temporal.pydanticai.codeact

A reusable library for building intelligent agents with safe code execution capabilities using PydanticAI, Temporal workflows, and Docker sandboxes.

Overview

temporal.pydanticai.codeact is a Python library that combines three powerful technologies to create AI agents that can write and execute code safely in isolated environments with persistent state:

PydanticAI (v1.27.0+) - Type-safe agent framework for building production-grade GenAI applications
Temporal (v1.19.0+) - Workflow orchestration for reliable, durable, long-running agent processes
Docker - Containerized execution environment for secure code isolation

Key Features

✨ Crash-Resistant Persistence - Docker volumes ensure Python variables and files survive crashes and restarts 🔒 Sandboxed Security - All code runs in isolated Docker containers with resource limits 🔄 Durable Workflows - Temporal ensures reliable execution with automatic retries and recovery 🎯 Type-Safe - Full Pydantic validation for all inputs and outputs 🛠️ Flexible Tools - Agents can execute Python, run bash commands, manage files, and query state 📦 Dynamic Packages - Install Python and system packages on-demand during execution 🔌 MCP Integration - Native support for Model Context Protocol servers as agent tools ⚙️ Custom Functions - Serialize and inject reusable functions with automatic dependency detection 🌐 Multi-Host Support - Optional NFS volumes for shared state across multiple workers 🎨 Extensible Design - Easy to create custom agents with specialized capabilities

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Python 3.13+
Docker (running daemon)
Temporal Server (local dev server or cloud)
uv package manager

Installation

For Library Users (Using in Your Project)

Install the published library in your project:

# Install from PyPI (when published)
pip install temporal-pydanticai-codeact

# Or with uv
uv add temporal-pydanticai-codeact

# Or with poetry
poetry add temporal-pydanticai-codeact

Then use it in your code:

from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents.simple_agent import SimpleAgent
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workers.sandbox_worker import CodeActWorkerRunner
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.agent_builder import AgentBuilder

# Your code here...

For Contributors (Development Setup)

# Clone and install for development
git clone https://github.com/scalabreseGD/temporal-pydanticai-codeact.git
cd temporal-pydanticai-codeact

# Install with uv (recommended)
uv sync

# Or install in editable mode with pip
pip install -e .

# Install with dev dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Configuration

Create app_conf.yml in the project root:

temporal:
  url: localhost:7233
  namespace: default

llm:
  gemini:
    api_key: YOUR_GEMINI_API_KEY
    model_name: gemini-2.5-pro

Create agent_prompts.yml:

simple_agent:
  system_prompt: "You are a Python coding assistant with access to a sandboxed execution environment."
  instructions: |
    You have access to a Docker container (ID: {{ container_id }}) with these packages: {{ python_packages }}.
    Use the execute_python tool to run code and solve the user's task.

Basic Usage

import asyncio
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.activities.common import get_temporal_client
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.utils.common_utils import load_config
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents.simple_agent import SimpleAgent
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.agent_builder import AgentBuilder
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workflows.simple_agent_workflow import SimpleAgentWorkflow
from pydantic_ai.durable_exec.temporal import PydanticAIPlugin


async def main():
    # Connect to Temporal
    config = load_config()
    client = await get_temporal_client(
        config['temporal'],
        plugins=[PydanticAIPlugin()]
    )

    # Execute workflow
    result = await client.execute_workflow(
        SimpleAgentWorkflow.run,
        id='my-agent-task',
        task_queue='sample_queue'
    )

    print(result)


asyncio.run(main())

Architecture

The project uses a three-layer architecture:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      Agent Layer                            │
│  BaseAgent → CodeActAgent → SimpleAgent                     │
│  (PydanticAI agents with tool definitions)                  │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
┌──────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   Workflow Layer                            │
│  CodeActAgentWorkflow + SimpleAgentWorkflow                 │
│  (Temporal workflows for orchestration)                     │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
┌──────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Sandbox Layer                            │
│  PersistentContainerSandbox (core operations)               │
│  DurablePersistentContainerSandbox (Temporal activities)    │
│  StatelessPersistentSandbox (agent tool adapter)            │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
┌──────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 Docker Container                            │
│  Python 3.11 + uv + persistent state storage                │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
┌──────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Docker Volume (Persistent Storage)             │
│  workflow-{id} volume at /persistent-storage/               │
│  Stores Python state and files (survives crashes)           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Core Components

Agents (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents`)

BaseAgent - Abstract base class with model configuration, MCP toolsets, and Temporal wrapping
CodeActAgent - Code execution agent with Docker sandbox tools (blacklists container lifecycle ops)
SimpleAgent - Minimal concrete implementation for basic code execution tasks

