A workflow is a binding of a runbook (the deterministic Python templates that drive the process) to an entity, optionally on a schedule. A runbook may invoke external agents (Claude Managed, Copilot, …) from inside its steps when it needs LLM-driven artefact generation that doesn’t fit the deterministic capabilities surface. This page covers the registration lifecycle: building an agent on the host platform, recording a reference in Ntropii’s registry, and referencing it from a runbook step.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ntropii.com/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Why register?
External agents live on host platforms (Anthropic, GitHub/Microsoft, …). Ntropii doesn’t host the agent — it holds a reference (kind, external_ref, tenant_id) and provisions an API key the agent uses to call back into the Ntropii MCP server. Registration is what makes an agent addressable by Ntropii UUID from inside a runbook step.
The product surface:
- Workspace API:
POST /workspace/registry/agents— creates an agent row, provisions a per-agent API key (hash stored, plaintext returned once). - CLI:
ntro agent create --path <ecosystem-uri> --tenant <slug> --name <slug>. - MCP:
ntro_agent_create / list / get / delete / create_version.
Lifecycle
1. Build on the host platform
Each agent kind has its own authoring surface. See the per-platform pages:Claude Managed Agents
Anthropic-hosted agents with Vault auth + MCP servers + Skills. Production today.
Copilot Agents
GitHub / Microsoft Copilot agents. Coming soon.
2. Register with Ntropii
Once the agent exists on the host platform and you have its native id, register a reference:external_ref, and the API key plaintext. The plaintext is shown once — store it in the host platform’s secrets store (e.g. an Anthropic Vault) so the agent can authenticate to the Ntropii MCP server on callbacks.
The --path URI encodes both the kind and the native id:
| Kind | URI form | Notes |
|---|---|---|
claude_managed | anthropic://agents/<anthropic-agent-id> | Production today |
copilot_agent | copilot://agents/<copilot-agent-id> | Future |
3. Reference from a runbook step
From inside any@ui_step method, call ntro.workflow.agents.invoke:
agent_id here is the Ntropii UUID returned at registration, not the native id. The adapter resolves it to (kind, external_ref) via the registry, picks the right provider (Anthropic Managed Agents in this example), starts a session, polls until terminal, and pulls any output files.
File passback
When an agent writes files to its sandbox (/mnt/session/outputs/ for Anthropic Managed Agents), the adapter:
- Lists session files via the host platform’s API.
- Downloads each file’s bytes.
- Persists to the tenant’s
ingest.submitted_documentswithsource = 'agent_output:<ntropii-agent-id>'. - Returns an
AgentResultcontainingoutput_files: [{document_ref, filename, content_type, size_bytes, source}, …].
Reference
| Resource | API | CLI | MCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create | POST /workspace/registry/agents | ntro agent create --path … | ntro_agent_create |
| List | GET /workspace/registry/agents | ntro agent list | ntro_agent_list |
| Get | GET /workspace/registry/agents/:id | ntro agent get <id> | ntro_agent_get |
| Delete | DELETE /workspace/registry/agents/:id | ntro agent delete <id> | ntro_agent_delete |
| Create version | POST /workspace/registry/agents/:id/versions | ntro agent create-version | ntro_agent_create_version |
ntro.workflow.agents for the invoke API, AgentResult shape, and adapter design.
Related
Claude Managed Agents
End-to-end walkthrough for the Anthropic Managed Agents adapter (production today).
Copilot Agents
Coming soon — GitHub / Microsoft Copilot adapter.
ntro.workflow.agents reference
invoke() signature, AgentResult shape, adapter polling semantics.Build runbooks
The runbook-side of invoking an agent inside a
@ui_step.