The article presents a compelling architectural argument: AI agent runtimes should be deployed as standalone processes rather than embedded libraries. The author, building OpenCoWork, explains that treating an agent runtime as a library leads to tight coupling, poor isolation, and operational headaches. By running the runtime as a separate native .NET process, teams gain better fault isolation, independent scaling, and standard DevOps practices like monitoring, logging, and restart policies. This shift mirrors the evolution from embedded databases to database servers. The post details the technical implementation, including inter-process communication, lifecycle management, and resource governance. For teams building production-grade agent systems, this perspective offers a more robust operational model. The approach is particularly relevant for multi-agent systems where reliability and observability are critical.
This article argues that AI agent runtimes should be treated as independent processes requiring DevOps management, not just libraries. It introduces OpenCoWork, a .NET-based agent runtime that runs as a separate native process. This approach improves isolation, fault tolerance, and operational control for production agent systems.