Glossary
What is an AI Agent?
An AI agent can plan and take multi-step actions — using tools, Skills, and MCP — instead of only answering in chat.
August 29, 2026
AI Agent Agents Glossary
An AI agent is an AI system that can pursue a goal across multiple steps: it plans, calls tools, reads results, and continues until the task is done (or it needs your input). Chatbots mainly reply in text; agents act — browse, edit files, call APIs, update listings, and more.
What makes something an “agent”
Typical traits:
- Goal-oriented — you state an outcome (“research this niche”, “draft ten listings”), not only a single prompt reply.
- Tool use — it can invoke browsers, code runners, MCP servers, or marketplace APIs.
- Multi-step loop — observe → decide → act → observe again.
- Memory / context — it keeps task state across steps (within a session or via project files).
Hosts like Claude Code and Codex are agent runtimes focused on coding and ops; ecommerce product agents may automate research, support, or ads inside a seller workflow.
Agents vs Skills vs MCP vs SaaS
| Concept | Role |
|---|---|
| AI Agent | The actor that plans and executes |
| Skill | Playbook the agent loads for how to work |
| MCP | Connectors for live tools and data |
| SaaS | App humans use in a browser (sometimes also callable by agents) |
On FlowCay, browse curated ecommerce agents on the Agents library.