Eve

Eve is Vercel's open framework for building production agents, billed as "Next.js for agents." An agent is a directory: you define its instructions and skills in Markdown, write tools in TypeScript, and Eve compiles the directory into durable workflows with channels, sandboxes, and schedules. First-party sources: eve.dev, github.com/vercel/eve (Apache-2.0, about 4,750 stars on 2026-08-22), and the Vercel page at vercel.com/eve. Eve leans on Vercel's AI primitives: AI Gateway for model calls, Sandbox for isolated compute, Workflows for checkpointed execution, and Connect for authenticated MCP endpoints.

Compare OpenAI Agents SDK or LangGraph if you prefer a code-first runtime over a file-system convention.

Key Features

• An agent is a directory: instructions.md defines identity, skills/ holds Markdown playbooks loaded when relevant, tools/ files become callable tools by filename, channels/ connects Slack, Discord, Teams, web chat, and API, and schedules/ run agents on cron.
• Durable by default: every step is checkpointed; agents park between messages and resume on delivery. Workflows survive crashes and restarts.
• Isolated sandbox: each agent runs with file tools and bash in an isolated VM, with optional sandbox/sandbox.ts to choose a backend.
• Subagents: delegate specialized work to child agents with their own prompts, tools, and sandboxes.
• Human-in-the-loop: tools that need confirmation trigger approval gates; sessions park until resolved.
• Evaluations: define test suites with scoring rubrics and run them on deployment or on a schedule.

Use Cases

• Teams shipping production agents that need to appear in Slack, Discord, web chat, or an API without gluing point solutions together.
• Scheduled automation: daily reports, weekly digests, and recurring jobs via cron schedules.
• Developers who want Markdown-first control over agent behavior and TypeScript tools instead of a visual builder.

Problems It Solves

1. Infrastructure glue: model calls, sandboxes, persistence, and channels work out of the box.
2. Lost work on crash: durable checkpointing means long agent runs survive restarts.
3. Tool registration boilerplate: the filename becomes the tool name, no registration required.

Pricing

Getting Started

1. Run npx eve@latest init my-agent.
2. Write instructions.md describing the agent's role.
3. Add tools/ TypeScript files; the model can call them immediately.
4. Optionally add skills/, a sandbox/sandbox.ts, channel files, and cron schedules.
5. Deploy on Vercel or self-host; run evals before shipping.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Eve free?

The framework is open source under Apache-2.0. Running it on Vercel uses your Vercel plan's AI Gateway, Sandbox, and Workflow quotas.

Do I need to learn a new DSL?

No. Instructions and skills are Markdown; tools are plain TypeScript with a defineTool helper.

Can Eve connect to Slack or Discord?

Yes, channel files make the same agent available in Slack, Discord, Teams, Google Chat, WhatsApp, web chat, and API.

Alternatives

• OpenAI Agents SDK: OpenAI's lightweight agent orchestration.
• LangGraph: graph-based stateful agent runtime.

Tips

1. Keep instructions.md short and move detail into skills/ so prompts stay focused.
2. Use subagents for tasks with separate toolsets instead of one large tool list.
3. Add a cron schedule for recurring jobs and let Workflows handle restart durability.

Conclusion

Eve turns agent building into the same shaped experience as building a Next.js app: a directory, Markdown, and TypeScript. If you already live in the Vercel ecosystem and want durable multi-channel agents without infrastructure glue, start at eve.dev.