The Astromesh Ecosystem

Astromesh is not a single tool — it’s an ecosystem of six components designed to cover the full lifecycle of AI agents: define, build, run, deploy, and manage. The core runtime is the foundation, and five satellite projects extend it for specific use cases.

You can use just the core runtime with YAML config files, or combine it with the ADK for Python-first development, the CLI for managing nodes and clusters, Node for system-level deployment, Forge for visual agent building, or Orbit for cloud provisioning.

Components at a Glance

Component	What it does	Package	Version
Core Runtime	Multi-model agent engine with 6 orchestration patterns, memory, tools, and guardrails	astromesh	v0.18.0
ADK	Python-first agent SDK with decorators, CLI, and hot reload	astromesh-adk	v0.1.5
CLI	Standalone CLI tool for managing nodes and clusters	astromesh-cli	v0.1.0
Node	Cross-platform system installer and daemon (Linux, macOS, Windows)	astromesh-node	v0.1.0
Forge	Visual agent builder — drag-and-drop wizard, canvas, and templates	astromesh-forge	v0.1.0
Orbit	Cloud-native IaC deployment — generates Terraform for GCP (AWS/Azure planned)	astromesh-orbit	v0.1.0

How They Relate

     ┌──────────┐                              ┌────────────┐
     │ Astromesh │    ┌──────────────┐    ┌─────┴──────┐
     │    ADK    │───>│  Astromesh   │<───│  Astromesh  │
     │  (build)  │    │ Core Runtime │    │   Orbit     │
     └──────────┘    │  (engine)    │    │  (deploy)   │
                      └──┬───────┬──┘    └────────────┘
     ┌──────────┐        │       │
     │ Astromesh │        │       │
     │   Forge   │────────┘       │ runs on
     │ (visual)  │         ┌──────┴──────┐
     └──────────┘         │  Astromesh  │
                           │    Node     │
                           │ (install)   │
                           └──────┬──────┘
                                  │ managed by
                           ┌──────┴──────┐
                           │  Astromesh  │
                           │    CLI      │
                           │  (manage)   │
                           └─────────────┘

• ADK builds agents in Python → generates YAML that the Core Runtime understands
• Forge provides a visual drag-and-drop interface for building agents (wizard + canvas)
• Core Runtime is the engine — loads agents, routes to LLM providers, executes orchestration patterns
• Node installs the runtime as a native system service (astromeshd)
• CLI provides the astromeshctl management interface for nodes and clusters
• Orbit provisions cloud infrastructure (GCP today, AWS/Azure planned) with Terraform

When to Use What

I want to…	Use…
Define agents with YAML and run the runtime directly	Astromesh Core
Define agents with Python decorators and a CLI	Astromesh ADK
Manage nodes and clusters from the command line	Astromesh CLI
Install as a system service on Linux, macOS, or Windows	Astromesh Node
Deploy in containers or Kubernetes	Docker / Helm (part of core)
Provision cloud infrastructure with Terraform	Astromesh Orbit
Build agents visually with drag-and-drop	Astromesh Forge

Deployment Layers

The ecosystem forms a layered stack. You choose your entry point at each layer:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Layer 4: Infrastructure       →  Orbit (Terraform)      │
│          System Service       →  Node (deb/rpm/...)     │
│          Containers           →  Docker / Helm          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Layer 3: Management           →  CLI (astromeshctl)     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Layer 2: Agent Runtime        →  Astromesh Core         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Layer 1: Agent Definition     →  YAML, ADK, or Forge   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Layer 1 is where you define your agents — YAML files, ADK Python decorators, or Forge’s visual builder. All three produce the same agent definitions.

Layer 2 is the runtime engine that loads agents, connects to LLM providers, manages memory, and executes orchestration patterns (ReAct, PlanAndExecute, etc.).

Layer 3 is the management layer — astromeshctl controls running nodes and clusters.

Layer 4 is how you deploy the runtime. Pick the one that fits your infrastructure: Node for bare-metal/VM, Docker for containers, Helm for Kubernetes, or Orbit for cloud-managed infrastructure.

Next Steps

Component	Start here
Core Runtime	Quick Start — run your first agent in 5 minutes
ADK	ADK Introduction — Python-first agent development
CLI	CLI Introduction — manage nodes and clusters from the terminal
Node	Node Introduction — install as a system service
Forge	Forge Introduction — visual agent builder
Orbit	Orbit Introduction — provision cloud infrastructure