# Show HN: I built an agent framework where the agent is just one file

> Source: <https://github.com/loopedautomation/agent-framework>
> Published: 2026-07-13 10:14:08+00:00

Looped AF lets you build contained, event-driven AI agents. Define your agent in a single config file, run it in a container and deploy it anywhere.

🚧

This is alpha software🚧We're still in the early stages, and things are going to change and sometimes break: interfaces, config fields, defaults. If you're up for experimenting anyway, welcome. File an issue when something breaks and we'll sort it out.

The idea is that an agent is a file: one file that says the job, the model, the tools and the boundaries. Deploying it is a `docker run`

. Agents run as long-lived services that sit in a loop; each one waits for an event (a Discord message, a webhook, a cron tick), does its one job, delivers the result and then goes idle.

```
handle: issue-bot     # agents name themselves; you pick the handle
description: Turns team Discord messages into GitHub issues.
model: { provider: openai-compatible, id: gpt-5.4-mini }
triggers:
  - type: discord
    channels: ["issues"]
skills:
  - ./skills/gh-issues.md
permissions:
  net: [discord.com, gateway.discord.gg, api.github.com]
  run: [gh]
```

**The**`af`

CLI.`af init`

scaffolds a complete agent project with the agent file, a secrets template and a deployment shape.`af validate`

checks it and`af run`

runs it: without triggers you get an interactive REPL, with them the agent runs as a service.**Triggers.** Discord, Slack and Telegram (including observer agents), plus webhooks and cron.**Capability, added deliberately.** Markdown[skills](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/skills), MCP servers, a small native toolset and tool search, which keeps tool schemas out of a small model's context.**Deny-by-default permissions.** You allowlist the hosts, executables and paths an agent is allowed to touch. Secrets are scoped, and their values stay out of the model's context. Every permission decision lands in a SQLite audit trail.**Docker-native deployment.** We publish a hardened base image (`ghcr.io/loopedautomation/agent`

), a one-`apk add`

recipe for custom images and a status surface at`/healthz`

,`/runs`

and`/audit`

. Deploys can be file-less, with everything passed through env vars.**Budgets by default.** Every run has a step cap and cheap models are the default, so you know roughly what an agent costs before you deploy it.

Published at [docs.looped.sh/agent-framework](https://docs.looped.sh/agent-framework) and authored in [ docs/](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs):

[Quick start](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs/quick-start.mdx) · [The agent file](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs/agent-file.md) · [Triggers](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs/triggers.md) · [Skills](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs/skills.md) · [Tools](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs/tools.md) · [Permissions](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs/permissions.md) · [Deployment](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs/deployment.md) · [CLI](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/docs/cli.md)

If you'd rather start from a complete, runnable agent, the [examples](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/examples) go from a minimal REPL bot to the Discord to GitHub [gh-issues-bot](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/examples/gh-issues-bot) (`docker compose up`

) and [agent-zero-bot](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/examples/agent-zero-bot), the agent that builds agents.

The runtime is [Deno](https://deno.com) + TypeScript, built in the open.

Setup, local development tasks and what CI checks are covered in [CONTRIBUTING.md](/loopedautomation/agent-framework/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md).