> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.langchain.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Agents

> What an agent is in LangSmith, how a workspace organizes its agents, how environments divide an agent's traces, and how an identifier differs from a display name.

An *agent* is an AI system that completes tasks end to end using tools, skills, and subagents. In LangSmith, an agent is also the unit a workspace is organized around. Name it once, and LangSmith records what that agent does under that name, divided across four [environments](/langsmith/agent-environments): Production, Staging, Development, and Local. A trace, an alert, an evaluator, and a prebuilt dashboard each belong to one environment of one agent. A [dataset](/langsmith/evaluation-concepts#datasets) and a custom dashboard are the exceptions. A dataset attaches to one or more agents and to no environment, and a custom dashboard attaches to an agent rather than to an environment.

Every trace carries its agent and one of that agent's environments, so what produced a trace and where it ran are recorded as it arrives. LangSmith can then act on that context: an alert watches production and stays quiet about local runs, each environment gets its own prebuilt dashboard, and an [Insights](/langsmith/insights) report covers the traffic of the environment you run it on.

<Note>
  **Beta.** Agent-based workspaces are in [beta](/langsmith/release-stages). LangChain enables the change for an organization, and it applies to workspaces created after that. An existing [project-based](/langsmith/observability-concepts#tracing-projects) workspace does not convert automatically, but LangChain can convert it. To ask about access, [contact our sales team](https://www.langchain.com/contact-sales).
</Note>

```mermaid actions={false} theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-latte","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
%%{init: {"theme":"base","themeVariables":{"fontFamily":"Inter, system-ui, sans-serif","lineColor":"#40668D","primaryColor":"#E5F4FF","primaryTextColor":"#030710","primaryBorderColor":"#006DDD","clusterBkg":"transparent"}}}%%
flowchart LR
    WS("<div style='padding:2px 6px'><b>Workspace</b><br/>Holds every agent</div>")
    AG("<div style='padding:2px 6px'><b>Agent</b><br/>What you name</div>")
    EN("<div style='text-align:left;padding:2px 6px'><b>Environment</b><br/>&nbsp;•&nbsp; Production<br/>&nbsp;•&nbsp; Staging<br/>&nbsp;•&nbsp; Development<br/>&nbsp;•&nbsp; Local</div>")
    TR("<div style='padding:2px 6px'><b>Trace</b><br/>Belongs to one<br/>environment</div>")

    WS ==> AG ==> EN ==> TR

    classDef neutral fill:#F2FAFF,stroke:#40668D,stroke-width:2px,color:#2F4B68,rx:10,ry:10
    classDef process fill:#E5F4FF,stroke:#006DDD,stroke-width:2px,color:#030710,rx:10,ry:10
    classDef output fill:#EBD0F0,stroke:#885270,stroke-width:2px,color:#441E33,rx:10,ry:10

    class WS,EN neutral
    class AG process
    class TR output
```

Every trace maps to the agent that produced it and the environment it ran in.

## Environments

An *environment* records where an agent was running when it produced a trace. The names are fixed: Production, Staging, Development, and Local.

For more information, see [Agent environments](/langsmith/agent-environments).

## Identifiers and display names

Every agent has two names, and they do different work:

* **Identifier**: Set when the agent is created, and not editable afterwards. Whether you supply it or LangSmith generates it depends on [how the agent was created](/langsmith/create-an-agent). LangSmith uses it to address traces, so it stays stable even when the display name changes.
* **Display name**: Shown wherever the agent appears in the UI. For an agent [built in the UI](/langsmith/build-an-agent), rename it from the **Name** field in its Build configuration. Renaming does not move existing traces or change where new traces land.

The identifier is also what the browser address bar carries, so you can read it from there or copy it from the **ID** field on the agent's Overview.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Environments" cta="Learn more" href="/langsmith/agent-environments" icon="stack">
    The four environments an agent's traces divide into, and how to switch between them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Navigate agents" cta="Learn more" href="/langsmith/navigate-agents" icon="compass">
    The agent switcher, the agent list, and the agent Overview.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Log traces to an agent" cta="Learn more" href="/langsmith/log-traces-to-agent" icon="target">
    How agent addressing sends traces to an agent and an environment, and why it cannot be combined with project addressing.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Create an agent" cta="Learn more" href="/langsmith/create-an-agent" icon="plus">
    The four ways to create an agent, what each route decides about it, and the rules an identifier must follow.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

<div className="source-links">
  <Callout icon="terminal-2">
    [Connect these docs](/use-these-docs) to your agent of choice via MCP for real-time answers.
  </Callout>

  <Callout icon="edit">
    [Edit this page on GitHub](https://github.com/langchain-ai/docs/edit/main/src/langsmith/agents.mdx) or [file an issue](https://github.com/langchain-ai/docs/issues/new/choose).
  </Callout>
</div>