Iterative Research Agent
Learn how to trace iterative research agents with self-loops using Noveum Trace
This guide shows you how to trace iterative research agents that can loop back to refine their work. You'll learn how to monitor self-loops, state evolution, and iterative refinement processes.
🎯 Use Case
Research Assistant Agent: An agent that conducts research on a topic, evaluates the quality of information gathered, and can loop back to gather more information if needed. We'll trace the complete iterative process.
🚀 Complete Working Example
Here's a complete, working example based on langgraph_agent_example.py
:
📋 Prerequisites
Set your environment variables:
🔧 How It Works
1. Iterative Process
The agent follows this flow:
- Research: Gather information using tools
- Evaluate: Assess the quality of information
- Decide: Continue research or synthesize results
- Synthesize: Create final report (if quality sufficient)
2. State Management
The ResearchState
tracks:
- Research topic and notes
- Current iteration count
- Quality evaluation score
- Completion status
3. Self-Loop Tracing
Each iteration is traced as a separate span:
- Research node execution
- Tool calls and results
- Evaluation process
- Decision-making logic
🎨 Advanced Examples
Adaptive Research Agent
Multi-Source Research
📊 What You'll See in the Dashboard
After running this example, check your Noveum dashboard:
Trace View
- Complete iterative workflow
- Each research iteration as a separate span
- Tool calls and results
- Evaluation and decision-making process
Span Details
- Individual iteration performance
- Tool execution times
- Quality score evolution
- State changes over time
Analytics
- Iteration patterns and efficiency
- Quality improvement over time
- Tool usage statistics
- Research effectiveness metrics
🔍 Troubleshooting
Common Issues
Infinite loops?
- Set appropriate
max_iterations
limit - Ensure evaluation criteria are realistic
- Monitor quality score thresholds
Poor research quality?
- Adjust evaluation criteria
- Improve tool implementations
- Add more diverse research sources
Performance issues?
- Monitor iteration execution times
- Optimize tool calls
- Consider parallel research strategies
🚀 Next Steps
Now that you've mastered iterative research agents, explore these patterns:
- Basic Agent - Simple agent workflows
💡 Pro Tips
- Set iteration limits: Prevent infinite loops with max iteration counts
- Monitor quality scores: Track research quality over iterations
- Use diverse sources: Combine multiple research tools
- Adapt strategies: Modify research approach based on results
- Track state evolution: Monitor how state changes through iterations
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