Operations
Operations represent internal agent activities like setting resources or serializing threads. They appear as operation parts in messages and help users understand what the agent is doing.
Operation Structure
Rendering Operations
Operations are typically shown as compact status indicators:
Operations in Messages
Operations appear alongside text, reasoning, and tool calls in the message's parts array:
Common Operation Types
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
set-resource | Updating a resource value |
serialize-thread | Converting thread messages to text |
Example: Progress During Escalation
When a user clicks "Talk to Human", multiple operations may occur:
Display Modes
Operations are only sent to the client if their protocol block has a visible display mode (name, description, or stream). Hidden operations (display: hidden) are filtered out by the platform before reaching the client.
This means you can safely render all operations without checking display mode — hidden ones won't be in the message parts.
Named Thread Operations
Operations can belong to named threads. Use the thread property to identify them: