---
title: Lead Agent
description: The Lead Agent is the central executor in a DeerFlow thread. Every conversation, task, and workflow flows through it. Understanding how it works helps you configure it effectively and extend it when needed.
---

import { Callout, Steps } from "nextra/components";

# Lead Agent

<Callout type="info" emoji="🧠">
  The Lead Agent is the primary reasoning and orchestration unit in every
  DeerFlow thread. It decides what to do, calls tools, delegates to subagents,
  and returns artifacts.
</Callout>

The Lead Agent is the central executor in a DeerFlow thread. Every conversation, task, and workflow flows through it. Understanding how it works helps you configure it effectively and extend it when needed.

## What the Lead Agent does

The Lead Agent is responsible for:

- receiving user messages and maintaining conversation state,
- reasoning about what to do next (planning, tool selection, delegation),
- calling tools — built-in, community, MCP, or skill tools,
- delegating subtasks to subagents via the `task` tool,
- managing artifacts (files, outputs, deliverables),
- updating the todo list in plan mode, and
- returning final responses or artifacts to the user.

The Lead Agent does not hardcode a specific workflow. It uses the model's reasoning to adapt to whatever task the user provides, guided by the system prompt and the skills currently in scope.

## Runtime foundation

The Lead Agent is built on **LangGraph** and **LangChain Agent** primitives. Specifically:

- [`create_agent`](https://python.langchain.com/docs/concepts/agents/) from `langchain.agents` wraps the LLM into a tool-calling agent loop.
- LangGraph manages the `ThreadState` and provides the checkpointing, streaming, and graph execution model.
- A **middleware chain** wraps every turn of the agent loop, providing cross-cutting capabilities like memory, summarization, and clarification.

## Execution flow

<Steps>

### Receive message

The user message arrives and is added to `ThreadState.messages`. The `ThreadState` holds the full conversation history, any active todo list, accumulated artifacts, and runtime metadata.

### Middleware pre-processing

Before the model is called, each active middleware has a chance to modify the state. For example, the `MemoryMiddleware` injects persisted memory facts into the system prompt, and the `SummarizationMiddleware` may condense old messages if the token budget is exceeded.

### LLM reasoning

The model receives the current messages (including system prompt with active skill instructions) and produces either a direct reply or one or more tool call requests.

### Tool execution

If tool calls are requested, they are dispatched to the appropriate handlers — sandbox tools for file and command work, community tools for web access, or the `task` tool for subagent delegation.

### Middleware post-processing

After tool results are returned and before the next model call, middlewares run again. The `TitleMiddleware` may generate a thread title on the first exchange, and the `TodoMiddleware` may update the task list.

### Loop or respond

If the model needs more information (e.g., a tool returned partial results), the loop continues. When the model decides the task is complete, it produces a final message and the loop ends.

### State update

`ThreadState` is updated with new messages, artifacts, and memory queues. If a checkpointer is configured, the state is persisted.

</Steps>

## Model selection

The Lead Agent resolves which model to use at runtime using the following priority order:

1. `model_name` (or `model`) from the per-request configuration, if provided and valid.
2. The `model` field of the active custom agent's config, if an agent is specified.
3. The first model in the `models:` list in `config.yaml` (the global default).

If the requested model name is not found in the config, the system falls back to the default model and logs a warning.

```yaml
models:
  - name: my-primary-model
    use: langchain_openai:ChatOpenAI
    model: gpt-4o
    api_key: $OPENAI_API_KEY
    request_timeout: 600.0
    max_retries: 2
    supports_vision: true

  - name: my-fast-model
    use: langchain_openai:ChatOpenAI
    model: gpt-4o-mini
    api_key: $OPENAI_API_KEY
```

The first entry (`my-primary-model`) becomes the default. Any request that does not specify a model, or specifies an unknown model name, will use it.

## Thinking mode

If the model supports extended thinking (e.g., DeepSeek Reasoner, Doubao with thinking enabled, Anthropic Claude with thinking), the Lead Agent can run in **thinking mode**. In this mode, the model's internal reasoning steps are visible in the response stream.

Thinking mode is controlled per-request through the `thinking_enabled` flag. If thinking is enabled but the configured model does not support it, the system falls back gracefully and logs a warning.

```yaml
models:
  - name: deepseek-v3
    use: deerflow.models.patched_deepseek:PatchedChatDeepSeek
    model: deepseek-reasoner
    api_key: $DEEPSEEK_API_KEY
    supports_thinking: true
    when_thinking_enabled:
      extra_body:
        thinking:
          type: enabled
    when_thinking_disabled:
      extra_body:
        thinking:
          type: disabled
```

## Plan mode

When `is_plan_mode` is set to `true` in the request configuration, the `TodoMiddleware` is activated. The agent then maintains a structured task list, marking items as `in_progress`, `completed`, or `pending` as it works through a complex task. This provides visibility into the agent's progress for the user.

Plan mode is appropriate for complex, multi-step tasks where showing incremental progress is valuable. For simple requests, it is better left disabled to avoid unnecessary overhead.

## Custom agents

The same Lead Agent runtime powers both the default agent and any custom agents you create. A custom agent differs only in:

- its **name** (ASCII slug, auto-derived from `display_name`),
- its **system prompt** or agent-specific instructions,
- which **skills** it has access to,
- which **tool groups** it can use, and
- which **model** it defaults to.

Custom agents are created through the DeerFlow App UI or via the `/api/agents` endpoint. Their configuration is stored in `agents/{name}/config.yaml` relative to the backend directory.

<Callout type="tip">
  When a custom agent is selected in a thread, the Lead Agent loads that agent's
  config at runtime. Switching models or skills for a specific agent does not
  require restarting the server.
</Callout>

## Bootstrap mode

DeerFlow includes a special **bootstrap mode** for the initial setup of custom agents. When `is_bootstrap: true` is passed in the request config, the Lead Agent runs with a minimal system prompt and only the core setup tools exposed. This is used internally to guide the first-run agent configuration flow.

<Cards num={2}>
  <Cards.Card title="Middlewares" href="/docs/harness/middlewares" />
  <Cards.Card title="Tools" href="/docs/harness/tools" />
</Cards>
