---
title: "What is an Agent?"
description: "An agent is the fundamental unit of work in Nexus OS. It's a self contained program that receives input, performs a task, and produces output. Every agent has: Property Description Name Human readable identifier (e.g., r"
resource: https://www.aiagents.nexus/docs/manual/agents/what-is-an-agent
generated: { by: "process:nexus-agent-assets", at: 2026-09-07T09:13:03Z }
status: stable
---

# What is an Agent?

An agent is the fundamental unit of work in Nexus OS. It's a self-contained program that receives input, performs a task, and produces output.

## Agent Properties

Every agent has:

| Property | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| **Name** | Human-readable identifier (e.g., `researcher`) |
| **ID** | Unique hash (e.g., `a1b2c3d4e5f6`) |
| **Template** | The base template it was created from |
| **Status** | Current state: `running`, `stopped`, `failed`, `budget_exceeded` |
| **Source** | Path to the agent's source/WASM file |

## Agent Lifecycle

```
created → stopped → running → completed
                       ↓
                    failed → restarted (by supervisor)
                       ↓
                 budget_exceeded → paused
```

## What Agents Can Do

Agents can:
- Call LLMs (Claude, GPT-4, etc.)
- Process data
- Make HTTP requests (if granted permission)
- Read/write files (if granted permission)
- Communicate with other agents

## What Agents Cannot Do (by default)

The WASM sandbox prevents agents from:
- Accessing the file system
- Making network requests
- Reading environment variables
- Spawning processes
- Accessing other agents' memory

These capabilities must be explicitly granted in the agent configuration.

## Agent vs. Traditional Programs

| Aspect | Traditional Program | Nexus Agent |
|--------|-------------------|-------------|
| Isolation | Shared OS resources | WASM sandbox |
| Failure handling | Crash = dead | Supervisor restarts |
| Cost tracking | None | Per-agent budgets |
| Trust | Implicit | AXIS verification |
| Audit | Manual logging | Automatic audit trail |