Getting Started with Strands Agents: A Step-by-Step Guide

bash
# Create a new directory for your project
mkdir strands-agent-project
cd strands-agent-project

# Create and activate a virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install required packages
pip install strands-agents strands-agents-tools boto3

python
import os
import logging

# CRITICAL: Set AWS environment variables BEFORE importing strands
# This was key to solving my region configuration issues
os.environ['AWS_PROFILE'] = 'bedrock'
os.environ['AWS_REGION'] = 'us-east-1' # Use a region where you have model access

# Configure logging for better debugging
# logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG,
format='%(levelname)s | %(name)s | %(message)s')

from strands import Agent, tool
from strands_tools import calculator, current_time, python_repl

# Define a custom tool
@tool
def letter_counter(word: str, letter: str) -> int:
"""
Count occurrences of a specific letter in a word.

Args:
word (str): The input word to search in
letter (str): The specific letter to count

Returns:
int: The number of occurrences of the letter in the word
"""
if not isinstance(word, str) or not isinstance(letter, str):
return 0

if len(letter) != 1:
raise ValueError("The 'letter' parameter must be a single character")

return word.lower().count(letter.lower())

# Create the agent with tools and specify the model
# Use a model ID you confirmed access to in your region
agent = Agent(
tools=[calculator, current_time, python_repl, letter_counter],
model="anthropic.claude-3-5-sonnet-20240620-v1:0" # Specify your model
)

# Define a message to test the agent
message = """
I have 4 requests:
1. What is the time right now?
2. Calculate 3111696 / 74088
3. Tell me how many letter R's are in the word "strawberry"
4. Output a script that does what we just spoke about!
Use your python tools to confirm that the script works before outputting it
"""

# Run the agent and handle any errors
if __name__ == "__main__":
try:
print("Running the agent...")
response = agent(message)
print("\nAgent Response:")
print(response)
except Exception as e:
print(f"Error: {e}")
import traceback
traceback.print_exc()