AI engineering glossary · Agents tools MCP
What is autonomous agent?
Autonomous agent: An agent that pursues a goal over many steps with little or no human input, choosing its own actions and deciding when it is finished. The more autonomy it has, the more important limits, permissions and monitoring become, since errors can compound over many unchecked steps.
Autonomous agent: an example
A coding agent given a failing test suite edits files, reruns tests and repeats until they pass, without asking anything in between.
Related terms
More Agents tools MCP terms
- Best-of-N sampling
- Browser agent
- Code agent
- Code interpreter tool
- Computer use
- Confused deputy problem
- Context compaction
- Conversation summary
Where you learn it
Autonomous agent is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.