Workflows (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workflows`)

CodeActAgentWorkflow - Mixin providing container lifecycle management (start/stop)
SimpleAgentWorkflow - Complete example workflow: start container → run agent → cleanup
SandboxWorkflow - Lightweight child workflow for individual sandbox operations

Docker Sandbox (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.docker_sandbox`)

PersistentContainerSandbox - Core implementation with container management and state persistence
DurablePersistentContainerSandbox - Wraps all methods as Temporal activities
StatelessPersistentSandbox - Converts activities into PydanticAI agent tools via child workflows

Workers (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workers`)

CodeActWorkerRunner - Flexible worker builder for running agents with custom workflows and activities
- Supports multiple agents with AgentPlugin
- Automatically includes sandbox activities and utilities
- Extensible with custom workflows and activities

Data Models (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels`)

sandbox.py - All sandbox task types and argument models (15+ operations)
codeact.py - CodeActAgentDeps for runtime container context
agent_builder.py - AgentBuilder for configuring agents with prompts and models
prompts.py - AgentPrompts model for system prompts and instructions

Project Structure

code-act-pydanticai/
├── src/
│   └── temporal/
│       └── pydanticai/
│           └── codeact/                    # Main library package
│               ├── __init__.py             # Package exports
│               │
│               ├── agents/                 # AI agent implementations
│               │   ├── base/
│               │   │   ├── base_agent.py         # Abstract base agent
│               │   │   ├── code_act_agent.py     # Code execution agent
│               │   │   └── default_settings.py   # Temporal activity configs
│               │   └── simple_agent.py           # Basic concrete agent
│               │
│               ├── workflows/              # Temporal workflow definitions
│               │   ├── base/
│               │   │   └── codeact_agent_workflow.py  # Container lifecycle mixin
│               │   ├── simple_agent_workflow.py       # Example agent workflow
│               │   └── sandbox_workflow.py            # Sandbox operation workflow
│               │
│               ├── docker_sandbox/         # Docker execution sandbox
│               │   ├── container_sandbox.py      # 3 sandbox implementations
│               │   └── sandbox/                  # State management scripts
│               │       ├── init_state.py
│               │       ├── load_state.py
│               │       ├── save_state.py
│               │       ├── get_state.py
│               │       ├── list_variables.py
│               │       ├── read_variable.py
│               │       └── clear_state.py
│               │
│               ├── datamodels/             # Pydantic data models
│               │   ├── sandbox.py       # Sandbox task models
│               │   ├── codeact.py       # Agent dependencies
│               │   ├── agent_builder.py # Agent configuration
│               │   └── prompts.py       # Prompt models
│               │
│               ├── activities/             # Temporal activity functions
│               │   └── common.py        # Config loading, prompts, utilities
│               │
│               ├── workers/                # Temporal workers
│               │   └── sandbox_worker.py   # CodeActWorkerRunner
│               │
│               └── api/                    # FastAPI application
│                   └── main.py
│
├── tests/                              # Test suite (mirrors src structure)
│   └── temporal/
│       └── pydanticai/
│           └── codeact/
│               ├── test_activities_common.py
│               ├── test_datamodels_agent_builder.py
│               ├── test_datamodels_codeact.py
│               ├── test_datamodels_prompts.py
│               ├── test_datamodels_sandbox.py
│               └── test_sandbox_container.py
│
├── examples/                           # Usage examples
│   ├── simple_agent_example.py
│   └── agent_with_sandbox_tools.py
│
├── docs/                               # Documentation
│   ├── architecture.md
│   ├── getting-started.md
│   ├── api-reference.md
│   ├── sandbox-operations.md
│   ├── examples.md
│   └── sandbox_workflow_demo.md
│
├── app_conf.yml                        # Temporal and LLM configuration
├── agent_prompts.yml                   # Agent prompts and instructions
├── pyproject.toml                      # Project dependencies
├── CLAUDE.md                           # Claude Code instructions
└── README.md

Running the Project

1. Start Temporal Server

# Install Temporal CLI
brew install temporal  # macOS

# Start local dev server
temporal server start-dev

2. Create and Start Worker

Create a worker script (e.g., my_worker.py):

import asyncio
import os
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workers.sandbox_worker import CodeActWorkerRunner
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.activities.common import get_temporal_client
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.utils.common_utils import load_config, read_prompts
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents.simple_agent import SimpleAgent
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.agent_builder import AgentBuilder
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workflows.simple_agent_workflow import SimpleAgentWorkflow
from pydantic_ai.durable_exec.temporal import PydanticAIPlugin


async def main():
    # Load configuration
    config = load_config()
    prompts = read_prompts()

