Providers - ElizaOS Documentation

Why Providers?

Your agent needs to understand the world around it. Without context, it’s flying blind:

Who is the user? What’s their history?
What actions are available right now?
What does the agent know about this topic?

Providers are the senses of your agent. They gather data from memory, services, and external sources, then feed it into the LLM prompt.

Think of providers as context injectors. Each provider contributes a piece of the puzzle - conversation history, user facts, available actions - assembled into the prompt at runtime.

Provider Interface

Providers supply contextual information that forms the agent’s understanding of the current situation. They gather data from various sources to build comprehensive state.

Core Interface

interface Provider {
  name: string;
  description: string;
  dynamic?: boolean;    // Only executed when explicitly requested
  private?: boolean;    // Internal-only, not included in default state
  position?: number;    // Execution order (lower runs first)
  
  get: (
    runtime: IAgentRuntime,
    message: Memory,
    state?: State
  ) => Promise<ProviderResult>;
}

interface ProviderResult {
  values: Record<string, any>;  // Key-value pairs for templates
  data: Record<string, any>;    // Structured data
  text: string;                 // Textual context
}

Provider Types

Standard Providers: Included by default in state composition
Dynamic Providers: Only executed when explicitly requested
Private Providers: Internal use only, not exposed in default state

Built-in Providers

Provider Summary Table

Provider Name	Dynamic	Position	Default Included	Purpose
ACTIONS	No	-1	Yes	Lists available actions
ACTION_STATE	No	150	Yes	Action execution state
ANXIETY	No	Default	Yes	Response style guidelines
ATTACHMENTS	Yes	Default	No	File/media attachments
CAPABILITIES	No	Default	Yes	Service capabilities
CHARACTER	No	Default	Yes	Agent personality
CHOICE	No	Default	Yes	Pending user choices
ENTITIES	Yes	Default	No	Conversation participants
EVALUATORS	No	Default	No (private)	Post-processing options
FACTS	Yes	Default	No	Stored knowledge
PROVIDERS	No	Default	Yes	Available providers list
RECENT_MESSAGES	No	100	Yes	Conversation history
RELATIONSHIPS	Yes	Default	No	Social connections
ROLES	No	Default	Yes	Server roles (groups only)
SETTINGS	No	Default	Yes	Configuration state
TIME	No	Default	Yes	Current UTC time
WORLD	Yes	Default	No	Server/world context

Provider Details

Actions Provider (`ACTIONS`)

Lists all available actions the agent can execute.

Position: -1 (runs early)
Dynamic: No (included by default)
Data Provided:
- actionNames: Comma-separated list of action names
- actionsWithDescriptions: Formatted action details
- actionExamples: Example usage for each action
- actionsData: Raw action objects

{
  values: {
    actionNames: "Possible response actions: 'SEND_MESSAGE', 'SEARCH', 'CALCULATE'",
    actionExamples: "..."
  },
  data: { actionsData: [...] },
  text: "# Available Actions\n..."
}

Action State Provider (`ACTION_STATE`)

Shares execution state between chained actions.

Position: 150 (runs later)
Dynamic: No (included by default)
Data Provided:
- actionResults: Previous action execution results
- actionPlan: Multi-step action execution plan
- workingMemory: Temporary data shared between actions
- recentActionMemories: Historical action executions

Character Provider (`CHARACTER`)

Core personality and behavior definition.

Dynamic: No (included by default)
Data Provided:
- agentName: Character name
- bio: Character background
- topics: Current interests
- adjective: Current mood/state
- directions: Style guidelines
- examples: Example conversations/posts

{
  values: {
    agentName: "Alice",
    bio: "AI assistant focused on...",
    topics: "technology, science, education",
    adjective: "helpful"
  },
  data: { character: {...} },
  text: "# About Alice\n..."
}

Recent Messages Provider (`RECENT_MESSAGES`)

Provides conversation history and context.

Position: 100 (runs later to access other data)
Dynamic: No (included by default)
Data Provided:
- recentMessages: Formatted conversation history
- recentInteractions: Previous interactions
- actionResults: Results from recent actions

{
  values: {
    recentMessages: "User: Hello\nAlice: Hi there!",
    recentInteractions: "..."
  },
  data: {
    recentMessages: [...],
    actionResults: [...]
  },
  text: "# Conversation Messages\n..."
}

Facts Provider (`FACTS`)

Retrieves contextually relevant stored facts.

Dynamic: Yes (must be explicitly included)
Behavior: Uses embedding search to find relevant facts
Data Provided:
- Relevant facts based on context
- Fact metadata and sources

Relationships Provider (`RELATIONSHIPS`)

Social graph and interaction history.

