# App workflow management class

<div class="language-support-tag">
    <span class="lst-supported">Supported in ADK</span><span class="lst-python">Python v1.14.0</span><span class="lst-java">Java v0.1.0</span>
</div>

The ***App*** class is a top-level container for an entire Agent Development Kit
(ADK) agent workflow. It is designed to manage the lifecycle, configuration, and
state for a collection of agents grouped by a ***root agent***. The **App** class
separates the concerns of an agent workflow's overall operational infrastructure
from individual agents' task-oriented reasoning.

Defining an ***App*** object in your ADK workflow is optional and changes how you
organize your agent code and run your agents. From a practical perspective, you
use the ***App*** class to configure the following features for your agent workflow:

*   [**Context caching**](/context/caching/)
*   [**Context compression**](/context/compaction/)
*   [**Agent resume**](/runtime/resume/)
*   [**Plugins**](/plugins/)

This guide explains how to use the App class for configuring and managing your
ADK agent workflows.

## Purpose of App Class

The ***App*** class addresses several architectural issues that arise when
building complex agentic systems:

*   **Centralized configuration:** Provides a single, centralized location for
    managing shared resources like API keys and database clients, avoiding the
    need to pass configuration down through every agent.
*   **Lifecycle management:** The ***App*** class includes ***on startup*** and
    ***on shutdown*** hooks, which allow for reliable management of persistent
    resources such as database connection pools or in-memory caches that need to
    exist across multiple invocations.
*   **State scope:** It defines an explicit boundary for application-level
     state with an `app:*` prefix making the scope and lifetime of this state
    clear to developers.
*   **Unit of deployment:** The ***App*** concept establishes a formal *deployable
    unit*, simplifying versioning, testing, and serving of agentic applications.

## Define an App object

The ***App*** class is used as the primary container of your agent workflow and
contains the root agent of the project. The ***root agent*** is the container
for the primary controller agent and any additional sub-agents.

### Define app with root agent

Create a ***root agent*** for your workflow by creating a subclass from the
***Agent*** base class. Then define an ***App*** object and configure it with
the ***root agent*** object and optional features, as shown in the following
sample code:

=== "Python"

    ```python title="agent.py"
    from google.adk.agents.llm_agent import Agent
    from google.adk.apps import App

    root_agent = Agent(
        model='gemini-flash-latest',
        name='greeter_agent',
        description='An agent that provides a friendly greeting.',
        instruction='Reply with Hello, World!',
    )

    app = App(
        name="agents",
        root_agent=root_agent,
        # Optionally include App-level features:
        # plugins, context_cache_config, resumability_config
    )
    ```

=== "Java"

    ```java title="AgentConfiguration.java"
    import com.google.adk.agents.LlmAgent;
    import com.google.adk.apps.App;

    LlmAgent rootAgent = LlmAgent.builder()
        .model("gemini-flash-latest")
        .name("greeter_agent")
        .description("An agent that provides a friendly greeting.")
        .instruction("Reply with Hello, World!")
        .build();

    App app = App.builder()
        .name("agents")
        .rootAgent(rootAgent)
        // Optionally include App-level features:
        // .plugins(plugins)
        // .contextCacheConfig(contextCacheConfig)
        // .eventsCompactionConfig(eventsCompactionConfig)
        .build();
    ```

!!! tip "Recommended: Use `app` variable name"

    In your agent project code, set your ***App*** object to the variable name
    `app` so it is compatible with the ADK command line interface runner tools.

### Run your App agent

You can use the ***Runner*** class to run your agent workflow using the
`app` parameter, as shown in the following code sample:

=== "Python"

    ```python title="main.py"
    import asyncio
    from dotenv import load_dotenv
    from google.adk.runners import InMemoryRunner
    from agent import app # import code from agent.py

    load_dotenv() # load API keys and settings
    # Set a Runner using the imported application object
    runner = InMemoryRunner(app=app)

    async def main():
        try:  # run_debug() requires ADK Python 1.18 or higher:
            response = await runner.run_debug("Hello there!")

        except Exception as e:
            print(f"An error occurred during agent execution: {e}")

    if __name__ == "__main__":
        asyncio.run(main())

    ```

=== "Java"

    ```java title="AppMain.java"
    import com.google.adk.agents.Content;
    import com.google.adk.runner.Runner;

    public class AppMain {

      public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        // Set a Runner using the application object

        App app = ...;

        Runner runner = Runner.builder()
            .app(app) // Use the 'app' object defined previously
            .build();

        runner.runAsync("user", "session-1", Content.fromParts(Part.fromText("Hello there!")))
            .filter(event -> event.finalResponse() && event.content().isPresent())
            .blockingSubscribe(event -> System.out.println("Response: " + event.stringifyContent()));
      }
    }
    ```

!!! note "Version requirement for `Runner.run_debug()` "

    The `Runner.run_debug()` command requires ADK Python v1.18.0 or higher.
    You can also use `Runner.run()`, which requires more setup code. For
    more details, see the

=== "Python"

    Run your App agent with the `main.py` code using the following command:

    ```console
    python3 main.py
    ```

=== "Java"

    Run your App agent with the `AppMain.java` code using your build tool (e.g. Gradle `application` plugin):

    ```console
    ./gradlew run
    ```

## Next steps

For a more complete sample code implementation, see the
[Hello World App](https://github.com/google/adk-python/tree/main/contributing/samples/core/app)
code example.