docs: reframe fips-agents as a toolkit, not a framework - #25
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The CLI is a scaffolding/composition tool: it generates project code and
gets out of the way. There is no fips-agents runtime that owns your
project's lifecycle. Calling it a "framework" sets the wrong expectation
about how users should think about extending it.
Top-level positioning ("the fips-agents framework") becomes "the
fips-agents toolkit" in README, mkdocs.yml, CLAUDE.md, index.md, and
the LLM-serving guide.
Where the docs previously said "the framework does X at runtime", the
actual subject is named explicitly:
- BaseAgent — for tool schema injection, the two-plane tool model, the
base class itself
- the agent runtime — for litellm/observability, endpoint rewriting
- the agent server — for file uploads, parsing, bytes storage, scanner
contract
"Framework version/release" becomes "fipsagents version/release" in
CLAUDE.md and the Makefile reference.
Also updates the Makefile reference for the rename of `update-framework`
to `update-fipsagents` (see fips-agents/agent-template#150). The old
target name remains as a deprecated alias upstream.
The xml-analysis-framework reference is untouched — it's an external
project name, not a description of fips-agents.
Assisted-by: Claude Code (Opus 4.7)
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rdwj
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May 4, 2026
* style: Apply black formatting drift fix Four source files had drifted from the project's Black configuration (line length 100). Running `black src tests` produced these changes mechanically; no logic changed. Reformatted: - src/fips_agents_cli/commands/create.py - src/fips_agents_cli/commands/vendor.py - src/fips_agents_cli/tools/git.py - src/fips_agents_cli/tools/project.py CI's `black --check` step on test.yml will now pass. Assisted-by: Claude Code (Opus 4.7) * docs: Drop "framework" language in favor of fipsagents Aligns README.md and CLAUDE.md with the toolkit reframe shipped to fips-agents/examples#25 and fips-agents/agent-template#150. fips-agents is a scaffolding toolkit (CLI + composable templates), not a framework — calling it that creates the wrong expectation about runtime model. README changes: - "vendored framework source" → "vendored fipsagents source" - "fipsagents framework source"/"framework code" → "fipsagents source"/"fipsagents code" - "framework version"/"framework source locally" → "fipsagents version"/"fipsagents source locally" CLAUDE.md also fixes two stale `src/base_agent/` references that described a path which never existed in the agent-loop template — the template ships with `src/agent.py` directly, no project-named module wrapper. Both lines also dropped "framework" wording in the same edit. Assisted-by: Claude Code (Opus 4.7)
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Summary
update-framework→update-fipsagents(depends on chore(makefile): rename update-framework → update-fipsagents agent-template#150; old name remains as a deprecated alias upstream).The
xml-analysis-frameworkexternal project name is untouched.Why
fips-agents-cli is a scaffolding/composition CLI plus templates — it generates code and gets out of the way. There is no fips-agents runtime that owns your project's lifecycle, so calling it a "framework" sets the wrong expectation. The pieces that are framework-ish (BaseAgent, the agent server) are named explicitly where they apply, instead of hiding behind a generic "framework".
Test plan
mkdocs build --strictpassesxml-analysis-frameworkand the deliberate "not a framework" clarification in CLAUDE.md remain)