Architecting Agentic Systems — cover

Architecting Agentic Systems

Bounded Autonomy, Governance, and Production Discipline

Damian Beresford · 2026 · Edition 0.1.0

How to cite this edition

Use the online edition at architecting-agentic-systems.net as the canonical reference. Copy a format below.

APA

Damian Beresford (2026). Architecting Agentic Systems: Bounded Autonomy, Governance, and Production Discipline (Online ed., v0.1.0). https://architecting-agentic-systems.net

Chicago (author-date)

Damian Beresford. Architecting Agentic Systems: Bounded Autonomy, Governance, and Production Discipline. Online ed., v0.1.0. 2026. https://architecting-agentic-systems.net.

BibTeX 
@book{beresford2026agentic,
  title = {Architecting Agentic Systems},
  subtitle = {Bounded Autonomy, Governance, and Production Discipline},
  author = {Damian Beresford},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://architecting-agentic-systems.net},
  note = {Online edition, v0.1.0}
}

Copyright © 2026 Damian Beresford. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Chapter 1: The nature of agentic systems
  3. Chapter 2: The agent: Formal definition and properties
  4. Chapter 3: Architectural forces in agentic design
  5. Chapter 4: Cognitive patterns: A reference map
  6. Chapter 5: Bounded autonomy as discipline
  7. Chapter 6: Governance as architecture
  8. Chapter 7: Memory and state architecture
  9. Chapter 8: The ingestion pipeline: Architecting semantic memory
  10. Chapter 9: Control and coordination
  11. Chapter 10: The skills layer: Dynamic capability loading
  12. Chapter 11: Failure modes and anti-patterns
  13. Chapter 12: Testing, evaluation, and trace discipline
  14. Chapter 13: The glass layer: UI and interaction architecture
  15. Chapter 14: Enterprise SaaS integration
  16. Chapter 15: Model routing and edge infrastructure
  17. Chapter 16: System architectures
  18. Chapter 17: A worked example, Concord
  19. Chapter 18: Operationalization and production
  20. Chapter 19: The harness: architecting the agent loop
  21. Chapter 20: Glossary
  22. Chapter 21: Annotated bibliography
  23. Epilogue