Agent Chat

A demo app showcasing agent-sdk-go — the Temporal-first AI agent SDK for Go. Built with a React UI and Go REST API, with durable workflow-backed conversations.

This is a demo app showcasing agent-sdk-go. Not intended for production use.

Why agent-sdk-go

Most agent frameworks run in-process — if your server restarts, the agent run is lost. agent-sdk-go is Temporal-first, so every agent run is a durable workflow:

• Durable conversations — chat history and agent runs survive server restarts
• Long-running agents — conversations can run for extended periods without losing state
• Automatic retries — failed LLM calls retry automatically via Temporal

Stack

• agent-sdk-go — AI agent SDK for Go
• React Router 7 + Vite — UI
• Tailwind CSS v4 — Styling
• react-markdown + remark-gfm — Message bubbles render Markdown (GFM)

Prerequisites

• Docker — Docker Engine with Docker Compose (the docker compose CLI; Compose v2 is bundled with Docker Desktop and current Engine installs).
• LLM access — An API key from a supported provider (for example OpenAI or an OpenAI-compatible HTTP API). Add it to server/.env in the Configuration section below.
• A local copy of this project — You need the files on your computer before you can run anything (clone with Git or download a ZIP — Get the code below).

How to start

Follow these steps in order. Every shell command assumes your current directory is the repository root: the folder that contains docker-compose.yml.

Get the code

• Clone with Git (recommended):

  git clone https://github.com/agenticenv/agent-chat.git
  cd agent-chat

  Use your fork’s URL if you forked the repo. After cd, you should see docker-compose.yml in that directory.

• Or download a ZIP — On GitHub, open Code → Download ZIP, unzip it, then open a terminal and cd into the unzipped folder (the one that contains docker-compose.yml).

Configuration (Required)

Agent Chat reads server/.env for LLM settings. If LLM_API_KEY is missing, the Agent Chat API will not start and containers may fail or restart.

• Copy the example file:

  cp server/.env.example server/.env

• Required

  Variable	You must…
  LLM_API_KEY	Set to your real LLM API key. An empty placeholder means Agent Chat cannot start.

• Optional — LLM (defaults are fine for OpenAI)

  • LLM_PROVIDER — default openai
  • LLM_MODEL — default gpt-4o
  • LLM_BASE_URL — set only for a custom or Azure-style HTTP endpoint; use a LLM_MODEL your provider supports

• Optional — agent

  • AGENT_SYSTEM_PROMPT — how Agent Chat behaves (role, tone, rules). Omit to use the built-in default.
  • AGENT_NAME, AGENT_DESCRIPTION, AGENT_CONVERSATION_WINDOW_SIZE — labeling and how much chat history is in context; see server/.env.example.

Full variable list and behavior: server/README.md.

Start (Docker Compose)

Agent Chat runs with Docker Compose from the repository root.

• Start the stack (Postgres, Temporal, API, UI):

  docker compose up -d --build

• Open Agent Chat: http://localhost:3000 — use the chat in your browser.

• (Optional) Temporal UI: http://localhost:8233 — view Temporal workflow executions for Agent Chat.

Stop (Docker Compose)

docker compose down

References

• UI — SERVER_API_URL, Docker image, rebuilding the UI with Docker Compose.
• server — environment variables, architecture, REST API, rebuild the API with Docker Compose.