messaging-agents

Messaging Agents

What you are addressing

An agent is a persistent identity: its memory and configuration are shared by all of its conversations. A conversation is one message thread on an agent. Address a conversation ID to continue a thread; address an agent ID to open a new thread with that agent. When your send identifies you as the sender, a new thread is created hidden so agent-to-agent traffic does not clutter the recipient's conversation list.

Two backends

Letta Code keeps agent state on one of two backends. The same CLI addresses agents on either; what differs is what happens after you send.

Cloud backend (api.letta.com). Agent state lives in Cloud. Cloud can deliver messages to a computer: a machine running Letta Code connected to Cloud, or a Cloud sandbox. Because state and execution are separate, Cloud tracks which computers are online and where each conversation is active. That is why these exist only on this backend:

• delivering your message to the harness already running the recipient's conversation, or to its saved destination (a computer or Cloud sandbox) when none is active;
• a computer selector on sends and on the Agent tool;
• teleporting a conversation (letta teleport <computer>): the same thread, with its history and memory, continues on a different computer. Files and working directories do not move with it.

Local backend. Agent state lives in a store on this machine. There is no computer concept, so no computer selector and no teleport, and no Cloud service to deliver on your behalf: a send runs the recipient's turn inside the letta -p process you launched. Agent IDs on this backend start with agent-local-.

"Local backend" describes where state is stored. It says nothing about which machine a Cloud-backed agent is executing on, and it is unrelated to subagents you launch with the Agent tool.

How a send reaches the recipient

For the Cloud CLI sends below, letta -p hands the message to Cloud for delivery when you pass --conversation, --from-agent, --no-wait, or --computer. These commands leave the recipient's execution settings unchanged. SendAgentMessage uses the same Cloud delivery endpoint.

With only --agent, the CLI chooses the launch settings and normally creates a new conversation. It runs the turn in its own process or reuses an inherited Cloud listener. The listener path first applies those settings to the conversation, then submits its input through the same Cloud delivery endpoint. Supported local-backend CLI sends run the turn in the launched process.

--no-wait is one of the flags that selects Cloud delivery. On that path, waiting and non-waiting sends use the same delivery mechanism, but differ in how you receive the answer and what reply instructions the recipient gets.

The recipient learns who is asking only when the send identifies a sender: --from-agent, or for the Cloud messaging recipes below, the caller IDs from the agent's shell environment (AGENT_ID/LETTA_AGENT_ID and CONVERSATION_ID/LETTA_CONVERSATION_ID). SendAgentMessage always identifies you and your conversation. An identified send attaches a system reminder telling the recipient how to get its answer back to you. A letta -p with neither carries no sender or reply instructions; the recipient receives your text as user input, plus whatever context its harness normally adds.

An explicit --from-agent different from the agent identified by your environment does not inherit the current conversation as its return address.

Waiting or not

• Waiting send (letta -p without --no-wait). The process normally returns the recipient's final message, in result with JSON output. When a sender is identified, the recipient is told to put its answer in that message. Works on either backend.
• Non-waiting send (SendAgentMessage, or letta -p --no-wait). Returns a receipt once Cloud accepts the message. Ordinary assistant output is not forwarded. When a sender is identified, the reminder says so and, if a return conversation is supplied, asks the recipient to send an explicit reply there. That explicit reply becomes a new message in your conversation. Cloud backend only; acceptance does not guarantee a reply.

A waiting send occupies the CLI process, not necessarily you. Run it in the background (your shell tool may already do this for long-running commands) and read its output when it finishes. That keeps you working, but it does not change the recipient's instructions: the answer still arrives as process output, not as a message to your conversation.

For a managed child task with a completion notification, use the Agent tool on either backend. SendAgentMessage only sends input; it creates no task.

