When you type a question into ChatGPT, the model only has what you typed to work with. But tools like Claude Code can plan, iterate, test, and recover from mistakes. They work more like we do. The difference is the agent harness: Planning tools, file system access, sub-agents, and carefully crafted system prompts that turn a raw LLM into something genuinely capable.
 

 
Sydney Runkle is back on Talk Python representing LangChain and their new open source library, Deep Agents: A framework for building your own deep agents with plain Python functions, middleware hooks, and MCP support. This is how the magic works under the hood. 
 
Episode sponsors 
 
<a href='https://talkpython.fm/sentry'>Sentry Error Monitoring, Code talkpython26</a>
<a href='https://talkpython.fm/temporal'>Temporal</a>
<a href='https://talkpython.fm/training'>Talk Python Courses</a> 
 
<h2 class="links-heading mb-4">Links from the show</h2>
<div>Guest 
Sydney Runkle: <a href="https://github.com/sydney-runkle?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >github.com</a> 
 
Claude Code uses: <a href="https://x.com/alexalbert__/status/1948765443776544885?ref=blog.langchain.com&featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >x.com</a> 
Deep Research: <a href="https://openai.com/index/introducing-deep-research/?ref=blog.langchain.com&featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >openai.com</a> 
Manus: <a href="https://manus.im/?ref=blog.langchain.com&featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >manus.im</a> 
Blog post announcement: <a href="https://blog.langchain.com/deep-agents/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >blog.langchain.com</a> 
Claudes system prompt: <a href="https://github.com/kn1026/cc/blob/main/claudecode.md?ref=blog.langchain.com&featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >github.com</a> 
sub agents: <a href="https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/sub-agents?ref=blog.langchain.com&featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >docs.anthropic.com</a> 
the quick start: <a href="https://docs.langchain.com/oss/python/deepagents/quickstart?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >docs.langchain.com</a> 
CLIs: <a href="https://github.com/langchain-ai/deepagents?tab=readme-ov-file#deep-agents-cli" target="_blank" >github.com</a> 
Talk Python's CLI: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/blog/posts/talk-python-now-has-a-cli/" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm</a> 
custom tools: <a href="https://docs.langchain.com/oss/python/deepagents/overview#create-a-deep-agent" target="_blank" >docs.langchain.com</a> 
DeepAgents Examples: <a href="https://github.com/langchain-ai/deepagents/tree/main/examples?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >github.com</a> 
Custom Middleware: <a href="https://docs.langchain.com/langsmith/custom-middleware#how-to-add-custom-middleware" target="_blank" >docs.langchain.com</a> 
Built in middleware: <a href="https://docs.langchain.com/oss/python/deepagents/customization#middleware" target="_blank" >docs.langchain.com</a> 
Improving Deep Agents with harness engineering: <a href="https://blog.langchain.com/improving-deep-agents-with-harness-engineering/?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >blog.langchain.com</a> 
Prebuilt middleware: <a href="https://docs.langchain.com/oss/python/langchain/middleware/built-in?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >docs.langchain.com</a> 
 
Watch this episode on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRwA-fBNZZ4" target="_blank" >youtube.com</a> 
Episode #543 deep-dive: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/show/543/deep-agents-langchains-sdk-for-agents-that-plan-and-delegate#takeaways-anchor" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/543</a> 
Episode transcripts: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/episodes/transcript/543/deep-agents-langchains-sdk-for-agents-that-plan-and-delegate" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm</a> 
 
Theme Song: Developer Rap 
🥁 Served in a Flask 🎸: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/flasksong" target="_blank" >talkpython.fm/flasksong</a> 
 
---== Don't be a stranger ==--- 
YouTube: <a href="https://talkpython.fm/youtube" target="_blank" > youtube.com/@talkpython</a> 
 
Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/talkpython.fm" target="_blank" >@talkpython.fm</a> 
Mastodon: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@talkpython" target="_blank" > @talkpython@fosstodon.org</a> 
X.com: <a href="https://x.com/talkpython" target="_blank" > @talkpython</a> 
 
Michael on Bluesky: <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mkennedy.codes?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" >@mkennedy.codes</a> 
Michael on Mastodon: <a href="https://fosstodon.org/web/@mkennedy" target="_blank" > @mkennedy@fosstodon.org</a> 
Michael on X.com: <a href="https://x.com/mkennedy?featured_on=talkpython" target="_blank" > @mkennedy</a> </div>

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