B[agent.py Agent class]
    B --> C[Agent loop invoked with user input]
    C --> D[Model response returned]