{"id":4362,"date":"2026-09-22T10:20:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/?p=4362"},"modified":"2026-09-22T10:21:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T14:21:35","slug":"ai-agent-demystified-building-a-minimalist-agent-in-matlab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/2026\/09\/22\/ai-agent-demystified-building-a-minimalist-agent-in-matlab\/","title":{"rendered":"AI Agent Demystified &#8211; Building a Minimalist Agent in MATLAB"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class = rtcContent><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;'>Bio:<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-style: italic;'>This is a guest post by <\/span><a href = \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toshi\/\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-style: italic;'>Toshi Takeuchi<\/span><\/a><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-style: italic;'>, Community Advocate active in online communities. Toshi has held many marketing roles at MathWorks over the last 20 years<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">You hear about AI agents everywhere these days, but you are not sure what they are, or how real they are. Is it just a hype? I was impressed by what they can do, but couldn't understand how they were possible, until I read somewhere that:<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-weight: bold;'>Agents are just LLM + loop + tools.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">So, I decided to build a tiny one in MATLAB so that I can learn how it actually works.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Now, agents have stopped feeling mysterious. They start looking like something MATLAB users already understand: a program, a loop, and a few functions.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">In this video, I run a small MATLAB agent with a local model served by Ollama. The project uses the <\/span><a href = \"https:\/\/github.com\/matlab\/matlab-ai-agent-sdk\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">MATLAB AI Agent SDK<\/span><\/a><span class=\"_richTextNode\">, so most of the agent machinery is handled for us.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> <\/span><iframe class = \"onlineVideoNode\" src = \"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pLqxHyDPlis\" width = \"560\" height = \"315\"><\/iframe><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">You can also find my project <\/span><a href = \"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/matlabcentral\/fileexchange\/184105-minimal-matlab-agent\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">on File Exchange<\/span><\/a><span class=\"_richTextNode\">.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">The Agentic Loop<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Most people are familiar with chat-based AI: ask a question, get an answer. Agents go further by taking actions on your behalf. That sounds like a big jump, but the basic building blocks are surprisingly ordinary:<\/span><\/div><ul  style = 'margin: 10px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; '><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-weight: bold;'>LLM<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> - the model that decides what to do next, with reasoning and tool call capabilities.<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-weight: bold;'>Loop<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> - the program that keeps asking the model for the next step<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-weight: bold;'>Tools<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> - ordinary functions the model is allowed to call<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">In MATLAB terms, that can look like this:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >conversation = {};                      <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% conversation history<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">while <\/span><span >true                              <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% start agentic loop<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    response = LLMclient(conversation); <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% call the LLM<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    conversation{end+1} = response;     <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% append response<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">if <\/span><span >has_tool_calls(response)         <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% if it contains a tool call<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        results = run_tools(response);  <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% execute requested tools<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        conversation{end+1} = results;  <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% append tool results<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">else<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        disp(response.text);            <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% no more tool calls<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">break<\/span><span >                           <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">% done<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">end<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">end<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Real agents also need boundaries: which tools can be called, how many rounds are allowed, and which operations require approval. But the loop is the core.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Tools<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">This is the part I like most: in my minimal MATLAB agent, tools are just MATLAB functions. Here is <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>tool_read_file<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\">, a tool that reads the contents of a text file.<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">function <\/span><span >result = tool_read_file(path)<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 128, 19);\">%TOOL_READ_FILE Read text from a file.<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    path = resolve_path(path);<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">if <\/span><span >~isfile(path)<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        result = <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"Error: file not found: \" <\/span><span >+ path;<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">return<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">end<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    result = join(readlines(path), newline);<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">if <\/span><span >strlength(result) == 0<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        result = <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"(empty file)\"<\/span><span >;<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">end<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">end<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">MATLAB AI Agent SDK<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">I wanted this project to stay small enough that you could read it in one sitting. Instead of writing my own agentic loop, I used MATLAB AI Agent SDK. I also used Ollama to run a local model and avoid API-key setup. The SDK can also use frontier models through OpenAI-compatible APIs.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">The key is that the SDK owns the LLM client, message history, and agentic tool-calling loop, including user approvals.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">With the SDK, the loop becomes one line of code.<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >response = run(bot, prompt);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">That is a nice tradeoff for a learning project: the SDK handles the loop, and I get to focus on what the agent can actually do.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">A Note About Minimal MATLAB Agent<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">My goal was to understand how AI coding agents like Claude Code or Codex work, using familiar MATLAB code. I added support for MATLAB MCP Server so I can use existing tools it provides, instead of rolling my own. MCP stands for model context protocol, a standardized way for LLMs to talk to external tools, such as MATLAB.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">This is not meant to be production guidance. It is not clear that it makes practical sense to create a MATLAB coding agent that calls a second MATLAB session via MCP to generate MATLAB code, since you can run any MATLAB code directly in MATLAB. I released it as a personal, exploratory project because it makes the moving parts visible. If you build your own agent, you can likely find a better use case.