Dynamic: Yes (must be explicitly included)
Data Provided:
- Known entities and their relationships
- Interaction frequency
- Relationship metadata

State Composition

The composeState method aggregates data from multiple providers to create comprehensive state.

Method Signature

async composeState(
    message: Memory,
    includeList: string[] | null = null,
    onlyInclude = false,
    skipCache = false
): Promise<State>

Parameters

message: The current message/memory object being processed
includeList: Array of provider names to include (optional)
onlyInclude: If true, ONLY include providers from includeList
skipCache: If true, bypass cache and fetch fresh data

Composition Process

Provider Selection: Determines which providers to run based on filters
Parallel Execution: Runs all selected providers concurrently
Result Aggregation: Combines results from all providers
Caching: Stores the composed state for reuse

Usage Patterns

// Default state (all non-dynamic, non-private providers)
const state = await runtime.composeState(message);

// Include specific dynamic providers
const state = await runtime.composeState(message, ['FACTS', 'ENTITIES']);

// Only specific providers
const state = await runtime.composeState(message, ['CHARACTER'], true);

// Force fresh data (skip cache)
const state = await runtime.composeState(message, null, false, true);

Provider Registration

Registering a Provider

runtime.registerProvider(provider);

Providers are registered during plugin initialization:

const myPlugin: Plugin = {
  name: 'my-plugin',
  providers: [customProvider],
  
  init: async (config, runtime) => {
    // Providers auto-registered
  }
};

Provider Position

Position determines execution order:

const earlyProvider: Provider = {
  name: 'EARLY',
  position: -100,  // Runs very early
  get: async () => {...}
};

const lateProvider: Provider = {
  name: 'LATE',
  position: 200,   // Runs late
  get: async () => {...}
};

Custom Providers

Creating a Custom Provider

const customDataProvider: Provider = {
  name: 'CUSTOM_DATA',
  description: 'Custom data from external source',
  dynamic: true,
  position: 150,
  
  get: async (runtime, message, state) => {
    try {
      // Fetch data from service or database
      const customData = await runtime.getService('customService')?.getData();
      
      if (!customData) {
        return { values: {}, data: {}, text: '' };
      }
      
      return {
        values: { customData: customData.summary },
        data: { customData },
        text: `Custom data: ${customData.summary}`,
      };
    } catch (error) {
      runtime.logger.error('Error in custom provider:', error);
      return { values: {}, data: {}, text: '' };
    }
  },
};

Provider Best Practices

Return quickly: Use timeouts for external calls
Handle errors gracefully: Return empty result on failure
Keep data size reasonable: Don’t return excessive data
Use appropriate flags: Set dynamic for optional providers
Consider position: Order matters for dependent providers

Provider Dependencies

Providers can access data from previously executed providers through the state parameter:

const dependentProvider: Provider = {
  name: 'DEPENDENT',
  position: 200, // Runs after other providers
  
  get: async (runtime, message, state) => {
    // Access data from earlier providers
    const characterData = state?.data?.providers?.CHARACTER?.data;
    
    if (!characterData) {
      return { values: {}, data: {}, text: '' };
    }
    
    // Process based on character data
    const processed = processCharacterData(characterData);
    
    return {
      values: { processed: processed.summary },
      data: { processed },
      text: `Processed: ${processed.summary}`
    };
  }
};

State Cache Management

Cache Architecture

The runtime maintains an in-memory cache of composed states:

// Cache is stored by message ID
this.stateCache.set(message.id, newState);

Cache Usage

// Use cached data (default behavior)
const cachedState = await runtime.composeState(message);

// Force fresh data
const freshState = await runtime.composeState(message, null, false, true);

Cache Optimization

// Clear old cache entries periodically
setInterval(() => {
  const fiveMinutesAgo = Date.now() - 5 * 60 * 1000;
  for (const [messageId, _] of runtime.stateCache.entries()) {
    runtime.getMemoryById(messageId).then((memory) => {
      if (memory && memory.createdAt < fiveMinutesAgo) {
        runtime.stateCache.delete(messageId);
      }
    });
  }
}, 60000); // Run every minute

Provider Execution Flow

Performance Optimization

Parallel Execution

Providers run concurrently for optimal performance:

const results = await Promise.all(
  providers.map(provider => 
    provider.get(runtime, message, partialState)
  )
);

Timeout Handling

Implement timeouts to prevent slow providers from blocking:

const timeoutProvider: Provider = {
  name: 'TIMEOUT_SAFE',
  get: async (runtime, message) => {
    const fetchData = async () => {
      // Potentially slow operation
      const data = await externalAPI.fetch();
      return formatProviderResult(data);
    };
    
    return Promise.race([
      fetchData(),
      new Promise((_, reject) => 
        setTimeout(() => reject(new Error('Timeout')), 5000)
      )
    ]).catch(error => {
      runtime.logger.warn(`Provider timeout: ${error.message}`);
      return { values: {}, data: {}, text: '' };
    });
  }
};