    # Create temporal client
    client = await get_temporal_client(
        config['temporal'],
        plugins=[PydanticAIPlugin()]
    )

    # Build agents
    agent = await SimpleAgent.from_agent_confs(
        agent_builder=AgentBuilder(
            prompts=prompts.agent_prompts,
            model_configs=config['llm']['gemini']
        )
    )

    # Create and run worker
    worker = await CodeActWorkerRunner.from_args(
        temporal_client=client,
        task_queue=os.getenv('TASK_QUEUE', 'sample_queue'),
        agents=[agent],
        workflows=[SimpleAgentWorkflow]
    )

    await worker.run()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    asyncio.run(main())

Run the worker:

python my_worker.py

3. Execute Workflow

Option A: Run demo script

cd src
python run_sandbox_workflow.py

Option B: Execute SimpleAgentWorkflow

# See Quick Start section above

Documentation

📚 Comprehensive documentation is available in the /docs folder:

Architecture Guide - System design, components, and patterns
Getting Started - Step-by-step tutorial for beginners
API Reference - Complete API documentation for all modules
Custom Functions Guide - Serializing and injecting reusable functions
Sandbox Operations - Detailed reference for all sandbox operations
Examples - Practical examples with explanations
Testing Guide - Comprehensive testing documentation
Sandbox Workflow Demo - Complete demo walkthrough

Examples

The examples/ directory contains practical usage examples:

simple_agent_example.py - Basic agent instrumentation patterns
agent_with_sandbox_tools.py - Advanced tool configuration
data_analysis_agent.py - Custom functions with automatic dependency detection

Development

Running Tests

pytest

Type Checking

mypy src/

Linting

ruff check .

Auto-fix Linting Issues

ruff check --fix .

Key Concepts

Persistent State

The sandbox maintains Python variable state across executions using pickle serialization. Variables are stored in Docker volumes, ensuring they survive container crashes, worker restarts, and even Docker daemon restarts.

from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.docker_sandbox.container_sandbox import PersistentContainerSandbox
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.sandbox import ExecutePythonArgs

sandbox = PersistentContainerSandbox()

# First execution
result = await sandbox.execute_python(
    ExecutePythonArgs(
        container_id=container_id,
        code="x = 42\nprint(x)"
    )
)

# Second execution - x is still available!
result = await sandbox.execute_python(
    ExecutePythonArgs(
        container_id=container_id,
        code="print(x * 2)"  # Outputs: 84
    )
)

For comprehensive documentation on persistence, volume management, multi-host deployments, and troubleshooting, see the Persistent Storage section.

Temporal Workflows

Workflows orchestrate long-running agent tasks with automatic retries:

from temporalio import workflow
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workflows.base.codeact_agent_workflow import CodeActAgentWorkflow
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents.simple_agent import SimpleAgent
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.codeact import CodeActAgentDeps

@workflow.defn
class SimpleAgentWorkflow(CodeActAgentWorkflow):
    @workflow.run
    async def run(self, user_task: str) -> str:
        await self._start_sandbox_container(python_packages=['numpy'])
        try:
            agent = await SimpleAgent.from_agent_confs(builder)
            result = await agent.run(
                user_prompt=user_task,
                deps=CodeActAgentDeps(container_id=self.container_id)
            )
            return result.output
        finally:
            await self._stop_sandbox_container()  # Always cleanup

Agent Tools

Agents automatically receive sandbox operations as tools:

from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.docker_sandbox.container_sandbox import StatelessPersistentSandbox

# StatelessPersistentSandbox converts activities to agent tools
sandbox = StatelessPersistentSandbox()
tools = await sandbox.code_sandbox_tools(
    blacklist=['start_container', 'stop_container']  # Exclude lifecycle ops
)
# Agent can now call: execute_python, execute_bash, read_file, etc.

MCP Integration

The library provides native support for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers at two levels:

Agent-Level Integration - MCP servers as tools available to CodeActAgent subclasses
Sandbox-Level Integration - MCP tools callable from within sandboxed Python code execution

This enables powerful combinations like using time APIs, web scrapers, file systems, and other external tools seamlessly in agent workflows.

