Ayatori

あやとり

The name comes from ayatori, the Japanese string figure game known in English as cat's cradle.

A graph-based AI agent orchestration engine built in Clojure. Nodes are functions, edges define routing, the executor handles the rest.

See the introductory article.

Warning

Status: Proof of concept, under active development. Not production-ready.

How it works

deps -> agent(nodes, edges) -> caps

1. Agent validates topology and binds node implementations (make-agent)
2. System groups named agents with shared middleware, wiring, and state store (make-system, start!/stop!)
3. Run executes a cap through a system, returns a core.async channel (run)

Quick Start

(add-lib 'com.github.serefayar/ayatori {:git/sha "..."})

(require '[ayatori.helper :as h]
         '[clojure.core.async :as async])

(def sys
  (-> (h/llm :ollama "gemma4")
      (h/llm-node "You are a helpful assistant.")
      (h/with-memory (h/sliding-memory 50))
      (h/agent)
      (h/system)
      (h/start!)))

(async/<!! (h/run sys {:content "will you becomes self-aware at 2:14 A.M. Eastern time, August 29?"}))
;; => {:content "I cannot predict any future events, especially those concerning the development of fundamental concepts like self-awareness... }

(h/stop! sys)

See Helper Functions for full API.

Usage

Full example with tools, structured output, and multiple nodes:

(add-lib 'com.github.serefayar/ayatori {:git/sha "..."})

(require '[ayatori.core :as aya]
         '[clojure.core.async :as async])

(def lookup-tool
  {:name "lookup"
   :description "Look up order by ID"
   :schema [:map [:id :int]]})

(def assistant
  (aya/make-agent
    {:nodes {:llm {:type :llm
                   :client {:provider :ollama
                            :model "gpt-oss:20b"
                            :base-url "http://localhost:11434"}
                   :prompt "You are an order assistant."
                   :tools [lookup-tool]
                   :response-format {:type :json-schema
                                     :schema [:map [:answer :string] [:found :boolean]]}
                   :memory {:strategies [{:type :sliding-window
                                          :max-messages 20
                                          :preserve-system true}]}}
             :lookup (fn [{:keys [id]} _]
                       {:result (str "Order " id ": shipped")})}
     :edges {:llm {:done :ayatori/done
                   :lookup :lookup}
             :lookup :llm}
     :caps {:chat {:entry :llm
                   :output [:map [:answer :string] [:found :boolean]]}}}))

(def sys (-> (aya/make-system {:agents {:assistant assistant}})
             aya/start!))

(async/<!! (aya/run sys :assistant :chat {:content "What is the status of order 123?"}))
;; => {:answer "Your order #123 has been shipped." :found true}

(aya/stop! sys)

Documentation

• Agents - Caps, deps, capability URIs, wiring
• Nodes - Node types, function signature, edges, lifecycle
• System - Runtime management, store
• LLM - LLM node, tools, structured output, streaming
• Memory - Conversation memory strategies
• Middleware - Observability hooks
• Helper - Convenience functions

TODOs

• Distributed execution: multi-node transport, capability-aware routing
• kex integration: cryptographic capability tokens
• LLM providers: OpenAI, Anthropic (currently only Ollama)
• MCP integration: server and client

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Seref R. Ayar. Distributed under the Eclipse Public License version 1.0.