Common Issues and Solutions

Circular Dependencies

Avoid providers that depend on each other circularly:

// BAD: Circular dependency
const providerA: Provider = {
  get: async (runtime, message) => {
    const state = await runtime.composeState(message, ['B']);
    // Uses B's data
  }
};

const providerB: Provider = {
  get: async (runtime, message) => {
    const state = await runtime.composeState(message, ['A']);
    // Uses A's data - CIRCULAR!
  }
};

// GOOD: Use position and state parameter
const providerA: Provider = {
  position: 100,
  get: async (runtime, message) => {
    // Generate data independently
    return { data: { aData: 'value' } };
  }
};

const providerB: Provider = {
  position: 200,
  get: async (runtime, message, state) => {
    // Access A's data from state
    const aData = state?.data?.providers?.A?.data;
    return { data: { bData: processData(aData) } };
  }
};

Memory Leaks

Prevent memory leaks with proper cache management:

class BoundedCache extends Map {
  private maxSize: number;
  
  constructor(maxSize: number = 1000) {
    super();
    this.maxSize = maxSize;
  }
  
  set(key: string, value: any) {
    if (this.size >= this.maxSize) {
      const firstKey = this.keys().next().value;
      this.delete(firstKey);
    }
    return super.set(key, value);
  }
}

Debugging State Composition

// Debug helper to trace provider execution
async function debugComposeState(runtime: IAgentRuntime, message: Memory, includeList?: string[]) {
  console.log('=== State Composition Debug ===');
  console.log('Message ID:', message.id);
  console.log('Include List:', includeList || 'default');

  // Monkey patch provider execution
  const originalProviders = runtime.providers;
  runtime.providers = runtime.providers.map((provider) => ({
    ...provider,
    get: async (...args) => {
      const start = Date.now();
      console.log(`[${provider.name}] Starting...`);

      try {
        const result = await provider.get(...args);
        const duration = Date.now() - start;
        console.log(`[${provider.name}] Completed in ${duration}ms`);
        console.log(`[${provider.name}] Data size:`, JSON.stringify(result).length);
        return result;
      } catch (error) {
        console.error(`[${provider.name}] Error:`, error);
        throw error;
      }
    },
  }));

  const state = await runtime.composeState(message, includeList);

  // Restore original providers
  runtime.providers = originalProviders;

  console.log('=== Final State Summary ===');
  console.log('Total providers run:', Object.keys(state.data.providers || {}).length);
  console.log('State text length:', state.text.length);
  console.log('===============================');

  return state;
}

Models

Learn how models use provider context

Services

Build services that use providers

Messaging

Real-time provider updates

Sessions API

See providers in conversational context

​Why Providers?

​Provider Interface

​Core Interface

​Provider Types

​Built-in Providers

​Provider Summary Table

​Provider Details

​Actions Provider (ACTIONS)

​Action State Provider (ACTION_STATE)

​Character Provider (CHARACTER)

​Recent Messages Provider (RECENT_MESSAGES)

​Facts Provider (FACTS)

​Relationships Provider (RELATIONSHIPS)

​State Composition

​Method Signature

​Parameters

​Composition Process

​Usage Patterns

​Provider Registration

​Registering a Provider

​Provider Position

​Custom Providers

​Creating a Custom Provider

​Provider Best Practices

​Provider Dependencies

​State Cache Management

​Cache Architecture

​Cache Usage

​Cache Optimization

​Provider Execution Flow

​Performance Optimization

​Parallel Execution

​Timeout Handling

​Common Issues and Solutions

​Circular Dependencies

​Memory Leaks

​Debugging State Composition

​See Also

Models

Services

Messaging

Sessions API

Why Providers?

Provider Interface

Core Interface

Provider Types

Built-in Providers

Provider Summary Table

Provider Details

Actions Provider (`ACTIONS`)

Action State Provider (`ACTION_STATE`)

Character Provider (`CHARACTER`)

Recent Messages Provider (`RECENT_MESSAGES`)

Facts Provider (`FACTS`)

Relationships Provider (`RELATIONSHIPS`)

State Composition

Method Signature

Parameters

Composition Process

Usage Patterns

Provider Registration

Registering a Provider

Provider Position

Custom Providers

Creating a Custom Provider

Provider Best Practices

Provider Dependencies

State Cache Management

Cache Architecture

Cache Usage

Cache Optimization

Provider Execution Flow

Performance Optimization

Parallel Execution

Timeout Handling

Common Issues and Solutions

Circular Dependencies

Memory Leaks

Debugging State Composition

See Also