How It Works

When you execute Python code with MCP servers, the sandbox:

Starts MCP servers inside the container
Extracts tools from each server
Creates synchronous Python function wrappers for async MCP tools
Injects these functions into the execution namespace
Executes your code with all tools available as regular functions
Handles event loop coordination automatically

Basic Usage

from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.docker_sandbox.container_sandbox import PersistentContainerSandbox
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.sandbox import StartContainerArgs, ExecutePythonArgs
from pydantic_ai.mcp import MCPServerStdio

sandbox = PersistentContainerSandbox()

# Start container
container_id = await sandbox.start_container(StartContainerArgs())

# Create MCP server(s)
time_server = MCPServerStdio("uvx", ["mcp-server-time"])

# Execute code that calls MCP tools as regular functions!
code = '''
# MCP tools are available as regular Python functions
current_time = get_current_time(timezone="America/New_York")
print(f"New York time: {current_time}")
'''

result = await sandbox.execute_python(
    ExecutePythonArgs(container_id=container_id, code=code),
    mcp_servers=[time_server]
)

Multiple MCP Servers

You can use multiple MCP servers simultaneously:

from pydantic_ai.mcp import MCPServerStdio

# Create multiple servers
time_server = MCPServerStdio("uvx", ["mcp-server-time"])
fetch_server = MCPServerStdio("uvx", ["mcp-server-fetch"])

code = '''
# Tools from both servers available!
time = get_current_time(timezone="UTC")
content = fetch(url="https://example.com")

print(f"Fetched at {time}")
print(f"Content length: {len(content)}")
'''

result = await sandbox.execute_python(
    ExecutePythonArgs(container_id=container_id, code=code),
    mcp_servers=[time_server, fetch_server]
)

Architecture

The MCP integration uses a file-based execution approach:

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                     execute_python() Call                      │
│    (user code + mcp_servers=[...])                             │
└──────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
                       ▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. Serialize MCP server configs to JSON                       │
│  2. Write user code to /tmp/user_code.py in container          │
│  3. Set environment variables:                                 │
│     - USER_CODE_PATH=/tmp/user_code.py                         │
│     - MCP_SERVERS_JSON=[...]                                   │
└──────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
                       ▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            Execute: /app/sandbox/execute_with_mcp.py           │
│                                                                 │
│  1. Read config from environment                               │
│  2. Start all MCP servers                                      │
│  3. Create MCPSandboxExecutor with servers                     │
│  4. Get namespace with tool wrappers                           │
│  5. Execute user code with tools available                     │
│  6. Clean up servers                                           │
└──────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                       │
                       ▼
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                MCPSandboxExecutor Class                         │
│                                                                 │
│  - Coordinates async MCP tools with sync exec() context        │
│  - Creates synchronous wrappers using                          │
│    asyncio.run_coroutine_threadsafe()                          │
│  - Provides namespace dict with all tools as functions         │
│  - Handles multiple servers and tool name conflicts            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Available MCP Servers

The sandbox works with any MCP server that supports stdio transport:

mcp-server-time - Time and timezone queries
mcp-server-fetch - Web content fetching
mcp-server-filesystem - File operations
mcp-server-git - Git operations
mcp-server-sqlite - SQLite database access
Custom servers - Any stdio-based MCP server

Key Components

In Container (/app/sandbox/):

execute_with_mcp.py - Entry point script that reads config, starts servers, and executes code
mcp_executor.py - MCPSandboxExecutor class for event loop coordination and tool wrapping

In Host:

container_sandbox.py - _serialize_mcp_servers() converts MCPServerStdio to JSON
execute_python() - File-based execution when mcp_servers provided

Features

✅ Automatic Tool Discovery - All tools from all servers become available functions ✅ Event Loop Coordination - Async MCP tools work in sync exec() context ✅ Multiple Servers - Use any number of MCP servers simultaneously ✅ Clean Architecture - File-based approach avoids complex string generation ✅ Error Handling - Proper server lifecycle management with AsyncExitStack ✅ Name Conflict Detection - Prevents tool name collisions across servers

Limitations

⚠️ Only stdio-based MCP servers supported (no HTTP/SSE yet)
⚠️ Tool functions return strings (MCP response serialized)
⚠️ Tools execute with 30-second timeout
⚠️ Container needs network access for uvx to install MCP servers

Testing

Run the MCP integration test:

pytest tests/test_mcp_integration.py -v

See tests/test_mcp_integration.py and src/example/dupa_test.py for complete examples.

Agent-Level MCP Integration

CodeActAgent subclasses can integrate MCP servers directly, making tools available both as:

Function signatures included in agent instructions (for awareness)
Callable tools within sandbox Python executions (for actual usage)

This enables agents to understand what external tools are available and use them seamlessly in generated code.

How It Works:

When building a CodeActAgent, the system automatically:

Calls _get_mcp_toolsets() to retrieve MCP server configurations
Serializes server configs for container execution
Extracts tool schemas as Python function signatures via extract_mcp_tools_as_functions
Injects function signatures into agent instructions template (via {{ tools_as_func }} variable)
Passes serialized servers to sandbox instrumentation for runtime execution

Creating an Agent with MCP Tools:

from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents.base.code_act_agent import CodeActAgent
from pydantic_ai import WrapperToolset
from pydantic_ai.mcp import MCPServerStdio

class DataAnalysisAgent(CodeActAgent):
    """Agent with access to time and fetch tools."""

    @staticmethod
    async def _get_mcp_toolsets(**kwargs):
        """Define MCP servers available to this agent."""
        return {
            'time': WrapperToolset(MCPServerStdio("uvx", ["mcp-server-time"])),
            'fetch': WrapperToolset(MCPServerStdio("uvx", ["mcp-server-fetch"]))
        }

Agent Prompt Template:

# agent_prompts.yml
data_analysis_agent:
  system_prompt: "You are a data analysis assistant with code execution capabilities."
  instructions: |
    You have access to a Docker sandbox (container: {{ container_id }}).

    Installed packages: {{ python_packages }}
    Current variables: {{ sandbox_variable_names }}
    Files available: {{ sandbox_files }}

    {% if tools_as_func %}
    ## External Tools Available

    The following external tools are available as Python functions in your sandbox:

    {% for func in tools_as_func %}
    ```python
    {{ func }}
    ```
    {% endfor %}

    Use these tools by calling them as regular Python functions in your execute_python code.
    {% endif %}

    Solve the user's task using the available tools and packages.

Usage Example:

from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.agent_builder import AgentBuilder
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.codeact import CodeActAgentDeps

# Build agent with MCP integration
agent = await DataAnalysisAgent.from_agent_confs(
    agent_builder=AgentBuilder(
        prompts=prompts,
        model_configs=model_configs
    )
)

# Run agent - it can now use time and fetch tools in its code!
result = await agent.run(
    user_prompt="Fetch the homepage of example.com and report the current time",
    deps=CodeActAgentDeps(container_id=container_id)
)

What the Agent Sees:

The agent's instructions will include the MCP tool signatures:

def get_current_time(timezone: str | None = None) -> Any:
    """Get the current time in a specific timezone."""

def fetch(url: str, max_length: int | None = None) -> Any:
    """Fetches a URL from the internet and extracts its contents as markdown."""

The agent can then generate code like:

# Agent-generated code
time = get_current_time(timezone="UTC")
content = fetch(url="https://example.com", max_length=5000)
print(f"Fetched at {time}")
print(f"Content preview: {content[:200]}")

Key Benefits:

✅ Tool Awareness - Agent knows what external tools are available and their signatures ✅ Seamless Integration - Tools work like regular Python functions in sandbox code ✅ Type Safety - Function signatures extracted from MCP JSON schemas ✅ Automatic Management - No manual tool registration or wrapper code needed ✅ Multiple Servers - Support for any number of MCP servers per agent

Architecture Flow:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  CodeActAgent Subclass                                  │
│  └─ _get_mcp_toolsets() → {name: MCPServerStdio}       │
└──────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                   │
                   ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  _build_agent()                                         │
│  1. Serialize MCP servers                               │
│  2. Extract tool signatures (Temporal activity)         │
│  3. Pass signatures to instruction renderer             │
│  4. Pass serialized servers to sandbox instrumentation  │
└──────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────────┘
                   │
                   ├──────────────────┬──────────────────┐
                   ▼                  ▼                  ▼
      ┌─────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐
      │  Instructions   │  │  Sandbox Tools  │  │  MCP Servers │
      │  (with tool     │  │  (execute_*,    │  │  (serialized │
      │   signatures)   │  │   read_file,    │  │   for        │
      │                 │  │   etc.)         │  │   container) │
      └─────────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  └──────────────┘
                                                        │
                                                        ▼
                                            ┌───────────────────┐
                                            │  execute_python   │
                                            │  + mcp_servers    │
                                            │  → Tools callable │
                                            └───────────────────┘

Supported MCP Server Types:

MCPServerStdio - Standard input/output transport (most common)
MCPServerSSE - Server-Sent Events transport
MCPServerStreamableHTTP - HTTP streaming transport

Example with Multiple Agents:

class TimeAwareAgent(CodeActAgent):
    @staticmethod
    async def _get_mcp_toolsets(**kwargs):
        return {
            'time': WrapperToolset(MCPServerStdio("uvx", ["mcp-server-time"]))
        }

class WebScrapingAgent(CodeActAgent):
    @staticmethod
    async def _get_mcp_toolsets(**kwargs):
        return {
            'fetch': WrapperToolset(MCPServerStdio("uvx", ["mcp-server-fetch"])),
            'filesystem': WrapperToolset(MCPServerStdio("uvx", ["mcp-server-filesystem"]))
        }

# Each agent has access to only its defined toolsets

Custom Functions

Custom functions allow you to define reusable helper functions in your Python codebase that are automatically serialized, analyzed for dependencies, and injected into the sandbox execution environment.

