Minimalist agents that think and act in code — CodeAgent writes Python as actions
Key Features
Multi-Agent Single Agent Streaming Async Support Short-Term Memory Plugin System Custom Tools MCP Protocol Code Execution Sandboxing Self-Hosted
Community Feedback
Strengths
- Extremely minimal (~1000 lines core)
- Code-based agent paradigm
- Hugging Face ecosystem integration
- Great for open-source models
- Multimodal support
Weaknesses
- Less mature for enterprise
- Fewer built-in integrations than heavier frameworks
- Limited memory capabilities
Smolagents Details
| Organization | Hugging Face |
| Organization Type | Company |
| Funding | Series b+ |
| Category | Framework |
| Subcategory | Single agent |
| Deployment | SDK/Framework |
| Primary Language | Python |
| Runtime | Python 3.10+ |
| License | Apache-2.0 |
| Commercial Use | Permissive |
| Install Command | pip install smolagents |
| GitHub Stars | 26,258 |
| GitHub Forks | 2,395 |
| Release Cadence | Biweekly |
| Maturity | Stable |
| Pricing Model | Free |
| Free Tier | Fully open-source Apache-2.0 |
| Self-Hosted Free | Yes |
| Cost Model | free + LLM costs |
| Community Size | Large (26k stars) |
| Community Activity | Very active |
| Sentiment | Positive |
| GPU Required | No |
| Research Date | 2026-03-24 |
| LLM Providers | Any via LiteLLM, Hugging Face Hub, OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, local transformers |
| API Keys Required | LLM provider API key (optional for local models) |
Use Cases
- Code-first agent workflows
- Open-source model agents
- Multimodal agent tasks
- Multi-agent orchestration
When to Use
Best for: Teams wanting minimal, code-first agents with open-source models
Avoid when: Enterprise production with complex memory/state management needed
Original data from HuggingFace, OpenCompass and various public git repos.
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Release v20260328a