> ## 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.

# Overview

> Control and customize agent execution at every step

Middleware provides a way to more tightly control what happens inside the agent. Middleware is useful for the following:

* Tracking agent behavior with logging, analytics, and debugging.
* Transforming prompts, [tool selection](/oss/python/langchain/middleware/built-in#llm-tool-selector), and output formatting.
* Adding [retries](/oss/python/langchain/middleware/built-in#tool-retry), [fallbacks](/oss/python/langchain/middleware/built-in#model-fallback), and early termination logic.
* Applying [rate limits](/oss/python/langchain/middleware/built-in#model-call-limit), guardrails, and [PII detection](/oss/python/langchain/middleware/built-in#pii-detection).

Add middleware by passing them to [`create_agent`](https://reference.langchain.com/python/langchain/agents/factory/create_agent):

```python theme={"theme":{"light":"catppuccin-latte","dark":"catppuccin-mocha"}}
from langchain.agents import create_agent
from langchain.agents.middleware import SummarizationMiddleware, HumanInTheLoopMiddleware

agent = create_agent(
    model="gpt-5.4",
    tools=[...],
    middleware=[
        SummarizationMiddleware(...),
        HumanInTheLoopMiddleware(...)
    ],
)
```

## The agent loop

The core agent loop involves calling a model, letting it choose tools to execute, and then finishing when it calls no more tools:

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/langchain-5e9cc07a/Tazq8zGc0yYUYrDl/oss/images/core_agent_loop.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Tazq8zGc0yYUYrDl&q=85&s=ac72e48317a9ced68fd1be64e89ec063" alt="Core agent loop diagram" style={{height: "200px", width: "auto", justifyContent: "center"}} className="rounded-lg block mx-auto" width="300" height="268" data-path="oss/images/core_agent_loop.png" />

Middleware exposes hooks before and after each of those steps:

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/langchain-5e9cc07a/RAP6mjwE5G00xYsA/oss/images/middleware_final.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=RAP6mjwE5G00xYsA&q=85&s=eb4404b137edec6f6f0c8ccb8323eaf1" alt="Middleware flow diagram" style={{height: "300px", width: "auto", justifyContent: "center"}} className="rounded-lg mx-auto" width="500" height="560" data-path="oss/images/middleware_final.png" />

## Additional resources

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Built-in middleware" icon="box" href="/oss/python/langchain/middleware/built-in">
    Explore built-in middleware for common use cases.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Custom middleware" icon="code" href="/oss/python/langchain/middleware/custom">
    Build your own middleware with hooks and decorators.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Middleware API reference" icon="book" href="https://reference.langchain.com/python/langchain/middleware/">
    Complete API reference for middleware.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Middleware integrations" icon="plug" href="/oss/python/integrations/middleware/">
    Provider-specific middleware for Anthropic, AWS, OpenAI, and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Testing agents" icon="scale" href="/oss/python/langchain/test/">
    Test your agents with LangSmith.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

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