State Streaming
Stream partial agent state updates to the UI while a tool call is still running.
What is this?#
By default, agent state only updates between LangGraph node transitions, so a long-running tool call (writing a full document, drafting an email) appears to the UI as one big burst at the end. For agent-native apps, that feels broken: users expect to watch the output materialise.
State streaming forwards the value of a specific tool argument
straight into an agent state key as the argument is being generated.
The UI, subscribed via useAgent, re-renders every token.
When should I use this?#
Use state streaming whenever a tool's output is long-form text or a growing structured value and you want the user to see it assemble in real time. Common shapes:
- A collaborative writing agent that emits a document
- A research agent that accumulates a list of findings
- A planning agent that builds up a step-by-step plan
Without streaming, the user stares at a spinner. With streaming, they see the answer grow token-by-token.
The backend: one streaming state mapping#
Install the ADK + AG-UI bridge
pip install ag-ui-adkDeclare the predicted state mapping
ADK state streaming uses PredictStateMapping to map the streaming
write_document tool argument into state["document"]. Add
AGUIToolset() to the agent so CopilotKit can forward the state deltas to
the UI.
from __future__ import annotations
from ag_ui_adk import AGUIToolset
from ag_ui_adk.config import PredictStateMapping
from google.adk.agents import LlmAgent
from google.adk.tools import ToolContext
from agents.shared_chat import get_model, stop_on_terminal_text
def write_document(tool_context: ToolContext, document: str) -> dict:
"""Write a document into shared state.
Whenever the user asks you to write or draft anything (essay, poem,
email, summary, etc.), call this tool with the full content as a
single string. The UI renders state["document"] live as you type.
Argument name `document` mirrors langgraph-python's `write_document`
signature so the shared D5 fixture (`tool_argument="document"`) and
the LGP-aligned PredictStateMapping below stay in lock-step.
"""
tool_context.state["document"] = document
return {"status": "ok", "length": len(document)}
_INSTRUCTION = (
"You are a collaborative writing assistant. Whenever the user asks "
"you to write, draft, or revise any piece of text, ALWAYS call the "
"`write_document` tool with the full content as a single string. "
"Never paste the document into a chat message directly — the document "
"belongs in shared state and the UI renders it live as you type."
)
shared_state_streaming_agent = LlmAgent(
name="SharedStateStreamingAgent",
model=get_model(),
instruction=_INSTRUCTION,
tools=[write_document, AGUIToolset()],
after_model_callback=stop_on_terminal_text,
)
SHARED_STATE_STREAMING_PREDICT_STATE = [
PredictStateMapping(
state_key="document",
tool="write_document",
tool_argument="document",
emit_confirm_tool=False,
stream_tool_call=True,
),
]The backend pattern is always the same: map one streaming tool argument
to one shared-state key. In Python prebuilt agents, that is
StateStreamingMiddleware with one or more StateItem(...) entries.
TypeScript graphs use copilotkitCustomizeConfig with an
emitIntermediateState mapping for the same shape. When the LLM streams that
argument, CopilotKit writes every partial value into shared state before the
tool even finishes executing.
from __future__ import annotations
from ag_ui_adk import AGUIToolset
from ag_ui_adk.config import PredictStateMapping
from google.adk.agents import LlmAgent
from google.adk.tools import ToolContext
from agents.shared_chat import get_model, stop_on_terminal_text
def write_document(tool_context: ToolContext, document: str) -> dict:
"""Write a document into shared state.
Whenever the user asks you to write or draft anything (essay, poem,
email, summary, etc.), call this tool with the full content as a
single string. The UI renders state["document"] live as you type.
Argument name `document` mirrors langgraph-python's `write_document`
signature so the shared D5 fixture (`tool_argument="document"`) and
the LGP-aligned PredictStateMapping below stay in lock-step.
"""
tool_context.state["document"] = document
return {"status": "ok", "length": len(document)}
_INSTRUCTION = (
"You are a collaborative writing assistant. Whenever the user asks "
"you to write, draft, or revise any piece of text, ALWAYS call the "
"`write_document` tool with the full content as a single string. "
"Never paste the document into a chat message directly — the document "
"belongs in shared state and the UI renders it live as you type."
)
shared_state_streaming_agent = LlmAgent(
name="SharedStateStreamingAgent",
model=get_model(),
instruction=_INSTRUCTION,
tools=[write_document, AGUIToolset()],
after_model_callback=stop_on_terminal_text,
)
SHARED_STATE_STREAMING_PREDICT_STATE = [
PredictStateMapping(
state_key="document",
tool="write_document",
tool_argument="document",
emit_confirm_tool=False,
stream_tool_call=True,
),
]
A few things to note:
- The
state_keymust exist on yourAgentStateschema (document: strin this demo). - The
toolandtool_argumentname the exact LLM-facing tool and argument to forward. - When the tool call completes, its final return value is written to the same key, so the streamed partial eventually becomes the authoritative final value.
The frontend: useAgent + OnStateChanged#
The UI side is identical to any other shared-state subscription:
useAgent with OnStateChanged gives you a reactive agent.state.
Add OnRunStatusChanged if you want a "LIVE" / "done" indicator.
// Subscribe to BOTH state changes and run-status changes. The former // drives the per-token document rerender; the latter toggles the // "LIVE" badge when the agent starts / stops. const { agent } = useAgent({ agentId: "shared-state-streaming", updates: [UseAgentUpdate.OnStateChanged, UseAgentUpdate.OnRunStatusChanged], });From there, agent.state.document is just a string that grows on every
token, and agent.isRunning tells you whether to show a streaming
indicator.
Related#
- Shared State (overview) — the bidirectional read + write pattern this extends.
- Agent read-only context — for the inverse, UI → agent one-way channel.
