In modern software development, we've gotten incredibly good at building complex systems. Yet, a persistent gap remains: the chasm between a high-level business objective and the intricate, low-level code required to execute it. A manager asks for a "quarterly performance report," and developers translate that into a sequence of database queries, API calls, data transformations, and notification logic. What if you could close that gap and operate directly at the level of intent?
Enter Ivy, your autonomous digital worker.
Ivy is an advanced AI agent designed to understand and execute complex business processes from natural language instructions. For developers, this represents a paradigm shift. Instead of writing rigid, step-by-step scripts, you can now delegate entire workflows to an agent that can reason, plan, and adapt.
This guide will walk you through the concepts behind Ivy and show you how to leverage the ivy.do SDK to transform your team's operations into scalable, programmable Services-as-Software.
Traditional business automation relies on platforms that follow strict, predefined rules. "If X happens, then do Y." This works for simple tasks but breaks down quickly. What if X is slightly different? What if Y fails and requires an alternative, Z? The logic becomes a brittle, unmanageable web of conditions.
Ivy operates on a different principle: agentic workflows.
An agentic workflow is goal-oriented, not rule-oriented. You define the "what" (the final objective), and Ivy, the autonomous worker, determines the best "how" (the sequence of actions).
Think of it like this:
This ability to reason and adapt makes Ivy fundamentally more powerful and resilient than traditional automation tools.
The ivy.do platform allows you to treat complex operational tasks as first-class citizens in your codebase. By using the SDK, you convert a multi-step business process—like generating a report, onboarding a new customer, or triaging a support issue—into a single, elegant function call. This is the essence of Business-as-Code.
Let's see it in action.
Imagine you need to automate the generation and distribution of a quarterly financial report. This process involves fetching data, summarizing key metrics, drafting an executive summary, and emailing the result to stakeholders.
With the ivy.do SDK, you don't code each step. You simply instruct Ivy.
import { ivy } from '@do/sdk';
// Instruct Ivy to perform a complex, multi-step task
const quarterlyReport = await ivy.do({
task: "Generate the Q3 financial performance report, including summarizing key metrics and drafting an executive summary.",
parameters: {
quarter: "Q3",
year: 2024,
distributionList: ["ceo@example.com", "cfo@example.com"]
},
onSuccess: (result) => {
console.log(`Report successfully generated and distributed.`);
console.log(`Access Link: ${result.reportUrl}`);
},
onError: (error) => {
console.error(`Ivy encountered an issue: ${error.message}`);
}
});
console.log(`Task initiated. Ivy is on it. Task ID: ${quarterlyReport.taskId}`);
Let's break down this powerful snippet:
Behind this simple API call, Ivy is autonomously orchestrating a series of actions: authenticating with your data warehouse, running SQL queries, analyzing results, calling a generative AI to write the summary, and interfacing with your email provider to send the final report. You just stated the goal; Ivy handled the entire process.
Because Ivy can be integrated anywhere via its SDK and API, the possibilities are vast. Any digital workflow you can describe can be delegated. Here are a few common use cases where developers are finding massive leverage:
Ivy represents a new, higher level of abstraction for developers. It's an opportunity to move away from writing tedious, brittle scripts and focus on defining the high-impact outcomes your business needs. By delegating complex processes to an autonomous worker, you can build more resilient systems, accelerate development, and scale your operations like never before.
Ready to turn your most complex workflows into a single line of code?