ouranos/docs/iolaus.md

iolaus

Personal agents for Daedalus — powered by Pallas.

Iolaus is a pure agent project: Python agent definitions + YAML configuration. The runtime (serving, registry, health checks, multimodal support) lives in Pallas.

Architecture

Daedalus Backend — FastAPI
    │  MCP over StreamableHTTP
    ▼
Pallas MCP Bridge (pallas.server:main)
    │  reads agents.yaml for topology
    │  reads fastagent.config.yaml for LLM + model capabilities
    │
    ├── Registry      → /.well-known/mcp/server.json (agent discovery)
    ├── Shawn         → kairos, neo4j_cypher, argos, research, time
    ├── Watson        → argos, neo4j_cypher, time
    ├── Cristiano     → nike, neo4j_cypher, time
    ├── Nate          → periplus, argos, neo4j_cypher, time
    ├── David         → orpheus, argos, neo4j_cypher, research, time
    ├── Research      → argos, neo4j_cypher
    ├── Tech Research → context7, github, argos
    └── Mikael        → argos, time   (news briefings; reads `news:` config)

Project Structure

.
├── agents.yaml              # Deployment topology — agents, ports, host, namespace
├── fastagent.config.yaml    # LLM provider, MCP servers, model capabilities (committed)
├── fastagent.secrets.yaml   # API keys and tokens (gitignored — never commit)
├── agents/                  # Agent definitions (FastAgent @fast.agent decorators)
│   ├── shawn.py
│   ├── watson.py
│   ├── cristiano.py
│   ├── nate.py
│   ├── david.py
│   ├── research.py
│   └── tech_research.py
├── systemd/
│   └── iolaus.service
├── pyproject.toml
└── .env.example

Agents

Agent	Port	MCP URL	Purpose
Shawn	24001	http://puck.incus:24001/mcp	Personal general assistant — calendar, contacts, email, and daily life
Watson	24005	http://puck.incus:24005/mcp	Relationship memory & emotional safety — reflection, values, habits, emotional experiences, dialogue notes
Cristiano	24006	http://puck.incus:24006/mcp	Football analyst — live data, match tracking, tactics
Nate	24007	http://puck.incus:24007/mcp	Travel and adventure companion — trip planning, navigation
David	24008	http://puck.incus:24008/mcp	Arts & culture — music, film, art, fashion, and Kawai piano
Infrastructure	24050	http://puck.incus:24050/mcp	Shell, git, and Grafana router
Research	24051	http://puck.incus:24051/mcp	Web search + knowledge graph chain
Tech Research	24052	http://puck.incus:24052/mcp	Technical investigation — library docs, code examples, API comparisons
Mikael	24053	http://puck.incus:24053/mcp	News briefings — topic-driven, source-verified, image-rich
Registry	24000	http://puck.incus:24000/.well-known/mcp/server.json	Agent discovery

Configuration

agents.yaml — Deployment Topology

Single source of truth for agent names, ports, dependencies, host, and namespace. Read by Pallas at startup.

name: iolaus
version: "1.0.0"
host: puck.incus
namespace: ca.helu.iolaus
registry_port: 24000

agents:
  shawn:
    module: agents.shawn
    port: 24001
    title: Shawn
    description: "Personal general assistant — calendar, contacts, email, and daily life management"
    depends_on: [research]
  # ...

To deploy a different agent group, swap agents.yaml — no code changes needed. Override the config path with PALLAS_AGENTS_CONFIG env var.

fastagent.config.yaml — LLM + Model Capabilities

Committed to the repo. Contains LLM provider settings and explicit model capability declarations.

default_model: openai.Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf

model_capabilities:
  vision: false
  context_window: 40960
  max_output_tokens: 8192

The model_capabilities section declares capabilities explicitly rather than inferring from the model name. Exposed in the registry for Daedalus to use when routing requests.

news: — Mikael News Agent Configuration

Top-level block in fastagent.config.yaml, consumed by agents/mikael.py at startup. Edits take effect on restart — no code changes needed to tweak topics or sources.