Key Features

⭐ Automatic Sync Wrappers - Async functions are automatically wrapped so they can be called synchronously (no await needed!) 📚 Full Docstrings in Signatures - Agents see complete function documentation for better understanding 📦 Dependency Detection - Python's AST module automatically detects required packages 🔧 Auto-Installation - Dependencies are automatically installed in Docker containers ♻️ Reusable - Define once, use across multiple agents and workflows

Quick Example

from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents.base.code_act_agent import CodeActAgent

class DataAnalysisAgent(CodeActAgent):
    agent_name = 'data_analysis_agent'

    @staticmethod
    async def _get_custom_functions(**kwargs) -> list:
        """Define custom functions for this agent."""

        async def analyze_data(data_json: str) -> dict:
            """Analyze data using pandas."""
            import pandas as pd
            import numpy as np

            df = pd.read_json(data_json)
            return {
                'mean': df.mean().to_dict(),
                'std': df.std().to_dict()
            }

        def format_output(data: dict) -> str:
            """Format dictionary as markdown."""
            return "\\n".join(f"- **{k}**: {v}" for k, v in data.items())

        return [analyze_data, format_output]

Agents can then use these functions in their generated code without using await:

# Agent generates code like this:
data = '[{"a": 1, "b": 2}, {"a": 3, "b": 4}]'
analysis = analyze_data(data)  # NO await needed! Async functions are wrapped
output = format_output(analysis)
print(output)

Benefits

vs. MCP Tools: Custom functions are ideal for business logic and reusable utilities that you want to version control alongside your code
vs. Inline Code: Provides reusability, better testing, automatic dependency management, and clear documentation
Simplicity: Async functions work without await - the sync wrapper handles all event loop management

For comprehensive documentation, see Custom Functions Guide.

Persistent Storage

The sandbox provides automatic persistent storage using Docker volumes, ensuring that Python variables and files survive container crashes, worker restarts, and even Docker daemon restarts.

How It Works

When you start a container with a workflow_id, the system automatically:

Creates a Docker volume named workflow-{workflow_id} (or reuses existing one)
Mounts it at /persistent-storage/ inside the container
Saves Python state to /persistent-storage/{workflow_id}/state/globals.pkl
Restores state automatically when the workflow restarts with the same ID

Basic Usage

Persistence is enabled by default:

from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.docker_sandbox.container_sandbox import PersistentContainerSandbox
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.sandbox import StartContainerArgs, ExecutePythonArgs

# Persistence enabled by default
sandbox = PersistentContainerSandbox()

# Start container with workflow_id
container_id = await sandbox.start_container(
    StartContainerArgs(container_name="data-pipeline-123")
)

# Execute code - variables are saved automatically
await sandbox.execute_python(ExecutePythonArgs(
    container_id=container_id,
    code="results = {'accuracy': 0.95, 'loss': 0.03}"
))

# If worker crashes here and restarts with same ID...

# State is automatically recovered!
await sandbox.execute_python(ExecutePythonArgs(
    container_id=container_id,
    code="print(results)"  # Still works!
))

Configuration Options

Via Constructor:

# Enable/disable persistence
sandbox = PersistentContainerSandbox(enable_persistence=True)

# Use NFS for multi-host deployments
sandbox = PersistentContainerSandbox(
    volume_driver='nfs',
    volume_driver_opts={
        'type': 'nfs',
        'o': 'addr=nfs-server.company.com,rw',
        'device': ':/exports/workflows'
    }
)

# Disable persistence for ephemeral workflows
sandbox = PersistentContainerSandbox(enable_persistence=False)

Via Environment Variables:

# .env
ENABLE_PERSISTENCE=true
VOLUME_DRIVER=local  # or 'nfs'
NFS_SERVER=nfs-server.company.com
NFS_PATH=/exports/workflows

Volume Management

List all workflow volumes:

volumes = await sandbox.list_workflow_volumes()
for vol in volumes:
    print(f"Workflow: {vol['workflow_id']}, Created: {vol['created']}")

Cleanup completed workflows:

# When workflow completes and you don't need the data anymore
await sandbox.cleanup_workflow_volume("data-pipeline-123")

Manual cleanup (via Docker CLI):

# List workflow volumes
docker volume ls | grep workflow-

# Inspect specific volume
docker volume inspect workflow-data-pipeline-123

# Remove specific volume
docker volume rm workflow-data-pipeline-123

# Remove all workflow volumes (careful!)
docker volume rm $(docker volume ls -q | grep "^workflow-")

Storage Paths

Inside containers:

State: /persistent-storage/{workflow_id}/state/globals.pkl
Output: /persistent-storage/{workflow_id}/output/

On host:

Local: Docker-managed (/var/lib/docker/volumes/workflow-{id})
NFS: On NFS server at configured path

Multi-Host Deployments (NFS)

For production deployments across multiple hosts:

sandbox = PersistentContainerSandbox(
    volume_driver='nfs',
    volume_driver_opts={
        'type': 'nfs',
        'o': 'addr=nfs-server.company.com,rw',
        'device': ':/exports/workflows'
    }
)
# Volumes now accessible from any host in the cluster!

Best Practices

✅ Do:

Use meaningful workflow IDs (data-pipeline-2024-01-15-batch-001)
Clean up completed workflows with cleanup_workflow_volume()
Monitor volume usage with list_workflow_volumes()
Use NFS for multi-host production deployments

❌ Don't:

Reuse workflow IDs (each workflow should have unique ID)
Delete volumes manually (use cleanup_workflow_volume())
Disable persistence in production unless workflow is truly ephemeral

Troubleshooting

State not persisting?

# Check if persistence is enabled
print(f"Persistence: {sandbox.enable_persistence}")

# Check if volume was created
docker volume ls | grep workflow-{your-workflow-id}

# Check container has volume mounted
docker inspect {container-id} | grep Mounts -A 10

Volume already exists? This is normal! The sandbox reuses existing volumes. For a fresh start:

await sandbox.cleanup_workflow_volume("your-workflow-id")
container_id = await sandbox.start_container(...)

Comparison with Alternatives

Feature	Docker Volumes	SeaweedFS/Other Distributed FS
Setup	✅ None (built-in)	❌ Complex (4+ containers)
Complexity	✅ Simple	❌ High
Single-host	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Multi-host	➕ With NFS	✅ Native
Performance	✅ Local disk	⚠️ Network overhead
Maintenance	✅ Low	⚠️ High

Recommendation: Start with Docker volumes. Upgrade to NFS if you need multi-host. Only consider distributed file systems like SeaweedFS if you need advanced features.

Environment Variables

TASK_QUEUE - Temporal task queue name (default: sample_queue)
APP_CONFIG_PATH - Path to configuration file
APP_PROMPTS_PATH - Path to agent prompts file
GEMINI_API_KEY - Google Gemini API key (or in app_conf.yml)
ENABLE_PERSISTENCE - Enable/disable persistent storage (default: true)
VOLUME_DRIVER - Volume driver for persistence (local or nfs, default: local)
NFS_SERVER - NFS server address (when using NFS driver)
NFS_PATH - NFS export path (when using NFS driver)

Testing

Comprehensive test suite using pytest with async support:

# Run all tests
pytest

# Run unit tests only (no Docker/Temporal required)
pytest -m unit

# Run with coverage
pytest --cov=src --cov-report=html

# Run specific test file
pytest tests/test_datamodels_sandbox.py

Test Categories

Unit Tests (-m unit) - Fast tests with mocked dependencies
Integration Tests (-m integration) - Require Docker and/or Temporal
Docker Tests (-m docker) - Require Docker daemon
Temporal Tests (-m temporal) - Require Temporal server

See Testing Guide for comprehensive testing documentation.

Publishing the Library

Building the Distribution

The library is configured to package only the temporal namespace module. To build distribution packages:

# Build the package using uv (recommended for this project)
uv build

# Or using standard build tools
pip install build twine
python -m build

# This creates:
# - dist/temporal_pydanticai_codeact-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl (wheel - this is what gets installed)
# - dist/temporal-pydanticai-codeact-0.1.0.tar.gz (source distribution)

Verify the build:

# Check what's in the wheel (what users will install)
unzip -l dist/temporal_pydanticai_codeact-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl | grep temporal

# You should see only:
# temporal/__init__.py
# temporal/pydanticai/__init__.py
# temporal/pydanticai/codeact/...

What Gets Published

The build process packages only the src/temporal/ directory, which contains:

temporal/__init__.py (namespace package)
temporal/pydanticai/__init__.py (namespace package)
temporal/pydanticai/codeact/ (the actual library code)