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Please follow the README and install all the dependencies you need:<\/span><\/div><ul  style = 'margin: 10px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; '><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><a href = \"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/downloads\/matlab\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">MATLAB<\/span><\/a><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> R2022b or later<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><a href = \"https:\/\/github.com\/matlab\/matlab-ai-agent-sdk\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">MATLAB AI Agent SDK <\/span><\/a><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Access to <\/span><a href = \"https:\/\/ollama.com\/\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Ollama<\/span><\/a><span class=\"_richTextNode\">, either running locally or available through a remote Ollama-compatible endpoint on your network<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><a href = \"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/products\/matlab-mcp-server.html\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">MATLAB MCP Server<\/span><\/a><span class=\"_richTextNode\">, installed via <\/span><a href = \"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/products\/matlab-agentic-toolkit.html\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">MATLAB Agentic Toolkit<\/span><\/a><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Base Python, using the version supported by your MATLAB release. No extra Python packages are required<\/span><\/li><\/ul><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Project Layout<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Minimal MATLAB Agent is small enough to inspect directly:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >agent.m              Main <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">SDK\/Ollama REPL entry point<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >config.json          Runtime <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">configuration<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >get_tools.m          SDK <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">tool registration<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >load_config.m        Config <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">loader<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >get_system_prompt.m  Agent <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">instructions<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >tools\/               Local tools <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">and MCP wrapper tools<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >mcp\/                 Stdio MCP <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">client and Python subprocess shim<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>agent.m<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> is the main file. It loads configuration, creates an Ollama client, connects to the MATLAB MCP Server, registers tools, creates the SDK agent, and then starts a simple command-line prompt.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Configuration<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">The default model is <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>qwen3:8b<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> running through Ollama:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >{<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"model\"<\/span><span >: <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"qwen3:8b\"<\/span><span >,<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"ollama_endpoint\"<\/span><span >: <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"http:\/\/127.0.0.1:11434\"<\/span><span >,<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"max_tokens\"<\/span><span >: 8192,<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"timeout\"<\/span><span >: 600,<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"max_iterations\"<\/span><span >: 10,<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"verbose\"<\/span><span >: false<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >}<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">This keeps the example local. Ollama serves the model, and MATLAB talks to Ollama through an OpenAI-compatible endpoint.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">You can pull the model from a terminal:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span style=\"color: rgb(225, 27, 20);\">```<\/span><span >bash<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >ollama <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">pull qwen3:8b<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >ollama <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">serve<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span style=\"color: rgb(225, 27, 20);\">```<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">If Ollama is already running as a background service, <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>ollama serve<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> may report that the port is already in use. That usually just means the server is already available.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Creating the LLM Client<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">In <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>agent.m<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\">, the project creates an SDK LLM client:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >client = aisdk.LLMClient(<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"ollama\"<\/span><span >, model, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    MaxNumTokens=cfg.max_tokens, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    TimeOut=cfg.timeout, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    BaseURL=endpoint);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">This is the LLM part of \"LLM + loop + tools.\" The model can be changed in <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>config.json<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> or overridden when starting the agent:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >agent(Model=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"qwen3:8b\"<\/span><span >, Endpoint=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"http:\/\/127.0.0.1:11434\"<\/span><span >)<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Defining the tools<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">The project defines a small set of local tools:<\/span><\/div><ul  style = 'margin: 10px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; '><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>read_file<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>write_file<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>list_files<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>ask_user<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">It also defines MATLAB tools backed by the MATLAB MCP Server:<\/span><\/div><ul  style = 'margin: 10px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; '><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>evaluate_matlab_code<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>detect_matlab_toolboxes<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>check_matlab_code<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>run_matlab_file<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>run_matlab_test_file<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">The tool definitions are ordinary MATLAB code. Here is the <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>read_file<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> tool registration:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >readFile = aisdk.LLMTool(@tool_read_file, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    Name=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"read_file\"<\/span><span >, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    Description=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"Read the contents of a text file.\"<\/span><span >, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    InputArguments=aisdk.LLMToolArgument(<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"path\"<\/span><span >, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        DataType=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"string\"<\/span><span >, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >        Description=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"Absolute or relative path to the file.\"<\/span><span >));<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">This tells the model that a tool named <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>read_file<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> exists, describes when to use it, and defines the input argument. The function handle points to the MATLAB implementation.