Functions & Classes

Classes & Objects

Classes and Objects

Classes help organize complex AI agent logic into reusable, maintainable structures.

Basic Class Structure

class ClassName:
    def __init__(self, params):
        self.attribute = params
    
    def method(self):
        return self.attribute

Key Concepts

  • `__init__` — Constructor, runs when creating instance
  • `self` — Reference to the instance
  • Attributes — Data stored in the instance
  • Methods — Functions that belong to the class

When to Use Classes for AI

  • Creating agent abstractions
  • Managing conversation state
  • Building tool collections
  • Handling API clients

Try It Yourself

Run this code example to practice what you've learned.

example.py
1from typing import Optional
2
3class AIAgent:
4    """A simple AI agent class."""
5    
6    def __init__(self, name: str, model: str = "gpt-4"):
7        self.name = name
8        self.model = model
9        self.messages: list[dict] = []
10        self.tools: list[dict] = []
11    
12    def add_system_message(self, content: str):
13        """Set the system prompt."""
14        self.messages.append({
15            "role": "system",
16            "content": content
17        })
18    
19    def add_user_message(self, content: str):
20        """Add a user message to the conversation."""
21        self.messages.append({
22            "role": "user", 
23            "content": content
24        })
25    
26    def register_tool(self, name: str, description: str, func):
27        """Register a tool the agent can use."""
28        self.tools.append({
29            "name": name,
30            "description": description,
31            "function": func
32        })
33    
34    def get_context(self) -> dict:
35        """Get the current agent context."""
36        return {
37            "agent": self.name,
38            "model": self.model,
39            "message_count": len(self.messages),
40            "tools": [t["name"] for t in self.tools]
41        }
42
43# Create and use the agent
44agent = AIAgent("ResearchBot", "gpt-4-turbo")
45agent.add_system_message("You are a helpful research assistant.")
46agent.add_user_message("Find information about Python.")
47
48# Register a tool
49def search(query: str) -> str:
50    return f"Results for: {query}"
51
52agent.register_tool("search", "Search the web", search)
53
54print("Agent Context:")
55for key, value in agent.get_context().items():
56    print(f"  {key}: {value}")