This means users installing the package get:

site-packages/
└── temporal/
    └── pydanticai/
        └── codeact/
            ├── __init__.py
            ├── activities/
            ├── agents/
            ├── datamodels/
            ├── docker_sandbox/
            ├── workflows/
            └── workers/

Publishing to PyPI

# Check the built package
twine check dist/*

# Upload to Test PyPI first (recommended)
twine upload --repository testpypi dist/*

# Test installation from TestPyPI
pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ temporal-pydanticai-codeact

# If everything works, publish to PyPI
twine upload dist/*

Publishing to Private Registry

For private use or internal projects:

# Configure your private registry
pip config set global.index-url https://your-registry.com/simple/

# Upload to private registry
twine upload --repository-url https://your-registry.com/legacy/ dist/*

Using in Other Projects

After publishing, users can install and use the library:

Example Project Structure:

my-agent-project/
├── pyproject.toml
├── requirements.txt
└── main.py

requirements.txt:

temporal-pydanticai-codeact>=0.1.0

main.py:

import asyncio
import os
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workers.sandbox_worker import CodeActWorkerRunner
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.activities.common import (
    get_temporal_client
)
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.utils.common_utils import load_config, read_prompts
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents.simple_agent import SimpleAgent
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels.agent_builder import AgentBuilder
from temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workflows.simple_agent_workflow import SimpleAgentWorkflow
from pydantic_ai.durable_exec.temporal import PydanticAIPlugin


async def main():
    # Load configuration
    config = load_config()  # Looks for app_conf.yml in current directory
    prompts = read_prompts()  # Looks for agent_prompts.yml

    # Connect to Temporal
    client = await get_temporal_client(
        config['temporal'],
        plugins=[PydanticAIPlugin()]
    )

    # Build agent
    agent = await SimpleAgent.from_agent_confs(
        agent_builder=AgentBuilder(
            prompts=prompts.agent_prompts,
            model_configs=config['llm']['gemini']
        )
    )

    # Create and run worker
    worker = await CodeActWorkerRunner.from_args(
        temporal_client=client,
        task_queue=os.getenv('TASK_QUEUE', 'my-queue'),
        agents=[agent],
        workflows=[SimpleAgentWorkflow]
    )

    print("Worker started. Press Ctrl+C to stop.")
    await worker.run()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    asyncio.run(main())

Install and run:

# Install dependencies (includes temporal-pydanticai-codeact)
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Run your agent
python main.py

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure:

Code follows existing patterns and style
All tests pass (pytest)
Unit tests pass without external services (pytest -m unit)
Type checking passes (mypy src/)
Linting passes (ruff check .)
New features include tests, documentation, and examples

License

MIT

Acknowledgments

Built with:

PydanticAI
Temporal
Docker
uv package manager

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 35 Commits
docs		docs
src		src
tests		tests
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
agent_prompts.yml		agent_prompts.yml
app_conf.yml		app_conf.yml
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml
pytest.ini		pytest.ini

License

scalabreseGD/temporal-pydanticai-codeact

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temporal.pydanticai.codeact

Overview

Key Features

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Installation

For Library Users (Using in Your Project)

For Contributors (Development Setup)

Configuration

Basic Usage

Architecture

Core Components

Agents (temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents)

Workflows (temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workflows)

Docker Sandbox (temporal.pydanticai.codeact.docker_sandbox)

Workers (temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workers)

Data Models (temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels)

Project Structure

Running the Project

1. Start Temporal Server

2. Create and Start Worker

3. Execute Workflow

Documentation

Examples

Development

Running Tests

Type Checking

Linting

Auto-fix Linting Issues

Key Concepts

Persistent State

Temporal Workflows

Agent Tools

MCP Integration

How It Works

Basic Usage

Multiple MCP Servers

Architecture

Available MCP Servers

Key Components

Features

Limitations

Testing

Agent-Level MCP Integration

Custom Functions

Key Features

Quick Example

Benefits

Persistent Storage

How It Works

Basic Usage

Configuration Options

Volume Management

Storage Paths

Multi-Host Deployments (NFS)

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Comparison with Alternatives

Environment Variables

Testing

Test Categories

Publishing the Library

Building the Distribution

What Gets Published

Publishing to PyPI

Publishing to Private Registry

Using in Other Projects

Contributing

License

Acknowledgments

About

Resources

License

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Agents (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.agents`)

Workflows (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workflows`)

Docker Sandbox (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.docker_sandbox`)

Workers (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.workers`)

Data Models (`temporal.pydanticai.codeact.datamodels`)

Packages