A team debates whether their feature is an agent or a workflow. What most clearly distinguishes an agent?

Question

Accepted Answer

The model decides which steps and tools to use dynamically, rather than following a fixed path — An agent lets the model dynamically decide steps and tools rather than following a fixed path. Model tier does not define it, the server-vs-browser split is irrelevant, and agents still use system prompts.

Answer

The agent uses a larger model, since only the top model tier can ever be called an agent at all

Answer

The agent runs on a server while a workflow runs only in the browser, which is the sole difference

Answer

The agent has no system prompt, since removing all instructions is what makes a system agentic

A team debates whether their feature is an agent or a workflow. What most clearly distinguishes an agent?

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