Async Python for Agent Developers
asyncio basics, async def, await, event loop — the async mental model.
Why Async for Agents?
Agents make many I/O-bound calls: LLM APIs, web requests, database queries. Synchronous code waits idle while these calls complete. Async code runs other work during those waits, dramatically improving throughput.
Async Basics: async def and await
async def declares a coroutine function. await suspends execution until the awaited operation completes, letting the event loop run other coroutines in the meantime.
import asyncio
async def fetch_data(source: str) -> str:
print(f'Starting fetch from {source}')
await asyncio.sleep(1) # Simulates a network call
print(f'Finished fetch from {source}')
return f'Data from {source}'
async def main():
# Sequential: takes 2 seconds total
result1 = await fetch_data('source-A')
result2 = await fetch_data('source-B')
print('Sequential results:', result1, result2)
asyncio.run(main())
# asyncio.run() starts the event loop and runs main()
# It is the entry point for async programsAll lessons in this course
- Async Python for Agent Developers
- Event Queues and Message Brokers
- Non-Blocking Parallel Tool Execution
- Async Agent Frameworks: LangChain and Beyond