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Some tools can require approval. For example, writing files is useful, but it changes the workspace. The project marks <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>write_file<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> with:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >RequiresApproval=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"always\"<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">That is an important part of agent design. The human user and the host program decide what the agent is allowed to do.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Creating the Agent<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Once the client and tools exist, <\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>agent.m<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> creates the SDK agent:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >workspace = struct(<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"mcpClient\"<\/span><span >, mcpClient, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"projectDir\"<\/span><span >, projectDir);<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >tools = get_tools();<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >bot = aisdk.AIAgent(client, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    SystemPrompt=get_system_prompt(), <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    Tools=tools, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    Workspace=workspace, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    MaxIterations=cfg.max_iterations, <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(14, 0, 255);\">...<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >    DisplayMode=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"detailed\"<\/span><span >);<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>get_system_prompt<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> gives the model its operating instructions. In this project, the prompt tells the model that it is a coding assistant running inside MATLAB, and that it should use tools to inspect files, write files, ask clarifying questions, and execute MATLAB work through the MATLAB MCP Server.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\" style=' font-family: monospace;'>MaxIterations<\/span><span class=\"_richTextNode\"> is the loop limit. This prevents the agent from calling tools forever.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Running the Agent<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">From the project folder, start the agent with:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >agent<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Or run a single prompt and return immediately:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >agent(Prompt=<\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">\"List files in the current directory.\"<\/span><span >)<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">In my project, the command-line interface is deliberately plain:<\/span><\/div><div class = 'preformatted-matlab' style = 'margin: 10px 3px 10px 55px; padding: 10px 10px 10px 5px; '><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >Minimal <\/span><span style=\"color: rgb(167, 9, 245);\">MATLAB Agent - Ollama (type \"quit\" to exit)<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >====================================================<\/span><\/span><\/div><div  style = 'border-left: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-right: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-top: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-bottom: 0px none rgb(33, 33, 33); border-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 15.6px; min-height: 16px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, \"Courier New\", monospace; font-size: 12px; '><span style=\"white-space: pre\"><span >You&gt;&gt;<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Why This Is Enough to Feel Agentic<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">This is what surprised me while working on the project: the interesting behavior does not come from a complicated framework. It comes from the loop and the tools.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">The model can ask to inspect the workspace. The tool result changes what the model knows. Then the model can ask for the next tool call. After several rounds, the final answer can reflect what actually happened, not just what the model guessed might happen.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">What This Means to MATLAB Users<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">For MATLAB users, the important point is that the tools are just functions. A tool can list files, read a table, run a script, check code, run a test, or ask the user a question. The agentic part is the loop that lets the model choose and use those tools one step at a time.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">This means you can use your familiar MATLAB environment and toolboxes to build your own agent with your own domain knowledge, and the SDK takes care of the hard part.<\/span><\/div><ul  style = 'margin: 10px 0px 20px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; '><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">You build your agent, so you know what's going on inside, and you can add as much guardrails as you need<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Reuse your existing MATLAB code assets, such as functions, algorithms, toolboxes, apps, etc. that you trust<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Use local models to keep the data on premise<\/span><\/li><li  style = 'margin-left: 56px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">While LLMs may not be deterministic, the MATLAB part of your agent will be.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">One example - you are running an automated process on thousands of test results in MATLAB, but you have a lot of edge cases to inspect. Using the SDK, you can incorporate LLM as a classifier to prioritize those edge cases for human review.<\/span><\/div><h2  style = 'margin: 3px 10px 5px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 25px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Closing Thought<\/span><\/h2><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Once you see an agent as LLM + loop + tools, it becomes much easier to imagine building one yourself.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Try starting small. Pick one useful task from your own MATLAB workflow, expose one or two MATLAB functions as tools, and let the MATLAB AI Agent SDK handle the model client, message history, tool calls, approvals, and loop.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">You can also use my project as a starting point for customization. Just for fun, I added a Telegram interface so that I can send voice messages to MATLAB on my smartphone.<\/span><\/div><div  style = 'margin: 2px 10px 9px 4px; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px; min-height: 0px; white-space: pre; color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 400; text-align: left; '><span class=\"_richTextNode\">Ready to get started with MATLAB AI Agent SDK? Share your thoughts and questions with <\/span><a href = \"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/matlabcentral\/discussions\/ai\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">the MATLAB community<\/span><\/a><span class=\"_richTextNode\">, and share your agents on <\/span><a href = \"https:\/\/www.mathworks.com\/matlabcentral\/fileexchange\/\"><span class=\"_richTextNode\">File Exchange<\/span><\/a><span class=\"_richTextNode\">.<\/span><\/div>\r\n<\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var css = '._richTextNode {white-space: break-spaces;}'; var head = document.head || document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0], style = document.createElement('style'); head.appendChild(style); style.type = 'text\/css'; if (style.styleSheet){ style.styleSheet.cssText = css; } else { style.appendChild(document.createTextNode(css)); }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"overview-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/files\/2026\/09\/1787038790.png\" class=\"img-responsive attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/div><p>Bio: This is a guest post by Toshi Takeuchi, Community Advocate active in online communities. Toshi has held many marketing roles at MathWorks over the last 20 yearsYou hear about AI agents... <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/2026\/09\/22\/ai-agent-demystified-building-a-minimalist-agent-in-matlab\/\">read more >><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":4364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[144,128],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4363,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4362\/revisions\/4363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mathworks.com\/matlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}