> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://botpress.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction to the ADK

> TypeScript framework for building AI agents on Botpress.

The Agent Development Kit (ADK) is a **CLI tool and development framework for building AI agents on Botpress**. It provides a streamlined development experience with TypeScript support, hot reloading, and type-safe APIs for creating AI applications.

You write conversations, workflows, tools, and actions as code. Botpress handles hosting, scaling, and channel delivery.

<Frame>
  <img alt="Botpress ADK" className="block dark:hidden" src="https://mintcdn.com/botpress/wu5El99FYAbwgPhc/adk/assets/intro-new.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=wu5El99FYAbwgPhc&q=85&s=a35f9b37e0357cbaffd610e52cb69ee7" width="3178" height="1966" data-path="adk/assets/intro-new.png" />

  <img alt="Botpress ADK" className="hidden dark:block" src="https://mintcdn.com/botpress/wu5El99FYAbwgPhc/adk/assets/intro-new-dark.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=wu5El99FYAbwgPhc&q=85&s=4924846b690a6c3c0db041762582f540" width="3180" height="1954" data-path="adk/assets/intro-new-dark.png" />
</Frame>

## What you can build

* **Customer support agents** that resolve tickets, look up orders, and escalate to humans
* **Internal tools** that automate workflows across Slack, email, and databases
* **Sales assistants** that qualify leads, book meetings, and sync with your CRM
* **Multi-channel bots** that work across webchat, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more

## How it works

You write TypeScript. The ADK CLI handles the rest.

```bash theme={"theme":{"light":"light-plus","dark":"dark-plus"}}
adk init my-agent     # Scaffold a project
adk dev               # Run locally with hot reload
adk deploy            # Ship to Botpress Cloud
```

Your agent is organized around a few core primitives:

| Primitive             | What it does                            |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| **Conversations**     | Handle user messages on a channel       |
| **Workflows**         | Run multi-step background processes     |
| **Tools**             | Give the AI model functions it can call |
| **Actions**           | Reusable logic callable from anywhere   |
| **Tables**            | Structured data storage                 |
| **Knowledge**         | RAG-powered document retrieval          |
| **Triggers**          | React to external events                |
| **Custom components** | Render custom React UI in webchat       |
| **Evals**             | Automated conversation tests            |

Each primitive lives in its own file. The ADK discovers them automatically, no manual registration.

## Start here

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="rocket" href="/adk/quickstart">
    Install the ADK and deploy your first agent in minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="What's new" icon="newspaper" href="/changelog">
    Latest features, improvements, and breaking changes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>