news:
  topics:
    - Canadian federal politics
    - Generative AI and LLM research
    # ... add/remove freely
  preferred_sources:          # seeded into queries, not exclusive
    - reuters.com
    - apnews.com
    - cbc.ca
  avoided_sources:            # excluded via -site: AND post-filtered by host
    - foxnews.com
    - breitbart.com
    - dailymail.co.uk
  default_lookback_hours: 24
  max_items_per_topic: 5

Mikael excludes avoided_sources from search results with -site: operators and post-filters by hostname as a second line of defence. It will never summarize or cite content from an avoided source, even if another outlet syndicates the claim.

fastagent.secrets.yaml — API Keys and Tokens

Gitignored — never commit. Place in the repo root alongside fastagent.config.yaml.

openai:
  api_key: "your-key-here"

mcp:
  servers:
    angelia:
      headers:
        Authorization: "Bearer your-token"
    kairos:
      headers:
        Authorization: "Bearer your-token"
    periplus:
      headers:
        Authorization: "Bearer your-token"
    nike:
      headers:
        Authorization: "Bearer your-token"
    # ...

Quickstart

# 1. Install dependencies (Python 3.13 required)
source ~/env/iolaus/bin/activate
pip install -e .

# 2. Configure secrets
cp fastagent.secrets.yaml.example fastagent.secrets.yaml
# Edit: set api_key and service tokens

# 3. Start all agents
iolaus

# 4. Verify
curl http://localhost:24001/mcp

# 5. Start a single agent
iolaus --agent shawn

Daedalus Integration

Daedalus connects to agents via the MCP Python SDK's streamable_http_client.

Registry endpoint: http://puck.incus:24000/.well-known/mcp/server.json

The registry includes model capabilities on each agent entry:

{
  "capabilities": {
    "model": "Qwen3.5-35B-A3B-UD-Q4_K_XL.gguf",
    "vision": false,
    "context_window": 40960,
    "max_output_tokens": 8192
  }
}

Deployment (systemd)

# 1. Copy project to /srv/iolaus
sudo cp -r . /srv/iolaus
sudo chown -R iolaus:iolaus /srv/iolaus

# 2. Install into venv
cd /srv/iolaus
source ~/env/iolaus/bin/activate
pip install -e .

# 3. Configure secrets
cp fastagent.secrets.yaml.example fastagent.secrets.yaml
# Fill in API keys and tokens

# 4. Install and start systemd service
sudo cp systemd/iolaus.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now iolaus
sudo systemctl status iolaus

Downstream MCP Servers

Server	Host	URL
argos	miranda.incus	http://miranda.incus:25534/mcp
neo4j_cypher	circe.helu.ca	http://circe.helu.ca:22034/mcp
kernos	caliban.incus	http://caliban.incus:22021/mcp
rommie	caliban.incus	http://caliban.incus:22031/mcp
gitea	miranda.incus	http://miranda.incus:25535/mcp
grafana	miranda.incus	http://miranda.incus:25533/mcp
korax	korax.helu.ca	http://korax.helu.ca:22021/mcp
orpheus	orpheus.helu.ca	https://orpheus.helu.ca/mcp
angelia	ouranos.helu.ca	https://ouranos.helu.ca/mcp/
kairos	ouranos.helu.ca	https://kairos.ouranos.helu.ca/mcp/
periplus	ouranos.helu.ca	https://periplus.ouranos.helu.ca/mcp/
nike	ouranos.helu.ca	https://nike.ouranos.helu.ca/mcp/
github	local (Docker stdio)	ghcr.io/github/github-mcp-server
context7	local (stdio)	npx -y @upstash/context7-mcp
time	local (stdio)	mcp-server-time

Notes

• Python 3.13 required (fast-agent-mcp pins >=3.13)
• Runtime: Pallas — pallas-mcp @ git+ssh://git@git.helu.ca:22022/r/pallas.git
• Transport: StreamableHTTP (/mcp) throughout — not SSE
• LLM: OpenAI-compatible API at http://nyx.helu.ca:22079/v1 (personal Qwen model)
• Logging: Console output — stdout → syslog → Alloy → Loki in production
• Port scheme: registry at 24000, personal agents 24001–24049, sub-agents 24050–24099