The research and reporting this handbook draws on. Figures are as published by each source for the periods indicated; paraphrased throughout.
Frameworks & engineering practice
- Uvik, 'Python AI Agent Frameworks in Production' (2026) — twelve-framework field survey across client engagements.
- Anthropic, 'Building Effective Agents' and the multi-agent research system write-up — workflow patterns, orchestrator-worker findings.
- 12-Factor Agents (open-source methodology) — portability and ownership principles.
Protocols
- Model Context Protocol — specification, official registry statistics (May 2026), and 2026 roadmap notes; Linux Foundation / Agentic AI Foundation governance announcements.
- Stacklok, 'State of MCP in the Enterprise' survey (2026) — production-adoption figures.
- Google, Agent2Agent (A2A) launch materials (April 2025) and ADK documentation; IBM ACP notes.
Memory
- Mem0 research paper (ECAI 2025; arXiv:2504.19413) — LOCOMO benchmark comparisons and token-cost analysis.
- Zep/Graphiti technical rebuttal and corrected LOCOMO results — read alongside the above; the dispute itself is instructive.
- Letta (MemGPT), LangMem, and Cognee documentation.
Economics & adoption
- Anthropic and OpenAI prompt-caching documentation and pricing pages — caching mechanics and discounts.
- Google Cloud / KPMG enterprise agent ROI survey (2025); Landbase ROI study (2025); IDC/Microsoft genAI returns research.
- Gartner agentic-AI forecasts (2025) — embedded-agent projection and cancellation-rate warning.
- Klarna public statements and subsequent reporting (2024-2025); JPMorgan and Salesforce public disclosures on production AI portfolios.
Local inference & security
- Ollama, llama.cpp, vLLM and LM Studio documentation — hardware sizing, context defaults, serving throughput.
- Simon Willison's writing on prompt injection and the lethal trifecta; OWASP LLM Top 10.
- OpenTelemetry GenAI semantic conventions; LangSmith, Langfuse, Arize Phoenix documentation. All trademarks belong to their owners. Statistics reflect sources published up to mid-2026 and will age; re-verify before citing onward.