Dependency Rationale

June 2, 2026 ยท View on GitHub

Agent OS follows "Scale by Subtraction" - minimal dependencies for a lean kernel.

Core Dependencies (1 dependency)

PackageVersionWhy NeededAlternatives Considered
pydantic>=2.0.0Type validation, schema enforcement, JSON serializationdataclasses (lacks validation), attrs (less ecosystem)

Total core deps: 1 (matches our "kernel should be lean" philosophy)

Optional Dependencies by Layer

Layer 1: Primitives

  • No additional dependencies (zero external deps)

Layer 2: CMVK

PackageWhy Needed
numpyDrift calculation, semantic similarity metrics

Layer 3: CaaS (Context-as-a-Service)

PackageWhy Needed
fastapiREST API endpoints
uvicornASGI server
pypdfDocument parsing
numpyVector operations
scikit-learnML-based context ranking

Layer 4: IATP (Inter-Agent Trust Protocol)

PackageWhy Needed
fastapiTrust gateway API
uvicornASGI server
httpxAsync HTTP for agent-to-agent comms

Layer 5: AMB (Agent Message Bus)

PackageWhy Needed
anyioAsync runtime abstraction
aiofilesAsync file I/O for durability

Layer 6: ATR (Agent Tool Registry)

PackageWhy Needed
dockerContainer isolation for untrusted tools

Layer 7: Control Plane

  • Zero external dependencies (by design)
  • All kernel-space code uses only stdlib

Development Dependencies

PackageWhy Needed
pytestTest framework
pytest-asyncioAsync test support
pytest-covCoverage reporting
mypyStatic type checking
ruffFast linting
blackCode formatting

Security Posture

Known Vulnerabilities (as of 2026-01)

Run pip-audit to check current status:

pip-audit

License Compatibility

All dependencies use MIT, BSD, or Apache 2.0 licenses (enterprise-friendly).

PackageLicense
pydanticMIT
numpyBSD
fastapiMIT
uvicornBSD
httpxBSD
anyioMIT

Dependency Minimization Strategy

  1. Kernel Space (0 deps): Control plane uses only Python stdlib
  2. User Space (optional): Features that need deps are optional extras
  3. No Transitive Bloat: We pin major versions, not micro-deps
  4. Regular Audits: Dependabot + pip-audit in CI

Installing

# Minimal (just pydantic)
pip install agent-os-kernel

# With specific features
pip install agent-os-kernel[cmvk]      # + numpy
pip install agent-os-kernel[iatp]      # + fastapi, httpx
pip install agent-os-kernel[full]      # Everything

# Development
pip install agent-os-kernel[dev]       # + pytest, mypy, ruff

Updating Dependencies

# Check for outdated packages
pip list --outdated

# Check for vulnerabilities
pip-audit

# Update all (dev environment)
pip install --upgrade -e ".[dev]"