Send and keep working (Cloud backend)

SendAgentMessage({ conversation_id: "conv-…", message: "…" })   // continue a thread
SendAgentMessage({ agent_id: "agent-…", message: "…" })         // open a new hidden thread
SendAgentMessage({ agent_id: "agent-…", conversation_id: "default", message: "…" })  // the agent's default thread

Success means Cloud accepted the message (status: "queued"), not that the recipient has read it. Keep working; a reply sent to your return address arrives in your conversation. Omit computer: the conversation continues wherever it is active, and asking for a different computer is rejected rather than moving it.

The CLI form behaves the same when run from your agent's environment, which supplies the return address; use it from scripts or when the tool is absent:

letta -p --conversation <conversation-id> --no-wait --output-format json "message"
letta -p --agent <agent-id> --no-wait --output-format json "message"

Send and wait (either backend)

letta -p --from-agent $LETTA_AGENT_ID --agent <agent-id> --output-format json "message"
letta -p --from-agent $LETTA_AGENT_ID --conversation <conversation-id> --output-format json "follow-up"

result normally holds the recipient's final message; conversation_id is the thread to continue. --from-agent names you and must be an agent on the same backend as the recipient.

If your agent ID starts with agent-local-, add --backend local so the command uses the local store: letta --backend local -p …. The flag applies to that command only.

For these Cloud messaging commands, stopping the wait does not cancel accepted work on the recipient's computer. On the local backend the recipient's turn runs inside the process you launched, so --tools, --permission-mode, and the working directory you give it apply to that turn.

Replying to another agent

When another agent identifies itself, its message arrives with a system reminder naming its agent ID and, when it had one, its conversation ID.

• If the reminder says the sender will only see your final message: answer in your response. Nothing more is needed.
• If the reminder asks for an explicit reply: use its return address with SendAgentMessage({ agent_id, conversation_id, message }), or letta -p --agent <sender-agent-id> --conversation <sender-conversation-id> --no-wait "reply". Your ordinary output is not forwarded to the sender.
• If it says no return conversation was supplied: your output is not forwarded and there is no thread to reply into. Answer as you normally would.

A message without such a reminder carries no sender or reply instructions; respond to it as you would to any input.

Checking on a conversation

Recent messages are the quick progress check on either backend. This command requests recent messages and prints the returned messages oldest to newest (add --backend local in the same cases as for sends):

letta messages list --conversation <conversation-id> --limit 10

letta messages status --conversation <id> (Cloud only) reports whether the conversation is currently running. When latest_super_run is present, compare its id with the super_run_id on your receipt; a different ID belongs to a different send. Read the messages to see what was processed. Non-waiting receipts include ready-to-run status_command and messages_command values for the thread they went to. letta messages transcript --conversation <id> exports the thread; check truncated before treating it as complete. letta messages --help lists the options.

Finding an agent

letta agents list --query "name"
letta messages search --query "topic" --all-agents   # discovery; results include agent_id

Load the finding-agents skill for more search options.

Choosing a computer (Cloud backend)

Only when a specific machine is required:

letta computers list --online-only        # connectionName and deviceId
letta -p --agent <agent-id> --computer <name-or-device-id> --no-wait "message"
letta -p --agent <agent-id> --computer cloud --no-wait "message"   # its Cloud sandbox

If the conversation is active on another computer the send is rejected; to move a conversation, teleport it (see the working-across-computers skill). An offline saved computer does not trigger a Cloud-sandbox fallback. letta computers --help covers the selectors.

Gotchas

• SendAgentMessage, --no-wait, --computer, and messages status fail on the local backend even when they are offered. Check your agent ID prefix.
• For Cloud coordination, do not rely on --agent alone to select message delivery. Add --from-agent $LETTA_AGENT_ID to deliver and identify yourself; pass --conversation <id> to reach an existing thread.
• The Cloud messaging recipes above reject execution flags (--tools, --permission-mode, --model, --system, and similar); the recipient keeps its own configuration. Those flags configure a launch when using the retained --agent-only path or local-backend execution.
• --conversation default needs --agent; default is scoped to an agent.
• A receipt means accept

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