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3 changes: 2 additions & 1 deletion src/docs.json
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{
"group": "Context engineering",
"pages": [
"langsmith/context-engineering-quickstart"
"langsmith/context-engineering-quickstart",
"langsmith/context-engineering-concepts"
]
},
{
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103 changes: 103 additions & 0 deletions src/langsmith/context-engineering-concepts.mdx
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---
title: Context engineering concepts
sidebarTitle: Concepts
---

Context is the information an agent relies on to act—system instructions,
tool definitions, reference material, etc. _Context
engineering_ is the practice of building and optimizing that context to
improve agent performance and capabilities.

This guide walks through the core concepts of context engineering in
LangSmith's context hub, including skills, agents, versioning, and sharing.


## Skills

A **skill** packages a single, reusable capability that an agent can
invoke. Skills are focused on doing one thing well, and they're designed
to be used by agents.

Skill repos contain:

**Always:**
- `SKILL.md` file in its root directory (the core content of the skill)
- Description of what the skill does / when to use it

**Optional:**
- References (Technical documentation, guides, etc.)
- Assets (Schema, templates, etc.)


Examples: email formatting, code review, web search

## Agents

An **agent** packages an entire agent: its high-level instructions,
the skills and subagents it can use, and the tools it has access to.
Agents are designed to complete tasks end to end.

Agent repos contain:

**Always**
- `AGENTS.md` — the agent's system prompt and operating instructions

**Optional**
- `tools.json` — set of tools the agent can call
- Subagents — smaller agents this agent can delegate to
- Skills - set of skills the agent can use


Examples: email assistant, coding copilot, customer support agent.

### When to use Skills vs Agents
- Use skills for smaller tasks, reusable context, specifications
- Use Agents for longer tasks, tool calling, decision making
<Tip>
A good rule of thumb: if you find yourself copying the same block of
context into several agents, pull it out into a skill repo and reference
it from each agent.
</Tip>


## Hub backend vs store backend

Context in LangSmith can be managed by two different backends: the
**Context Hub** and a **store backend.**
They serve different purposes, and most agents use both.

**The Context Hub is built for versioning, sharing, and continuous
improvement.** It is the long term context database that your agent can use.
Think of it as a Git-like home for your agent's context.

**A store backend is built for runtime state.** It holds the information
an agent accumulates _while running_: memories, conversation history,
user preferences, learned facts, and other data that evolves per session
or per user.

## Versioning

Every change to a repo in the **Context Hub** creates a new commit.
Commits are immutable, browsable, and comparable, so you can:

- See exactly what changed between two versions of an agent.
- Revert to any prior commit if a change regresses behavior.
- Tag important commits (for example, the commit you shipped on a
specific date) for easy reference.
- Promote a commit to an **environment** like `Staging` or `Production`
so downstream agents pull a known-good version rather than the latest
edit.

## Sharing and permissions

The **Context Hub** is designed for teams. Every repo lives in a
[workspace](/langsmith/administration-overview#workspaces), and its
visibility and permissions are managed at the repo level:

- **Private** repos are visible only inside the workspace.
- **Public** repos can be discovered and pulled by anyone.
- Per-repo **permissions** control who can view, commit, tag, and
promote within a workspace.

This makes the Hub a natural place to collaborate on agents and skills,
and improve them over time.
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